The Three Horseshoes — Restaurant in Hertsmere

Really nice main dishes & our initial waitress was lovely and friendly, though unfortunately I didn’t catch her name. We got the cauliflower cheese to share, which was highly disappointing; it was very small and certainly not what you’d expect as it specifically said ‘to share’. It had essentially no flavouring and was mostly mush, with only 1 small piece of discernible cauliflower amongst the soupy slop. Our mains were really lovely though, so we decided to just let it be.

After we finished eating we waited around 20 minutes for our plates to be cleared. I waited another 15 before just going in to order a drink myself, as nobody had come back to ask. 20 minutes later, my friend went to order his drink (a pint of soda water), as still nobody had come out to us. We eventually did have a different waiter come out and ask if we’d like desserts, which we didn’t. Had to go and retrieve the bill ourselves (nobody came out) and was really confused to see that a pint of soda water (no cordial/ lime) was being charged at £2.70! I went inside to settle up (as nobody had come back, again).

I asked the man standing by the bar (named Dan) why the soda water was being charged at £2.70. His attitude was horrendous and he looked at me as though I’d asked him to tell me the meaning of life, rather than a very simple and straightforward question.

He scoffed and said ‘well of course we charge’. I said ‘right… but it’s just carbonated water’. He said ‘yeah well that’s what we have always charged’. The attitude on him was something else entirely - if that’s what you charge, so be it. But there is a way to answer a simple question that doesn’t need an eye roll and a scoff.

Service charge was a cheek, given we were up and down like yoyo’s to get drinks/ the bill/ pay the bill. My friend walks with a cane and there seemed to be no consideration of that at all. It was actually rather quiet inside (as our first waitress pointed out herself), so it can’t have been that they were rushed off their feet. In fact as I paid the bill, 2 members of staff were sat folding napkins whilst the gentleman I spoke with (Dan) hovered in the middle of the room for seemingly no purpose.

I grew up with pub landlords for parents - £2.70 for some fizzy tap water is a bloody scandal, and the snark on Dan was just boggling. Such a shame, because the place is nice and our first waitress...

We are trying all the local restaurants and pubs to try and find a decent Sunday roast lunch. Today we went to The Three Horseshoes. The dining room is well presented, clean and pleasant. Modern, stylish and with character. There is a lovely garden area with tables in the sun and also some which are covered and shaded. I went for the 3 course set Sunday lunch menu with sourdough bread to start, beef roast lunch and then dessert. My husband chose a roast lamb lunch from the specials board. We were impressed with the bread - a whole small cottage loaf, warm and crisp from the oven and very tasty. When the roasts arrived, I was shocked to see that my plate was half the size of my husbands!!!! The amount of food was still quite large and the food was overflowing off the plate which made it a bit difficult to eat. To be perfectly honest it seemed very weird! At that point there was no staff nearby, so we just tucked in and the roasts were all very good. Later, I was able to speak to lovely server 'Lucy', I asked why my plate was so small and queried whether this was because I was having the set lunch. She explained that no, the set lunch roast should be the same larger size. After checking she reported that a mistake had been made on the original ordering and I had been ordered a child's size lunch!!! Ha ha!! They were very kind and offered extras to rectify it but I had eaten enough. They made sure that the bill was in line with the smaller portion etc. All in all, they were very kind and helpful about it. Despite this rather amusing hiccup, the food and service were great and we would definitely go back here for Sunday lunch. My husband, who is an ale drinker, says the beer was very good. The dessert (sticky toffee pudding) was standard fare but good enough.The pricing seemed reasonable for the quality of the fare, the lovely service and the ambiance...

Came here for mother's day since they have refurbished and re-opened. The decor and layout looks absolutely amazing having extended the restaurant and created a new garden space at the side. They've certainly invested a lot into the venue to make it a success.

The restaurant is in the process of a 'soft launch', so they have a limited menu and was relatively quiet, so the management, bar staff and waiter were extremely attentive and friendly the minute we arrived.

On to the meal itself most of the people in my party chose the soup, but I had the mushroom, stilton and horse radish starter which was really tasty. I was worried that the Stilton would be overpowering, but wasn't the case. The soup apparently varied in temperature, with some people having it pipping hot, and others being luke warm.

Main course was a little disappointing as we all had the roast lamb or chicken. For £18 I was expecting a bit more of a wow. It arrived with one Yorkshire pudding, three potatoes and a carrot and a side of green cabbage and green beans. The chicken tasted lovely, but I prefer my carrots a little al dente and this was a bit soft. The dish needed more Yorkshires, some swede mash or pigs in blankets just to elevate it a bit more. Didn't feel it justified the price.

The dessert was the highlight. The ginger sponge cake with coconut ice cream was an absolute delight, and so was the chocolate fondant.

Overall the venue looked beautiful, set in a great picturesque location. The staff couldn't have been nicer, but the main course was a bit of a low point in the meal, which was a shame. Therefore I'm giving it 3 stars. I will go back once they are fully open and the...