The George And Dragon Graveley, Hitchin — Restaurant in North Hertfordshire

Went for Sunday roast, mid afternoon, called ahead to check if they was availability for 3 guests at 3pm as we hadn't booked in advance. Was given the answer, yes that should be fine. No details asked for booking. Thankfully table was available on arrival, seated and given menu's. Weren't offered a drink for a while. Drinks took ages to come, ordered food straight away as drinks arrived. Simple order of 1 roast chicken and 2 roast dinners. Time went by, noticing other tables of guests were getting their food thick and fast from the kitchen and we were thinking that our food will be coming out soon. How wrong we were to make such an assumption. We had finished our drinks, still no food arrived. No attention from staff, if we would like another drink or bringing our meal. 50 minutes had passed since we had ordered food, my partner had to go to the bar to order a drink and ask hour long our food will be. Was told by bar staff, that she'll do the drinks and find out about the food. Well over an hour later, 2nd drinks arrived from the bar and finally followed by our meals. Had to remind staff of what side order extras we had ordered, as we were given a wrong dish. Remind again to bring sauce condiments for the food. Overall presentation looked nice. However the food was only barely warm. A contrast to the extra side portion of potatoes, were very hot. Very disappointed to say the least, it obviously must of been sitting under heat lamps for a while. Didn't get an explanation until at the end of the meal as to why the delay when waitress came to clear table, short staffed apparently. We asked for the bill straight away. Staff didn't return to take payment, after a while I went to the bar myself to pay the bill.

It was a shame our experience of going out for Sunday roast was a waste of time waiting for the food. It would have been far better and helpful to be told at the time of the enquiry on the phone that they are short staffed and there is potentially a wait for food.

Ultimately, if a hospitality establishment is experiencing staff shortage, surely it would be wiser to limit the number of bookings over a busy period, so that it is more manageable for staff and also customers/guests don't make complaints for delays. As this doesn't give the establishment a good reputation. Or at least make contact with guests during delay and explain why and be mores attentive to their needs and...

Arrived for a pub lunch and the menu looked good. Well laid out and staff were very helpful. That is the best part.

Came inside to the pub and entered the restaurant section please note if you come in from the beer garden the disabled access is not there and this issue presents itself again with access to toilet facilities.

We ordered from the menu Gammon Egg and chips Onion Rings Halloumi in breadcrumbs Beer Battered Cod and Chips

So the beer battered cod turned up balancing on the chips. Not sure if this was presentation to justify the price or just the attempted chef not really giving a toss When I mean beer battered it was like an alcoholic Negan from the Walking dead had beer battered it with his club. It was dark brown in colour and fish was very dry and tough in the corners. I was crunching it The chips were not cooked through and tasted a little raw on the larger ones and so I dipped in the curry jelly. It was hardly a sauce and a skin had formed over the top in the bowl. So pleasant. The breaded halloumi tasted dry and overcooked and had clearly been cooked in the same deep fat fryer as the fish as that what they tasted of. My friends dinner was completely left and returned. Overcooked egg which the yolk had hard boiled and the edges burnt and the gammon was like burnt bacon. The fat around the edge was more than chargrilled.

The place has potential however the seats in the restaurant are all water stained and need deep cleaning. I nearly took my hips our sitting on the toilet as the seat was not bolted on. There was toilet paper shoved in the door jam and the sink just kept flowing even after turning it off. We were informed that the road closures at Gravely were causing a loss of business but I would consider that general house upkeep and a qualified chef would improve a little under the circumstances. It seemed that all our food had all been deep fat fried together in old oil possibly stolen from the back of a Chinese restaurant and reused. Whilst there were gluten free options without seeing the kitchen I would not believe there is adequate separation for it to be truly gf

Such a lovely area as Gravely and I appreciate times are difficult but in any good business a level of quality and professionalism would bring people back.

Again your staff were very apologetic and pleasant but you...

Edie 08/09/2024 We had friends visiting & wanted to take them somewhere lovely for lunch. I have always visited here in the week & enjoyed but never at a weekend, so made a nice change. Booked a table online for 12pm. We were seated by Catherine, really friendly and extremely helpful. Once we had ordered, Catherine came back to say the triple cooked chips were unavailable but could offer an alternative, which was fine. We had ordered 2 x Roast Lamb, 1 x Roast Beef, 1 x Catch of the day and 1 x Kids meal. All dishes were extremely tasty, full of flavour and great presentation, however, in all honesty, for us, the meat was too cooked, we would have preferred the meat to be more on the pink side. No ones fault, we just assumed it would be like the pictures on their facebook page. Desserts, the blow torch was playing up - I had ordered the Creme Brulee, so I opted for the Biscoff cheesecake instead, didn't disappoint, nor did the Brownie sundae my son had and the toffee crumble my friend had.

Was quiet when we first got there, but by the time we left was very busy. All in all a great visit & definitely return.

Edit - 06/10/23 Revisited tonight with friends. Really tasty food, lots of flavour. Staff attentive to our requirements. A live band were playing. Great evening.

Went for a catch up with a friend tonight. Instead of the usual burger I opted for the new lemon chicken thighs soft tacos! Definitely one to try. Really packed a punch with flavours and really enjoyed. Friend had the chicken ceasar salad which was also really tasty. Will no doubt be back next month to try something else on the menu. Staff are always friendly and accommodating....