Dylans at The Kings Arms — Restaurant in St Albans

This is one of those 'gastro pubs' you hear everyone going on about and eventually accidentally wander in and go 'ah...' realising it IS actually pretty great.

It's a lovely, stylish place with super-skilled, knowledgable staff who make an immidiate impression. This could change at any moment of course if key staff move on, so go go go before it does.

It's only small, but out of the way enough for there to be space if you turf up at a sensible, non-peak time.

We have now eaten lunch here. We booked it for a special ocassion where we would normally have gone into London. What an idea that was. By far the best restaurant in St Albans for the combination of menu, style and quality of cooking, perfect service and excellent value considering what has been done here. Definitely a good idea to stay local rather than heading to London. Definitely not over-priced. Anyone saying it is clearly doesn't understand what you would have to pay to improve on this level of dedication, quality and service. The only places I know have Michelin Stars.

Even if you're not eating in the restaurant, there are plenty of outstanding vegetarian (and non-vegatarian) bar snacks, plus some taxidermy for us vegetarians who can cope with it and understand that Victorian taxidermy is fine, it's what they did then.

Killing animals in Africa, having them stuffed, mounted and sent home was basically their equivalent of snapchat.

Note the taxidermy I saw was a squirrel riding a badger, so probably not from Africa, but you get the point don't you?

Fantastic work all round from Dylans - The Kings Arms. A credit...

Review of Visit: 09/02 at 12:15 Party Size: 4 people Total Cost: £195

Given the high demand for Sunday bookings, I would recommend reserving a table at least a month in advance unless you are flexible with dates.

The overall service was satisfactory, and the restaurant had an elegant décor. However, I found the lighting to be somewhat dim for my preference.

Duck Spring Roll Starter - Generously filled with meat, though slightly over-seasoned and salty. Monkfish Starter - Not quite what I expected, as the flavor resembled salmon more than monkfish, but it was still enjoyable and refreshing. Olives – Unfortunately, they were overly salty and inedible.

For our mains, we ordered two pork belly roasts, one lamb, and one chicken. The cauliflower cheese was delicious, the vegetables were well-cooked, and the roast potatoes were excellent. One of our party members has a milk allergy, so the cauliflower cheese was substituted with plain boiled cauliflower. However, there was no alternative provided for the Yorkshire pudding. This was a shame as the Yorkshire pudding itself was excellent. The portion sizes for the cauliflower and potatoes were on the smaller side, but everything was flavorful.

Finding parking in St Albans was challenging, as most street parking was reserved for permit holders, and at least one nearby car park was full.

The quality of the food was good, but the lunch was quite expensive for...

A great dinner experience from start to finish... Everything had an artisan feeling about it and it was all freshly prepared from quality ingredients. Langoustines we're well cooked and simply adorned with garlic and fresh herbs.

Onglet main with beef fat chips was brilliant and the dessert special of a fresh strawberry Eton mess doughnut was great fun and not overly sweet...

The best bit, however, was the attention to detail for my wife who has a few preferences and intolerances... I called 5 days before our booking time, told them of the things she could and could not eat. The person on the phone said, "that's great, we prefer notice so we can make up a special menu...". True to their word, they printed a menu just for my wife, taking into account every last detail I had mentioned.

That is the highest quality service possible and an attention to detail that I have never had before. My wife said that her food was delicious and that, for the first time, she didn't feel self conscious about ordering her food and having to explain everything, hoping the chef can do something for her...

Our other friends had a great dining experience too with compliments flowing for every course.

Brilliant work from the team at Dylan's and I highly recommend them... And also recommend calling them well in advance if there are any special considerations for the menu...

I'd give them 6 stars if I...