HATCH — Restaurant in St Albans

Fantastic food, coffee, and service!

When my partner and I got here on a busy Saturday, the place was rammed, and it was a 45 mins wait for a table. Sceptical whether HATCH would be worth the wait or not, we decided we would wait and order a coffee whilst we waited. The member of staff on the front of house took our coffee order for us whilst we sat at the front of the shop.

My partner is a massive coffee snob, and I struggle to find coffee places that he likes. The coffee came quick and was fantastic and blew both of us away. The member of staff on the front of house was so friendly and made sure to check in on us and keep us up to date on our table.

When seen to our table, staff were extremely tentative and really looked after you, despite being busy. The food and drinks came fast and were delicious! I had the buffalo benedict, and my partner had the Katz burger with a side of chips. Both of us said how fantastic both these dishes were.

Special shout out to Sarah, who is an absolute credit to HATCH. She really looked after us and gave us the best service we've probably ever received at a restaurant. My partner and I couldn't believe when she told us it was her first day! You couldn't tell.

Well done to the Manager Chris, this is honestly perfection and couldn't fault our visit at all! We walked away saying we would come back again and happily wait any length of time to be seated here!!

Altogether we spent £50.12 including 12.5% service charge. 3 coffees (my partner loved it so much he had 2!), 2 fresh juices, 1 buffalo benedict, and 1 Katz Burger with skin on fries. For the area and the quality of food, I believe this is great value for money!...

Pleasant enough ambience with the usual stripped walls, bare table look. I've adjusted my stars since the owner kindly informed me that regular disabled diners can request a ramp to help with access (On a slope, not sure how easy disabled access would be )Beware arriving 45 minutes to their early closing time of five. ( Felt rushed). My fellow diners managed to get in a burger and a waffle in that time. I selected corn fritters w poached eggs n avocado salad stack which weren't seasoned with any imagination whatsoever. The dish was totally reliant on the chili jam garnish to give it any oomph. I'm not vegetarian or vegan yet l like seasoning on most of my food to be included in the prep, not added at the table. ( Owner has reliably informed me it lS PRE seasoned. Maybe having a vegan chef bestie has prejudiced my palate) I didn't attempt a waffle though my friends cooed over theirs saying they were exactly how they imagined they'd be, big , squidgy and covered in more syrup and cream than is wise for long train/ car journeys home. This is obviously a popular local eaterie. But for me apart from the awesome ginger beer quite a forgettable eating experience. Price wise. Fair for the hype of St Alban's. NB: There are plans afoot to open later on Friday and Saturday evenings which lm sure is a very welcome move thats bound to bring in loads of...

Recommended by a friend, we visited last week for an early(ish) supper before a show at The Arena and expected mixed results having read reviews posted, however, I can only say that if 'six' stars were possible, that's what I'd have awarded.

The menu draws you in with tempting offers, while the salt'n'pepper fries were just on another level, with an incredible flavour profile and something we'd not had before. Regarding the double cheese burger, this took me back many years when you could get a super-juicy, tasty burger and I have to say that this was the best I'd had for decades and nothing short of amazing!!

We shared a desert, the honeycomb waffle and all I can say is to advise against ordering one to share, you need one each, as again, it was simply superb.

Service from Holly, (on only her third shift, bless), was excellent, the overall ambience was warm and inviting and nothing was too much trouble, while my friend and I were also pleasantly surprised when the bill arrived and we both agreed that in today's world of inflated prices, what Hatch charged was reasonable to say the least.

The measure of any restaurant is whether you'd return and in this instance, we simply can't wait, as it was faultless and the food was outstanding, so we'll definitely be back and very soon.

Highly...