Lussmanns Brasserie — Restaurant in St Albans

Have previously enjoyed many meals here, but they must have had a staff shuffle. Sadly, when calling to book (6 adults, 2 children) just had to deal with an unnecessarily rude man for no apparent reason... I phoned to make it clear that yes it would be a reservation for 8, but this would be 6 adults and 2 children (in case this helped where they'd like to seat us, rather than an online booking where I can't make this clear). From the off set it was like my calling was SUCH an inconvenience, and then for truly no reason he tells me "You have to put 8 or we'll lay a table for 6 and you'll arrive and kick up a fuss" ... right ok, I never questioned whether to put 6 or 8 nor implied I was the 'fuss making' type lol. So I replied that was exactly why I was calling to ensure the restaurant knew the full situation and try to make things easier. I asked if he was alright as he seemed annoyed and he replied "yeah its just you've called us in the middle of lunch service so". Obviously I said ok not to worry, and subsequently will not be going as its a huge red flag for the service I'm worried we'd receive on the day. What a strange and certainly not needed interaction. If you are too busy to take a call politely, don't answer it - seems obvious to me! Edit after reply - A phone call IS an experience of the restaurant. The service/attitude I receive while booking is a good indicator of the service I'll receive from the same people when coming in. You don't need to 'establish what happened' as I've laid it out very clearly. Disappointing response and therefore I won't be...

Excellent food and ambiance with good online allergen menu including gluten free and dairy free options. The mackerel starter was good, maybe not as succulent as I was expecting but a good accompanying pesto & tomato salad and well washed down with a fruity house white. I loved the vegan cauliflower fritters, quite substantial and perfect with the included market veg (fries would’ve been too much for me) though it would be great if this could be made to a gluten free recipe. The pork belly was excellent apparently though the aubergine & ricotta bake was too salty & cheesy for one diner who admittedly is hard to please! The poached pear had a toffee apple taste and went really well with the vegan ice cream. Service was excellent and we were able to move from a less comfortable seat a bit close to the air conditioning and door to a lovely table upstairs with comfy seats. We were too late for the fixed price menu, which looked good value, so paid around £40/head for 3 courses and wine (a service charge of 12.5% was added if I recall) though as a very thin silver lining you can get free parking on London Road (and apparently the car parks) after 6:30pm. Overall an enjoyable evening with high quality cuisine...

We have visited Lussmans regularly over the last two years and have always been very happy with the service and food quality. Today we went to celebrate my son's first birthday, we chose Lussmans because they'd always been great with my son before and seemed to be taking every possible measure to keep us safe. Unfortunately, today's visit was made very uncomfortable by a group of 6 people from different households sat next to us, that had travelled from London to St Albans to get around the tier 3 restrictions to be able to have their work drinks - which they were openly bragging about. They were drinking almost exclusively espresso martinis and sambuca, being exceptionally loud and hardly eating anything. When I mentioned this to the staff they offered to move us, and said there wasn't anything they could do because business meetings are allowed. I expect more from an establishment like this to prevent people taking advantage of the rules/ openly breaking them and putting other people at risk. Do not go here if you expect any level of consideration for COVID safety. If you want to have a work party however, this is exactly the...