The Brasserie at Sopwell House — Restaurant in St Albans

Last night in the Brasserie - never again… Arrived at 7pm. Got shown to my table outside and ordered a bottle of sparkling water to start with while saying to the waiter I’d look at the cocktail menu. 20 minutes later had to flag him down as nobody brought my water or came to ask what drink I’d like to order. In the meanwhile my friend had already arrived. Ordered two mojitos and asked for an extra water glass for her. The glass never arrived so we just grabbed one form another table. The mojitos took another 20 minutes. So at 7.40pm we finally have our drinks and get to order our food. The starters arrived fairly early but the mains did not arrive till 9.30pm! We left at 11.15 pm and got offered a generous discount off our bill for the wait. While this was appreciated I would never ever go back to this place. Shocking experience, even the waiter said he would had left if it was him waiting that long.. we only stayed as it was our joint birthday dinner, we enjoyed each others company and the lovely warm night outside. I must add that the place was rather empty so being busy is not even an excuse. I have never ever experienced anything like this...

After having some cocktails at the outdoor garden terrace we proceeded to have dinner at the restaurant

Despite being a group of 2 intoxicated people and 1 sober person and a child the staff were extremely excellent and really went above and beyond to provide excellent service to an undoubtedly challenging table

The food was excellent, can highly recommend items from their grill menu

We had the Angus fillet steak and grilled lamb and some other items as well

The steak was extremely tender and perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked

The lamb was also cooked exactly as ordered and also perfectly seasoned

Our table also proceeded to continue to order drinks from the cocktail bar which they also serve at the brasserie, drinks will obviously depend on the bartender you get on the day but the one making the drinks on the evening we were there (Sunday the 10th of September) was extremely good. It made me sad I was the designated driver for the evening with cocktails so delicious!

All-round an amazing...

What an enormous difference in terms of atmosphere following a long overdue refurbishment. Unlike some refurbishments.. this one has made 100% difference to this space. Ive always loved Chef Mari's food and menus, but always found the decor and environment very basic and "conference like".. This refurb makes me (and apparently a tonne of other people!!) Want to spend some hours here now. The new menu is inspiring and had plenty of choice, the Wine List has also changed for the better. The lovely new sofa seating, the colour scheme and fantastic redesign has really brought the standard of the restaurant up to the standard of the already excellent food. Well done...