The Cricketers of Redbourn — Restaurant in St Albans

I went for a Christmas do last week Thursday at The Cricketers because me and my friends love the atmosphere and the staff there, and we heard that the food is quite good there.

We paid £15 per person (and it was about 20-25 of us) to book the upstairs area and get a selection of nibbles. The drinks were to be paid individually and on top of that price.

I am speaking in the name of the whole group when I say that the experience was really disappointing.

1. We arrived there and were asked to go upstairs to our area. No one prepared the area or made it look nice. No decoration, tables laid out like in any normal day (rather than making an attempt to put 2 tables together so that we all could sit together), so we had to sit in different groups isolated from each other.

2. The room was booked from 7pm. By 9pm we had not gotten any of the nibbles. We were starving. I understand that it is a marketing strategy to delay the food so that people drink more or stay longer, but this was ridiculous.

3. When the nibbles came, they were terrible. I am not a fussy person when it comes to food, but the selection was: -Chicken wings (this was the best) -potato wedges (McDonald's ones are better) -fish cakes (the worst thing I have ever had) -onion rings -pizza. To give you an idea, the quality of the food did not even reach Tesco value. I believe it was from Aldi. Disgusting selection. I wish I had eaten before I left my house. The rest of the attendees agreed.

4. The desserts were brought before some of the savoury nibbles! So, some of us had the dessert and then when the pizza was brought we did not have the appetite for it anymore.

5. For about the first 2 to 2 and a half hours since the event started, we did not have any background music.

On a positive note: The staff were super nice and willing to help. The room was big enough for all of us.

It is really annoying having paid £15 for a terribly handled event with no effort put into it and with the lowest quality products/foods.

I am giving 2 stars because 1) I have been there several times before for drinks (downstairs or outside) and it was nice. And 2) as I said, the staff were nice and helpful that night.

Would I recommend The Cricketers? To go for drinks in a random day, yes. To have your Christmas party or any other event, definitely no. You better putting that money towards hiring a venue and going to Iceland and getting slightly better quality items and definitely...

Not the best to be honest. My partner and I went for a booked Sunday lunch. It was a combination of small things. Firstly made to stand around for 10 mins without any acknowledgement. Then the service was poor at best. When the food came the soup was nuked to blister lips level while my squid was adequate but small for the price tag. There was a head server walking round who looked liked he would rather be elsewhere and was doing you a favour. To the point where the table opposite us had asked for the bill. When he arrived with it a customer asked for a cup of tea. He then got upset saying I brought you the bill if you wanted a cup of tea you should of asked for it before. When our food arrived it was barely lukewarm, my partners lunch was OK however my burger was terrible. It was dry. In my opinion if your paying above average prices all the small things should be spot on....

My favourite pub in Redbourn by far, extremely welcoming staff and warm welcome from the owners if they are about, very involved and you can feel it in the atmosphere and the food, it's all very friendly, Delicous food, my vegan friends said that their vegetarian roast and burger were the best they'd ever had and I can vouch for the rest of the menu having eaten nearly everything of it! Love a little sandwich if you're not hungry or anything of the evening menu is a win.

Beautiful restaurant if you want a less pub vibe, just book ahead if possible! And also a private venue room upstairs if you're a larger group or party, seriously would recommend a visit to this award winning country pub.

Also very...