The Harpenden Arms, Harpenden — Restaurant in St Albans

Beer selection excellent, very nice to see this range. Prices are what you would expect for the area, not cheap but not taking the piss either. Staff are excellent, very nice service and pleasant to deal with, and make an effort to serve quickly and acknowledge customers unlike some pubs in the area. Hope they are being paid well and treated nicely as the staff and the beer make this place excellent

On to the food the roast was somewhat mixed. Presentation great, the veg was all cooked perfectly. Good portion of everything and parsnip had both the crispy thin flavoursome bits and the soft big bits. Peas and cabbage spot on, roast potatoes bang on as well. Cauliflower just right in having softness and still a tiny bit of bite. The nut roast was delightful and sure to keep any veggie people happy. Carrot perfectly tender too and with a lovely sweetness.

The Yorkshire looked like a scorched ufo and upon slicing it sent shards of crispy batter across the table. It was a job to cut and had lots of burnt edges. It was a bit more manageable after soaking in gravy bit still not ideal. I will say the flavour in the batter was lovely but the cooking of it not so much.

The cauliflower cheese while cooked nicely, tasted like a white sauce without any cheese or seasoning. No salt, pepper, evidence of cheese by sight or flavour. Cheese must have run out because pictures on other reviews look much better. No excuse for lack of salt and pepper.

Feel bad to not give a glowing review on the food as what was nice was absolutely perfect but it fell down badly on a few details. It was like there were 2 chefs in there and one was amazing and the other had come in and messed up a few bits. It would be a ten out of ten roast if the issues were resolved and I hope they will be next time as I will definitely be back.

In summary lovely pub worth a visit especially for a beer lover, and you will not leave hungry if you eat there either. I hope they were just having an off day with food as it was so close to being amazing on everything. Staff impeccable. Thank you Harpenden Arms, see...

Our group chose this place for our Christmas dinner and we had nothing but a very positive experience. Booking and pre-ordering were hassle-free and we received a reminder the day before we were due to arrive. The gentleman who had confirmed our booking happened to be at The Harpenden Arms when we arrived so he knew exactly what was on our agenda and directed us to our reserved seats. Drinks were put on to our tab for the meal and we admittedly threw a little spanner in the works as there was an additional member of our group joining but the staff worked brilliantly to accommodate her. The food was lovely with good portion sizes and none of the dishes meant to be served hot came out lukewarm so it looked like the kitchen had co-ordinated everything perfectly. We weren't waiting for long between starters, mains and desserts so the staff were observant from a distance of how we were getting on but not peering over us in an intrusive way. When it came to payment, we weren't hanging about for them to come over and the card machine has the flexibility for you to pay your fee for the meal and the tip in a single transaction while the staff receives the full tip. The toilets were clean and gave no cause for concern and the venue is dog-friendly. Our group all enjoyed the atmosphere and the food & drink without any reservations or caveats. We'd happily come back and would certainly recommend it to either locals or anyone happening to stop...

We booked in advance for a party of 8 adults and 2 small children. The service was friendly and attentive. The food however was very poor. We ordered 5 roasts all of which turned up luke warm or cold. The vegetables were very measly. I'm not one for large portions, I much prefer quality over quantity but 1 small carrot, a table spoon of cauliflower cheese and 1 small roast potato is ridiculous. We informed the waiter the food was cold and it was taken away to be warmed.

20 minutes later and we were still waiting at which point I approached the bar to ask for the manager and was informed he was in the cellar and would be up to speak to us.

Another almost 10 minutes passed and finally the manager arrived to discuss. The food just arrived as we were pointing out the issues. The food was warm, not hot but by this point it was almost one and a half hours since we had ordered. The beef was poor to average, the dish under seasoned. The leeks were undercooked and the gravy watery.

Even though the manager did offer a discount I would rather have good quality and pay for it. The only silver lining was the pinot noir was...