The Potting Shed Cafe — Restaurant in St Albans

We enjoyed the food but unfortunately we had a stressful and uncomfortable experience due to the heavy-handed approach from staff to enforcing very strict rules on dog behaviour. There was a list of rules on the door which specified 'no barking, no whining'. We have an anxious rescue dog so we take a very proactive approach to managing his behaviour and ensuring he is calm in public anyways. We always come prepared with a blanket for him to settle in a space out of the way and chew sticks and treats to keep him calm and occupied.

As we approached our table where friends were already sitting our dog barked once as a greeting because he was excited to see a particular person. We immediately noticed two staff members watching over us and making comments as we sat down and then one of them came over and said 'did you not see the rules? It says no barking.' Already our dog had settled down after that single bark but this made us feel very uncomfortable and stressed because the implication was that we might be asked to leave if he made any noise again.

We regularly take our dog places which specify 'well behaved dogs are welcome' and we totally accept that general rule - our dog is very well behaved and we put a lot of effort into ensuring that is the case. But this very strict rule on absolutely no barking or whining feels very extreme and unmanageable given that dogs - like children - are live beings with emotions and reactions which can't always be 100% prevented. In fact, dogs whine when they are trying to communicate something they need - like a drink or needing to go to the toilet. I'm sure the staff would rather a dog whined once or twice to alert the owner that it needed the toilet than they simply went to the toilet in the restaurant.

If our dog had been barking uncontrollably or it was clear we were not taking any steps to manage his behaviour, the staff's approach would have been fair enough. What's more, the restaurant is busy and noisy with families so we cannot understand why a bark once or twice is seen to be a huge problem - it's virtually undetectable by anyone who is further than a few feet away. I'm sure that the staff would never dream of saying to a parent trying to calm down their child 'we don't allow crying children' - so why is the situation so very different for responsible dog owners whose dog is behaving very normally.

Sadly, we spent the entire meal extremely stressed that - however unlikely - something might happen which would cause our dog to bark and this would be treated as a huge problem. It completely ruined what should have been a birthday celebration.

We were not the only patrons with this view. A woman who also had a dog sitting at a table next to us said to us as she was leaving 'I really don't think this place can claim it is dog friendly'. Our advice to this restaurant would be that there is no obligation to allow dogs inside, but if you make the decision to do so and call yourselves dog friendly, then you have to accept that dogs are not silent statues and there will be some evidence that there are dogs inside. If you want it to feel like there are no dogs around, I suggest you don't let dogs inside with the obvious exception for...

Sadly we don’t be coming back to the potting shed again. Whilst the food is still excellent, the management are focusing so heavily on getting customers in and out quickly that it’s no longer a relaxing experience to come here. We felt hurried from the moment we arrived, bring repeatedly reminded that our table was needed again at 2pm. The waitresses, whilst lovely, had clearly been given instructions to rush customers through. My friends plates were taken before I’d even finished & then mine was taken as soon as I put my knife and fork down, while I was still eating my last mouthful. We were immediately asked if we’d like pudding & hot drinks and when we asked for a moment, we were told again that we only had until 2pm & our table was needed. This was at only 1.15pm so we still had 45 minutes left. All of life is a rush and a stress & there are only rare moments when we can relax and chat to friends without interruption. Your approach to turning tables quickly meant that even our lunch together felt stressful and rushed. We knew that we only had until 2pm, as you make it very clear on booking. To then spend the whole lunch experience reminding and reinforcing this time limit is unnecessary and frankly unpleasant & it makes you feel like a nuisance rather than a valued customer. The final straw was when the waitress brought the reservation sign for the 2 o’clock booking, put it on the table and told us again that we needed to finish up. We were drinking tea/coffee at this point and it was 17 minutes to 2. When I let the waitress know how rushed we felt and said it would have been nice to drink our tea in peace, instead of apologising she became defensive and reinforced the policy. Such a shame. This is the third time it’s been like this and we...

I was not excited at all by my recent visit to The Potting shed, my salad was so boring, it had potentially lovely ingredients of beetroot, butternut squash, pine nuts, feta cheese and leaves but it was all super tasteless..and the leaves were wilted and unappitising...they had no olive oil to dress the salad only rapeseed oil that I cannot eat..The basalmic vinegar was very cheap and bitter to taste. My Husband had an open sandwiche which was tarragon chicken on sourdough toast but it was so dry and came with an undressed salad. The chips were nice and my cappuccino was also good. The service was good. All in all not a good experience foodwise and I'd be hesitant to return. Shame!

Update Nov 2021:

I have since returned to this absolute gem of a cafe and had a wonderful lunch with my husband (separate review posted).

Based on my latest experience , the beautiful food, excellent service and lovely warm atmosphere, I would definitely recommend this cafe wholeheartedly!.. hence, my updated review here also!

Btw, it is also worth noting that well behaved dogs are welcome so if you are in St Albans on a lovely walk with your pooches, head here after for an...