Humo Watford — Restaurant in Watford

We actually mostly enjoyed our experience here except toward the end. We ordered from the 2 course Lunch Menu. I liked the grilled chicken wings and my fiancé enjoyed the sourdough. I didn’t particularly care for the bread as it was cold. However, we both agreed the chicken wings were delicious. We both got the grilled chicken sandwich, and it was okay. A little too much cheese for me (like it was drenched to the point the bread got soggy), and we didn’t really taste the chimichurri sauce on either of our burgers. My fiancé got the truffle mashed potatoes as his side, and they were decadent, but my side of grilled veg was somewhat disappointing as it wasn’t seasoned with anything. Not even salt and pepper. I ended up dipping them into the truffled mash so there was some sort of flavor.

We opted to get a slice of the cheesecake and it was awful. I’ve traveled all over the world and have eaten all kinds of cheesecake. We read the reviews and everyone said the cheesecake was a must: it definitely was not. Could not have been more disappointed. When it was sat down, we noticed it looked wet. As if it was runny. Which, if you eat cheesecake, isn’t really supposed to happen. I took a tentative bite and instantly spit it out. It was sour, a lot like spoiled milk. My fiancé tried it and also instantly spit it out. I think (and hope) that we got a bad slice. We politely and promptly alerted the waitress, and she took it back, apologized, and omitted it from our bill. Unfortunately, because we were near the kitchen window, we could hear the complaining and rude comments from the chef(s) in the kitchen. After that, we decided to get the bill instead of trying the other lunch menu dessert.

As we were paying, the waitress asked us what we didn’t like about the cheesecake, and I stated that I have eaten many cheesecakes (it is literally my favorite dessert) and have never had one so sour. She appeared concerned, but then when she went back to the window and delivered our feedback, we could hear the laughter and comments from the kitchen, and the waitress, as if we were purposefully intending to insult the chef(s). We put on our coats and as we were walking out, the waitress said something like “that’s them”. Not sure why we needed to be pointed out? We thought the rest of the meal was fine, but the experience toward the end made us definitely reluctant to come back.

I was a waitress for 5 years and worked in food service/hospitality for 10, and would have never been so blatantly rude to guests. Talk shit once they leave, if you’re really so bothered, but not while guests are there. We weren’t disrespectful, high maintenance, or complaining about every aspect of our meal. We were never rude to staff whatsoever, so we’re both perplexed as to what could have caused such a rude reaction. To be frank, from what I know and have seen in my 10 years in the industry, the chef(s) could have tried the cheesecake that they were so vehemently defending and see what the guests are talking about.

My fiancé and I were excited to try somewhere new, as we were spending the day in Watford, but we were extremely disappointed by the end. Maybe the night service is better, but I do not think we will be coming back to try it.

We liked the atmosphere, as it was very chill. Good music playing, comfortable seating, and despite being on the high street it felt very cozy. That seems to be the only...

DISAPPOINTING Edit for Humo after they reply on my review, awfully disappointing and disrespectful!!! As I mentioned in my original review below, the menu was completely different from website and I regret not taking a pic to the menu as I’m absolutely sure the tacos were chicken!! They were two options and I chose the chicken which was old tough wings, I can’t believe they’re claiming it was skate, absolutely NOT. And if it was is even worse because that shows how overcooked and awful it was.

I had high expectations after checking the website and instagram but it was rather disappointing, food was okay but I wanted to try something that was on the menu online but unfortunately there was a completely different and much more basic menu when we got there, so we had some bits that were okay except for the tacos that were tiny and the chicken in it tasted old and dry and the bbq sauce on them didn’t go well with the “guacamole” at all, drinks as aperol spritz and Campari and soda were good but I had a ‘pornstar’ cocktail that tasted nice but just like drinking juice, no alcohol whatsoever (also the waiter forgot to order it so it took ages to come). Toilet was very small and ugly, but seemed clean, music was terrible, and loud, the waiter was nice in putting it down but after a while it came back to be loud and boring, no wonder why the place was almost empty in a Saturday night, £139 for very average dinner for 2, not worth it. Edit. I forgot to mention the dessert, they only had two options and my husband went for the chocolate lava cake, I tried a bit and I found it AWFUL, the sponge was all wet and soggy so no much of a lava effect, probably because it was heated in the microwave at high temp as it was also super hot

I’m shocked by your response and lack of accountability for this as I can swear I ordered the chicken tacos, I regret not taking a picture of the menu, but I never thought you would come up with this answer and disrespect towards my experience as I have been in many restaurants around the world and I have never seen anything like this.

I hope you realise that my review was absolutely honest based on my own experience and that instead of replying so condescendingly you should have taking it as a constructive feedback as it...

When restaurants fail to live up to expectations we call them out. But when somewhere surprises us with just how good it is, then we should also not hesitate to let others know. This is review of @Humo in Watford town centre. Watford is not exactly a hip destination ~ but it was a Thursday night, and we were meeting friends who live locally for a catch up, so we were intrigued, and thought we would give it a try - we were so glad that we did! The restaurant has a slightly industrial vibe decor wise, a great bar area, an open kitchen, and feels young and trendy ( neither couple are either of these things). The food is influenced by two of my favourite cuisines - Spanish tapas ,and Japanese. Humo means smoke in Spanish and the restaurant bills itself as Modern Firehouse - many dishes are cooked in a charcoal oven. Service was professional and attentive (not something often achieved in local restaurants). I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, which was beautifully presented- and probably one of the best cocktails I have ever been served in this country. We ordered a couple of tapas dishes to start - padron peppers, beef croquettes and also two Japanese dishes chicken gyoza, and salmon nigiri. Each dish was not only great to look at - but tasted amazing too. My own main course was SO GOOD - lamb chops cooked over charcoal with an amazingly tasty miso glaze, also served on a bed of beautifully prepared vegetables. I could have dined on anything with that miso glaze - so delicious! Others had duck breast - a generous and perfectly prepared dish, and bao buns and a selection of wonderful vegetable side dishes ( there are lots of dishes for non meat eaters) Finally my husband was the only one who ordered desert ( but we did have 4 spoons!) and succumbed to the joys of the baked Catalan cheesecake. Every plate went back to the kitchen clean - and we all know that a clean plate is a happy plate! Prices are not cheap by any means ( is anything these days?) - but not overpriced. But we all agreed that we were really glad to have tried this Watford restaurant and would all be very happy to come back any time. I urge you to give it a try - you won’t regret it. #Tasty...