Auberge du Lac — Restaurant in Welwyn Hatfield

The absolutely beautiful building and setting really gives a wonderful first impression.. However upon entry it was quite clear that the Interior Design really needed an update/uplift/some love (I'm available). I didn't notice a pre meal bar as we were led straight down the old stairs to the restaurant which immediately looks super dated. No cosy fixed seating, sensitive lighting, luxurious furniture or anything sumptuous for that matter. It felt a bit stuffy and pretentious which thankfully eased as the afternoon progressed and the Guests changed. Contrastingly, the staff service throughout was exceptional, warm, welcoming, obviously well trained... The main event...the food very hit and miss. The main negative being that my wives' meal arrived luke warm... so she sat through the whole main watching us eat then we did the same afterwards. Not good enough at the prices being paid i'm afraid, very very disappointing. In terms of the food quality, the canapes, focaccia and starters were all delicious and well presented. The roast pork belly was sadly, underwhelming. The potatoes and Colliflower cheese aside, it lacked flavour, heat and finesse. The pork belly was so fatty it had barely any meat texture. Soggy pre made Yorkshires, thin tasteless gravy and watery veg though nicely presented were just poor.. Being a Northerner, bad gravy is unforgiveable! The caramel tart desert was back up to a high standard to finish the meal well though my wives chocolate cake was dry and pretty much like a generic birthday cake in flavour. My daughters fixed children meal displayed so little finesse and cooking skill it could have been any pub, anywhere... just here at more than double the price. This place has amazing 'bones' and potential but smacks as 'set ones way' and complacency. Sorry to say with the abundance of local options, we are unlikely...

Food was good, a lovely location, and in the restaurant the staff are attentive. But second rate customer service by the front of house team means I give this restaurant only two stars. Firstly, our pre dinner drinks took absolutely ages to arrive, a fact not noticed by the two members of the front of house team, and we had to ask them to check where our drinks were. Secondly, my daughter is vegan and, despite phoning in advance to tell them, and being advised the chef would put together a choice of vegan options for her, she was given the vegetarian menu which didn't have many choices on it, and none of the mains were vegan. When we asked for the vegan choices we were told she could choose something off the veggie menu and they would leave out the non vegan bits. Of the choice of two mains, one was 'Slow Cooked Hens Egg', so not sure how that would have worked! The attitude of the front of house staff when I discussed this with them was unhelpful - their initial response included "we had a vegan in for lunch and the menu was fine for them"! It took some time and persuasion for them to go talk to the chef and request a dish be adapted for her. (In the end my daughter really enjoyed her meal, but I'm surprised a restaurant like this isn't more up to speed with today's dietary trends). In summary, at these prices I think it's fair to expect first rate service, but the lack of attention and responsiveness we experienced from the front of house team at the beginning really took the edge off our evening. I suggest Auberge du Lac runs some staff fresher training in what good customer...

A slightly bizarre experience - we were welcomed warmly, taken to our table, and given a menu for pre-dinner drinks. No food menus were brought. We ordered drinks, which arrived, but still no menus! So we asked for them. No wine list brought. So we asked for one. All rather odd.

The starters were mixed - a bland crab risotto, a rather vinegary tartare, an excellent parfait and a crispy egg which needed to be runnier, but was tasty, if too salty.

The odd service continued: three of the four of us had finished do the waiter cleared our plates including the one of our friend who hadn’t finished, who was left holding a cracker in her hand!

The mains were again mixed and generally over salty. The ravioli were excellent; the steak good but in a sauce which was heavy handed on the seasoning, the fish pleasant, again slightly salty and verging on the overcooked.

We had chocolate soufflé for pudding - generally well-made and tasty, but again the service was odd - an ice cream was pushed into it at the table by the waiter which caused a good amount of soufflé to fall inelegantly onto the serving plate; the cheese plate was an interesting but small selection of well-kept cheese.

Good petit fours (though we were surprised that one containing nuts was offered to us all despite one of us not eating nuts, which we had mentioned).

So probably four stars over all, but only just. It’s good to see the restaurant open again but based on this experience, while it’s fine dining, it’s got some way to go to reach the standard of cooking I’m sure they’d like...