please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
We went out for a Christmas drink last night. We were on our way to The three hammers, but decided to stop off here for a quick one. As there was 8 of us (not all blokes either) we walked in to see if we could find seats, as we walked round (and I thought I'd misheard this) the barman said "Thats right just walk through". A great start. So we ordered, and ended up taking back my wifes half of lager, as the barman had given us a shandy, which he insisted we had ordered. After a row , he then, and with a very surly attitude ,gave us a replacement. Now it was a very snowy night, the pub had very few people, he was hardly rushed off his feet, so what was with this fellas attitude. So we necked our drinks, and took a very icy walk to the Hammers, were we should have gone in the first place. Avoid this place, it's an absolute hole of a pub.
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Must have improved recently based on some of the older reviews. I got decent beer, service was good and friendly. Good atmosphere in the pub, I'll be back...
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Very good roasts! Good portions and very tasty! Friendly and funny staff. Good for a family meal with children!
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Further to my review of 20 Jan 2008, food improving and some beer selection getting better.
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Had Sunday lunch there as a group and many of us were disappointed. The vegetarian option was not available - but they didn't tell us until they had started serving some of the other meals. No fizzy mineral water available or hot chocolate or decaff coffee, both on the dessert menu. No children's menu although they have a "family room" and selection of toys and they weren't prepared to provide a small portion of anything. Food was unspectacular and service slow.
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A turd of a pub, trying to be some pretentious wine bar...food is bad fish and chips the best thing on the menu, not really a friendly place to be.
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No longer good in parts so no longer even a curate's egg. Any passing heavy goods drivers feel free to take the front off again as it desperately needs a shake up.
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Poor quality.
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I have been using this pub regularly for many years only because it is convenient and sells a belgian white beer which I like. It has never been very good and very often serves short measures. If I receive a short measure I always ask for a top up and I am regularly informed, by somebody barely out of nappies, that the head is legally a part of the pint. However, I have always got a top up in the end.
It has now, yet again, changed management, and the first time I asked for a top up I became embroiled in an argument which resulted in me not paying for the short pint, walking out, and deciding not to use this pub again while the present management is in charge.
The problem is that the present manager has no idea of customer service and, even worse, does not care.
He would rather lose a regular customer than serve a full pint.
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I got served my cottage pie which had funny lumps of whole potato, in a dog bowl..or that's what my husband and I were reminded of!
Very basic, there was a scary looking teddy being hung over the bar at one point..
Looks nice from outside but just don't do it!
anonymous - 10 Nov 2007 19:58 |
This place has nosedived.
badly kept ale
clueless staff
feeble service
high prices
poncey food
short measure pints
appalling house clearance furniture
Theres a million reasons to take your hard earned elsewhere.
However they do have lots of pretty xmas lights - work that one out!
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This pub does try hard, but seems to miss the mark on occasions. The Prices for food are over the top, and £5-6 for a Birdseye burger in a bap from the BBQ is outrageous. Probably was better a couple of years ago, we have noticed a few more undesirable types making it their local of late, which is a shame. Probably best for a winter pint midweek.
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A curate’s egg if ever there was one. I like the décor and the atmosphere and they play nice relaxed tunes at an inoffensive volume. The beer’s not bad, although they do go in for a few too many zany choices rather than doing simple things well, and the wine is pretty decent. On the other hand the service really ain’t all that, the garden is tatty and down at heel and the food is an abomination. Basically they’ve tried to steer away from standard pub grub which is fine if you can pull it off but they can’t. The menu’s clichéd and unimaginative, the ingredients are poor quality and the cooking is just plain bad. The prices are silly, St Albans is never going to be a cheap place to drink but that’s not an excuse to actively rip your clientele off.
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I come here for lunch quite often and find the food and beer very acceptable , but the prices are very steep,especially wine.The bric a brac furniture somehow works , and this is a little different to other Mitchells and Butler chain pubs like the Embers ( I think this is called a "Castle") The garden is ok ,but be warned its right on the roundabout ,so you get alot of traffic fumes,in fact it has its unique feel down to the fact a lorry hit one early morning and they had to do a quick refurb on it.
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Great gastro pub. Wide variety of bottled ciders and belgian beers and a fine selection of lagers and ales available on tap. This small pub has great character, there is something charming about the old furniture and the food is superb. There is a new manager who seems to have gotten things right. The pub just got a children license too, so its a pub for the family now too. The garden is great in the summer, with large shelters for the smokers and heaters too. As for all those people who complain about the prices, if you want cheap, flat carlsberg, coupled with underage teenagers drinking smirnoff ice, go to one of the generic pubs further in town. Otherwise, check this pub out.
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Very average. I wouldn't bother walking out from St Albans, not worth the effort (if you're not killed trying to cross the road and get in there). Food and drink is alright, it's nice during the summer sitting outside.
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Good sunshades (!), good food. crap beer.
Take your pick.
Exterminate!
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Popped in last week and the pub had improved, certainly to a higher standard than implied in recent messages below. There were 2 guest ales in addition to the usual Bombardier and Youngs, and the barstaff were working quite hard.
A flash in the pan? Possibly, but credit should be given where it's due. I've uprated my score from 4 to 7 out of ten.
Incidentally, which King Harry are we talking about?
anonymous - 17 Oct 2006 11:55 |
A favourite trick of this pub is to run out of ale the instant the sun comes out.
Previous reviewer is quite right the service is, and has always been, awfull and the prices scandalous.
How this ever made it into the GBG is beyond me.
anonymous - 14 Jul 2006 12:29 |
Not only did they charge me £4.60 for a pint of Bombardier and some pistachio nuts last night, it wasn't even a full pint of beer - more like 95%. I would have complained but the 2 bargirls were so engrossed in their chatting that I didn't bother. Other customers were also treated fairly brusquely. All the fancy wine and champagne lists and posh menus don't mean a thing if the basics aren't done properly.
I shan't return to this ghastly pub in a hurry, if ever. 4/10
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New manager in the last few weeks, last night he was the only pair of hands behind the bar that I could see, did pretty well on his own though.
Nice pint of Spitfire and Youngs Special.
Pretentious and expensive menu continues
Furniture still cack.
All the best to the new manager (can't remember his name) - he's from Namibia you know
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More news. The King Harry was threatened by demolition and "relocation" as part of a proposed housing development. But the plan has just been rejected by the local council, so the KH lives to fight another day! Apparently it is a Grade-2 listed pub - a bit like the furniture, oops, hush my mouth!
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Hmmm. Puzzled by the differing opinions below, I finally visited the King Harry yesterday lunchtime. All was revealed: it's a bit of a hit-and-miss pub!
First the good points. The range of drinks is not extensive, but fair enough; I enjoyed 2 very good points of Bombardier. The 2 barstaff on duty were fine, doing the "I'll be with you in a minute" routine when serving other people, and regularly collecting up dirty glasses. Entertainment was provided by a good selection of music, and I had great fun looking through the window at the motorists making a pig's breakfast of the double-mini-roundabout
outside.
Now for the dodgy bits. The furniture really is a strange mixture of tat, and looks as if it fell off the backs of various lorries. Worse, the pub's atmosphere is a bit odd, with the regular customers hogging the back bar, leaving the front bar occupied by passing misfits and weirdos such as myself. I enjoyed the beer, but left the King Harry feeling that on a different day, at a different time, one's experience as a customer would be totally different. Truly great pubs aren't like this.
To regain my equilibrium, I then had two drinks in the ever-reliable "Garibaldi", followed - oh dear - by a couple more in the good old "Boot". I can't remember what happened in the evening.
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This pub is OK. Youngs, Bombardier, lots of wine ... nothing wrong with that!
anonymous - 18 Feb 2006 19:22 |
Nice place but food a bit bland. Seems to have lost somthing but what, I don't know. Will try it in the summer.
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Change in management Dec 2005, who knows what that will bring. So far irriatated one or two regulars that weren't allowed in on New Years eve, despite being nowhere near full at 8pm. That will help the accounts I'm sure when they don't come back.
Beer continues to be changeable but overpriced. Service is only available when the staff have finished chatting to each other Real-Al has the right idea.
Oh yes, where do they get that horrid second hand furniture, are they clearing out slums in the area?
Oh for a traditional pub landlord!
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Comfortable interior. Although a Free House only the area's usual suspects were on for real ale (Greene King, Young's, Courage, Wells). I can't remark on condition as no one was motivated enough to serve me. I took my hard-earned pay and patronage elsewhere. 6/10.
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Good pub,ifact the only decent Ember Ive ever been in,good beer and nice fish finger sarnies
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Nice pub - spent a nice saturday afternoon there last week supping ale (and Pimms but keep that bit quiet!)
Good selection of beers
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Good selection of beers usually on but not always in drinkable condition. Several occasions over the last few years they have run out of all real ales and there has only been lager to drink(puh! puh! yuck). Just not reliable enough on the ales. Food looks OK but poncy and overpriced.
anonymous - 21 Apr 2005 14:22 |
Not a bad place. I've had some agreeable ales there, though they're never top-notch - always slightly "dead". The food is acceptable, though pretty basic. The garden's good in the summer, but there's always the main road running alongside...
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Great selection of beer which improves during and shortly after the St.Albans beer festival.
Good beer garden, which is heated when it's cold.
Chris Scott - 31 Aug 2004 16:55 |
Good atmosphere and nice lazy sofas if you get in quick enough. Bab B Ques in summer weekends though the rest of the menu changes regularly and can be poor, especially for veggies. Fantastic wine and beer selection though.
Julie Anderson - 13 Aug 2004 18:05 |
