The Horse and Groom, Hatfield

A pub that shines like a shaft of light when all around is darkness - to paraphrase a favourite Monty Python sketch. It's true, this is the best pub not just in Hatfield but for miles in most directions. Sadly the Horse and Groom has been a well-kept secret for decades frequented mainly by diehard locals. That's because its location down a quiet side street in Old Hatfield near Hatfield House, makes it almost invisible to out-of-towners.

But since being taken over in July by Ben Gill who managed the Fairway in WGC for years I have a feeling that this ancient pub's limited popularity is about to widen. The cozy oak-beamed single bar Horse and Groom has been a pub since the 17th century although the building is much older.

What now separates it from any other pub in the area is not just the impeccably kept cask-conditioned beers, but the revamped menu of freshly made classic British soul food courtesy of Gill Wood, who has masterfully managed the kitchen for 14 years.

Ben lovingly tends five hand pumps (soon to be six) currently pouring Greene King Abbot Ale, Fullers London Pride, Sharp's Doom Bar, Caledonian Flying Scotsman and Black Sheep Bitter. Watch out for Fuller's ESB in the next few weeks.

In the five moths that Ben has managed the pub I have not had a hint of a bad pint - and I visit the pub almost every day. I marvel at the way that these carefully kept living beers can subtlely change flavour over the course of a few days as the barrel swiftly empties.

And so to the food: the lunch time menu is classic pub fare made almost exclusively from scratch. How many pubs in Hertfordshire can claim that they make their own steak and kidney, steak and Stilton or steak and Abbot Ale pies on the premises ? I can't think of one. Other favourites are scampi, liver and bacon just like mother never used to make, jacket potatoes and enormous sandwiches on baguettes. My favourite is stuffed with two locally sourced sausages and fried onions. Creamy cole slaw completes this most satisfying lunch. Portions are all very generous and prices most reasonable.

Just when you though it couldn't get any better, from Tuesday November 1 the pub is offering free sausages and mash from 6-10pm when you buy a drink costing 3 pounds or more. Who said there's no such thing as free dinner.

The atmosphere is friendly and inclusive. Even if you've never been in the pub before you are not made to feel like an intruding outsider. And if you want to get swept up in conversations as varied as the best way to cook alligator or the current price of silver, the bar is the best place to be. Worth driving quite a few miles to visit. There's usually parking outside or in the car park behind the pub.

27 Oct 2011 17:20