Tag Archives: st albans restaurants

Sunday roast at The Peahen

Posted on January 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Do you know how hard it is to find a place serving roasts in St Albans at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon? Almost impossible it seems, if my recent experience is anything to go by.

Sunday roast at The Peahen

Sunday roast at The Peahen

The stylist, out for a visit from the big smoke, really wanted Sunday dinner so off we went in search of food. We first tried The Cock, to be met with a very rude man (maybe the restaurant manager on the day) who looked at us with absolute disdain and answered a very curt no when we asked if they were still serving food. He didn’t even bother to answer our question about where might still have dinner. But The Cock was saved by a very, very nice barmaid, who, realising the guy was being an idiot, quickly suggested about four or five other places.

So next we ventured to Bar 62, which was so busy we couldn’t get the attention of staff to find out if they still had food, and then to The Boot, which wasn’t serving dinner any longer.

Finally, we went to The Peahen, a rather beautiful-looking pub/bar, and got us some roasts. Both of us had chicken – the best bit was the braised red cabbage, which was amazing. The rest was good enough, but nothing special. Came to about £30 for two mains and some cokes.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Herfordshire restaurants

Tagged , , ,

A birthday lunch at the Cock Inn

Posted on October 16, 2011 | 1 Comment

The Good Food Guide has banned the use of gastropub, it doesn’t like the word one bit. But sometimes, I think it’s necessary. There’s a difference between a pub selling two roast dinners for £7.95 and a pub that offers game pie or slow braised beef onglet. Why not have a word to describe this difference?

We kept walking by what I’d called a gastropub in St Albans and every time I read the menu, my mouth would water. So come my birthday, himself suggested we go there – The Cock Inn – for lunch. I was very excited.

There was a bit of confusion when we arrived. We were standing in the waiting area and the barman asked if we wanted drinks, so we ordered some. Then I think the restaurant staff thought we didn’t want to eat, so they ignored us for a bit. Eventually we got a table and, after a little bit of prompting, himself even got the coffee he’d ordered.

When it came to starters, I opted for the chargrilled black pudding, served with smoky bacon, celeriac and apple salad, and aioli. It was good, but I though the pudding could have done with a couple of more minutes on the grill.

Black pudding at the Cock Inn

Black pudding at the Cock Inn

Himself ordered the panne of poached egg, with crushed new potatoes, wilted spinach and béchamel sauce. This was excellent – he was very impressed.

Panne of poached egg at the Cock Inn

Panne of poached egg

For mains, I ordered a pork dish that came with butter beans and other lovely things. This was really good and very filling.

Pork and Butter beans at the Cock Inn

Pork and Butter beans at the Cock Inn

He ordered fish and chips and was slightly underwhelmed. I thought the mushy peas – which were beautifully minty – were lovely. Himself wasn’t as convinced.

Overall, it was a good meal and despite its rather impressive menu, the Cock Inn is as cheap as chip – two courses for £8.95 Monday to Saturday between 12 and 3pm.

If you’re around St Albans, it’s worth a visit. It’s not pretentious as gastropubs are sometimes thought to be – but it does offer very good pub food.

48 St Peters Street, St Albans, Herlfordshire, AL1 3NF

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Herfordshire restaurants

Tagged , ,

A lazy lunch in St Albans

Posted on October 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

I really do have a thing against chain restaurants. I remember having a lovely meal with two of my best friends at a Bella Italia somewhere in London soon after I moved over to England. I didn’t know it was a chain and I enjoyed the food – it was cheap and tasty and the staff were lovely. Then I found out it was one of many, so I haven’t been back. Silly, probably.

Anyway, Cafe Rouge is another one I try to avoid. I went once when a friend, my older brother and his girlfriend were over visiting me in Leeds – and I don’t really have fond memories. The food wasn’t good and the staff weren’t nice.

But, since we moved to St Albans, himself has wanted to go to the Cafe Rouge here – it’s in a beautiful building and he’s an engineer. Plus, he claimed he’d never been to a Cafe Rouge before and wanted to see if I was exaggerating about it (but I’m almost sure he was there the day I went!). Anyway, on his birthday weekend, I finally relented and we went for some lunch on Saturday afternoon. I asked if I could use my Tastecard and the waitress asked if I’d booked a table. I hadn’t, but the place was dead. She hummed and hawed, then said it would be fine.

Cafe Rouge's art deco large windows

Cafe Rouge's art deco large windows

With the Tastecard, the waitress said it was two for one on all dishes. So we decided to order four petits plats – fromage blue (blue cheese, walnuts and bread), houmous and flatbreads, rillettes de canard (duck and smoked chicken coarse pate with bread), and merguez (spicy beef and lamb sausage with harissa mayo). The dishes were all good – especially the sausage.

Four petits plats

Four petits plats

Himself also ordered a Cesar salad, while I opted for the salmon nicoise salad. His was ok – mine was actually, surprising, pretty perfect.

Salmon nicoise

Salmon nicoise at Cafe Rouge

We were there for a good while, reading papers, chatting, nibbling on our dishes – and we had a nice time. It was a much better than the last time I went to a Cafe Rouge. But the staff weren’t exactly amazing and when the bill came, it was obvious that the Tastecard discount didn’t apply to all dishes on the menu like the waitress said – only the salads were two for one. We didn’t say anything.

Cesar salad at Cafe Rouge

Cesar salad at Cafe Rouge

Cafe Rouge St Albans, 29 Holywell Hill, AL1 3LB

Presentation: 8/10

Food: 7/10

Value: 6.5/10

Venue: 8/10

Service: 5/10

Average: 6.9/10

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Herfordshire restaurants

Tagged , ,