Hertfordshire Restaurant Guide

This “really great country gastropub”, in a hamlet in a secluded wooded valley, offers “carefully cooked food, much of it locally sourced, and a good atmosphere”. Only one complaint: “it’s difficult to get a table” – although drop-ins are always welcome, and the management insists nobody will go hungry.

“A great local restaurant for that special occasion” – chef Phil Thompson, formerly of Auberge du Lac, has built a loyal following in the area for his town-centre operation (which changed its name from Thompson@Darcy’s in January 2018). “The kitchen is adaptable and everything is freshly cooked on the premises”; “it’s very exciting to find food this good in St Albans”.

“Always buzzy from the set lunch to late-night dinners”, Andrei Lussmann’s flagship has an enthusiastic local following for its “consistent” menu of MSC-labelled sustainable fish and “reasonable prices”. The former PizzaExpress executive has another four ‘casual dining’ venues under the same name in Hertfordshire, with investment from Luke Johnson.

“A welcome change from the chain coffee shops that are all too evident in town”, this “busy” and “good value” family-run cafe offers “great-value homemade Italian food and fantastic coffee” (all “freshly made each day and served with a smile”).

Opposite art deco cinema The Odyssey, this slick banquette-lined venue wins solid feedback for the main event – grass-fed, 21-day aged and sourced from the Queen’s own butcher; now with two siblings in Chandler’s Cross and (as of late) Beaconsfield.

With its “interesting” and “beautifully flavoured” dishes to share or hog, and “using only organic meat and poultry”, this “noisy” Turkish dining room is “really unexpected for a not particularly amazing location (off the High St) and in an otherwise culinary desert”. (There’s a sibling Tabure on Berkhamsted’s High Street.)