Little Offley Restaurant Guide

“Enjoyable” farmhouse in a countryside setting just north of London that’s “more restaurant than pub, and one of the best places in the area for good cooking” – “there’s lobster and oysters, you could ask for nothing more!” – from “an excellent and varied menu, alongside personable-but-efficient service and a good choice of reasonably priced wines”. It’s a “lively, vibrant” spot, and “in summer, tables out in the garden are lovely, particularly as the conservatory dining room can be very noisy”.

2023 Review: This village pub-with-rooms just off the A1 offers “attractively presented food” on a menu which is “a cut above standard gastropub fare” – best enjoyed in the “new outside dining area, which in summer evokes a lovely Mediterranean feel”.

“Tucked away in a little corner of Hertfordshire”, this pub/restaurant from “brothers in perfection” Tom (self-taught chef) & Ben (ex-Fat Duck manager) Bainbridge trades in meals that are “innovative, fun and enjoyable”, with an “absolute focus upon flavour” – “staff are warm, caring and always willing to have a laugh”, while the “impressive and comprehensive wine list covers the globe”. (For one fan, it all even added up to “an experience well worth an awful 58-mile drive, mostly on the M25!”). Top Menu Tip – “the most astonishingly flavoursome carrot purée ever tasted”.

“Beautifully situated” beside a lake on the grand Brocket Hall Estate, this bucolic but luxurious former hunting lodge is acknowledged by fans as “a truly great choice for a special occasion”. It’s known for a high standard of traditional Anglo-French cuisine and for (older) traditional types it’s “very pleasing that all fellow diners make an effort to dress accordingly”. But it’s also often attracted lukewarm feedback over many years, and has a stop-go record with numerous long periods of closure, changes of chef, refurbs and relaunches, yet another of which is underway in September 2025 following a closure in May 2025.

“Traditional village pub” serving “very good classic French food (“frog’s legs, boeuf bourguignon, crème caramel as a sample three-course lunch”) at a good price” – “Laurent [Brydniak, le patron] runs it very well and always makes a good occasion”. “Hidden down a quiet lane, it’s well worth the journey” – and makes a handy option if you’re visiting nearby Brocket Hall.

2024 Review: “All food pubs should be like this!” – according to fans of this “perfect pit stop” on the outskirts of town. “You can’t fault the intent or enthusiasm of the service and the food, if unadventurous, is very decent”.

In the safe hands of Phil Thompson (whose CV includes becoming Head Chef at the Auberge du Lac at age 24), this decade-old venture continues to do the casual fine-dining thing with aplomb. Reporters “like that there are a number of small rooms” in which to dine (upstairs is the main restaurant, and there’s also an airy conservatory opening onto the Victorian-style courtyard), while the “imaginative cooking” is “creative and beautifully presented” too, whether you opt for the set menus (£55 or £69 per person for two or three courses) or fancier tasting menu (£95 or £115 per person for five or seven courses).

“Delicious sharing plates” of Turkish food that is “so much more than you’d expect” (for instance, meat is sourced from the organic Rhug Estate in Wales) draws a steady crowd to this 10-year-old St Albans outfit and its spin-offs in Harpenden and Berkhamsted. “It gets really full and buzzy on a Saturday night – probably one to book well in advance”. Top Tip – “the staff cater brilliantly for allergens”.

“Yummy mummy hangouts” that have proliferated across the capital and its surrounding high streets over the past few years, with “relaxed and colourful décor” and “friendly waiting staff”. They are very accommodating to families, both “child-friendly” and “pooch central, with snacks and water” – although if you don’t bring your own, you might find there are “too many dogs”. The eastern Med-style cooking varies between “fresh and well prepared” at best to “adequate, sometimes slow” – while “bottomless Bloody Mary or Mimosa on a Sunday can be dangerous!”.

Run by Sean Hughes and his family – the dining room at this pub in the Cathedral quarter has built a more-than-local reputation for its “very good cooking”, with headline features being some very fancy steaks, including the option of 1kg of Txuleta Prime Rib for £110 per portion. Top Menu Tip – “Good salt cod brandade; excellent chalk stream trout as is the Gorgonzola soldiers pudding”.

“A consistently good local” from this indie group based in Hertfordshire and with a focus on sustainability – something they pioneered way before it became trendy, running their outposts on green energy and recycling all their waste. Handy for the High Street and the 11th-century cathedral and abbey church, the bright and airy three-floor venue offers “well-sourced, mostly local food” that’s also well priced: £20.95 for two courses, and £23.95 for three.

“A hidden gem, off the beaten track in Ashridge Forest”, this village pub is “well worth finding” for its “very interesting menu (that changes every fortnight) and pretty rural location” just outside London. David & Becky Salisbury have been at the helm for more than 25 years, and ensure that the kitchen keeps abreast of contemporary dietary requirements.

Open in July 2025, a newly opened gastropub set in a 450-year-old coaching inn (that was previously operating as a restaurant). Led by Chef Alex Corley and Operations Manager Adam Msetfi, the pub offers modern British cuisine in a historic setting. Samples dishes include Cornish crab tartlet, elderflower and Granny Smith apple; Brioche doughnuts with pulled beef; Herefordshire rump of beef, Blythburgh Farm pork belly, and North Devon roast chicken.

“Fascinating dishes served with enthusiasm” make a meal at this small tasting menu-only restaurant on the edge of town “a great experience”. Steven Barringer is a “passionate chef” heading a young team “who clearly care” and he takes the time to chat to his guests, while his cooking is both “interesting and subtle”, in particular the “superb fish dishes” and “amazing desserts”.

“Excellent restaurant-quality cooking” – “several notches above typical gastropub standard” – wins fans for this venue on the edge of a common in a “quaint town in leafy Hertfordshire”. Chef and co-owner Matthew Reeder operated a supper club on the premises when it was run as a pub by his father; he later returned with the skills he picked up working in some top-class kitchens (The Typing Room, Galvin Bros, Anglo, where he was head chef), delivering meals that “take some beating”. ‘Steak nights’ do feature, but more characteristic dishes include the likes of Salt Marsh Lamb, Pea à la Française, Black Garlic; or Roasted John Dory, Caper, and Sea Herbs.

2022 Review: Popular with walkers, this attractive eighteenth-century boozer is “very cosy inside and out” (the latter courtesy of a “godsend” of an outdoor tipi). On the culinary front, it's “a cut above pub grub, with surprisingly well-cooked and presented food, especially the fish dishes, and good veggie options too”. “Their own beer (Farr Brew) is also very fresh and tasty.”

A former lockdown project that graduated via pop-ups to a permanent site in 2023, with an enthusiastic social media following: it features New Haven-style pizzas, cooked at low temperatures for a light crust and with a concise choice of toppings. In her March 2024 reivew, the Sunday Times’s Charlotte Ivers declared herself a fan: It’s only pizza, but this one will remind you the magic is still there.