Jolly Fisherman, Stanstead St Margarets

Following on my review of the Jolly Fisherman in Stanstead Abbots, I posted my comments to McMullen Pubs. I was delighted to have a very prompt response with apologies and after investigation, I was sent a voucher with assurances that they have reviewed their practices and improvements have been made. I now look forward to returning courtesy of McMullens and will comment further.

24 Sep 2012 12:55

Jolly Fisherman, Stanstead St Margarets

Everything is jolly but the food!

After lovely a day out, four of us decided to have a pub supper and saw the Jolly Fisherman as we were passing through Stanstead Abbots. It looked idyllic being a hot sunny day and with the river location, it was just too wonderful to miss. The atmosphere was pleasant and everywhere looked clean, we also noticed quite a few group reservations, it was a good sign. Being early Saturday evening, the place was lively with mainly family groups and friends enjoying the garden area.

We started off very well. The service was not bad considering it was busy. We loved the wine, the house red was particularly enjoyable, room temperature and silky smooth. The chardonnay was equally good, fruity and chilled. Unfortunatley, it all went downhill from there. Two of us ordered the Baked Enchiladas, the others had a chef's special Thai Prawn Curry. Our friend had a Beef Nachos sharers dish as a main. Frankly, it would have been good to see a main meal salad option, being a hot sunny day.

The Enchiladas looked like they were cooked in a microwave - two small non descript rolls were dished on a small round plate. I didn't see any bubbling cheese on top, there was pockets of water and the bread itself was quite a soggy dough consistency. Definitely not baked. However, it tasted OK. A small garnish sized salad was placed on a hot plate and wilted and no dressing was provided. The Thai King Prawn curry had about 4 small prawns and no more than 4 tiny crackers. The Beef Nachos was mainly corn chips and little substance with the jalapenos being on the mushy side. The average cost of the main meals was just under �9 each. I have had better sized starters from other chain pub restaurants - ie Harvester, Wetherspoons, Old English Inns. As we were all very hungry we ate up and left stating we were disappointed. If it was not for my elderly mother being in the group, we would have just got up and left. I think we were all better off buying the same food in a supermarket and just heating it up ourselves at a fraction of the cost mirroring the basic and plain presentation with no attention to detail. We went home still hungry.

I would return again to the pub and it is in a good location, but definitely not for food.

10 Sep 2012 15:15