Duke of York, Ganwick Cornerback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I recently noticed that The Duke of York is now one of the Brunning & Price chain of Gastro pubs since April last year, when it underwent a comprehensive renovation, both inside and outside. And as I think they’ve done quite a good job of replacing or retaining a pub feel in their other Hertfordshire establishments, I decided to pop in and have a look.
Internally the pub feel has definitely been brought back and like their other establishments they have done a very good job at attaining a pub and a gastro restaurant inside the same skin.
There is now a central square bar, around which are several comfortable seating areas for eating or just drinking where lots of prints, old photographs, rugs and books, and two open fires have been used to give it a bit of a traditional pub feel. And then off to the left is a separate restaurant area laid for dining. The bar supports five handpumps four ales and a cider and the offers are displayed on a large chalk board above the bar as in their other pubs.
For my visit Adnams Lighthouse, Mole Brewery Barley Mole and Nethergate Growler Bitter were available with the house Ale Brunning & Price Original brewed by Phoenix Brewer being reverse clipped. My pint of Nethergate Growler was very good, but then it should have been at the eye watering and wallet hurting price of £3.90. This makes it one of the most expensive pints in the vicinity and although you can get a 60p discount between 5 and 7PM during the week, the place doesn’t justify that price level.
The same high priced gastro food fare is available as in other Brunning & Price locations, and although I can’t comment as we didn’t eat I strongly recommend you consult the reviews of Trip Advisor for those that have because currently, in line with the couple of comments below, the reports seem to be that the service levels and the quality of food being received does not match the high prices being charged.
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TRULY DREADFUL!! Small portions & expensive.
I ordered a special for the Jubilee, corned beef hash with a fried egg.
The egg was over cooked & broken. The hash was not freshly cooked as you should expect for �8.95. It was warm in places & cold in others. They can't even re-heat food adequately with a microwave. They then serve dangerously under-heated food on cold plates.
No excuses - it's a disgrace.
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This pub was refurbished 5 weeks ago. The inside now has 2 bars, serving 4-5 beers. The Beer wants to be good for �3.50 a pint after all we are not in a busy west end pub!
The Food menu looks good, but again pricey. while the quality of the food was good the amount you get for the amount you pay does not add up. �9.50 for a starter that had 2 scallops, 3 wafer thin bits of pork belly (over done) and some salad that was on its last legs.
The Mains were equally over priced! We queried this with the manager who said well if you want good produce you have to pay! I disagree, I have been to some great gastro pubs in central London, and paid less for better & more! i guess they need to either find a different wholeseler or accept that the markup's are far too high!
We will not go back again, and we will not recomend to our friend in the area Shame
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Very much an attempt at an all round 'dining experience' with 'comfortable' high backed chairs and plenty of cushions making it feel uncomfortable to drinkers. They had four ales on including two from Tring but the Brock bitter wasn't particularly nice.
anonymous - 4 Sep 2011 11:32 |
Very poor menu poorly executed. Strong pungent smell in lobby and no atmosphere whatsoever. Shame as lovely setting and building but falls flat with the food.
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We went again - good play area for the kids - and reasonably safe and secure. Interesting tactic though - you order your food at the bar - and the starters and the main course all brought out together - what sort of dimwit thought that one up.
The food order was wrong, the food was decidedly average - though had worked this out when saw the menu was immense - and felt sorry for the kitchen staff who must have to microwave everything - must have been at least 20 starters so you can imagine how vast it was. Saying that our meal was pub priced and �37 for two mains and the "bit of everything" platter "aka how much fried food can you have on one large plate".
The garden is nice and set back although is on the A1000. Food is nothing special but you get what you pay for.
Shame whenever I go here they never seem to get it right, which deters me from repeat custom.
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Attended initially with westie and 4yr old in tow. Dog banned from everywhere except tables by A1000 where the smokers nestle. Dog taken home. The sun was shining and nice external tables with largest parasols ever seen. Yep they offer carling, adnams and pride on draught as well as many bottled beers. Staff were a little unhelpful initially (until advised westie off home) food lovely, nice and safe for kids, nice big wooden play area for small people. Actually far better than when we visited previously. Only issue is people seem to think as garden area can smoke next to you - when quite obviously not and staff did not intervene.
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This place is a pre book restaurant with a bar area on the side. The bar has Adnams and Pride along with four draught beers, but it feels like a waiting room.
Maybe it is better when the sun is out as there is a big garden with an adventure play area for the kids, but judging on how busy it was with diners last weekend I�d imagine it gets packed.
The staff seemed very friendly, but I�ll not be returning here for a beer.
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Had a meal in there a while back - it's not really a pub anymore. Decor was bad fake 'olde' and the meal was average at best.
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Very quiet, despite a very stylish interior. The bar area could definately do with some funky music playing. The bar girls are hotties and all from the Eastern Bloc. If they dropped the drinks prices this could be a major contender for both the Hadley Wood, Chipping Barent and stylish Potters Bar crowd as it is close to all. Sadly, it seems only interested in people who want to eat, which is a shame as there is huge potential. This could be cracking place if some local marketing was done.
anonymous - 6 Jul 2007 16:47 |
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