please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Choice of ales constantly changing whilst we were there - but always two interesting ones on. Delicious food reasonably priced - and a great selection of regulars and specials. Outside area is a bit soulless, mainly because it's on the opposite side from the canal so no great view. Use of smartphone app was encouraged; luckily we had someone in our party willing to mess about with it but this could have been a problem otherwise.
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Another good selection of about six ales.
Tried three of them: Lock stock and barrel from Frog Island, Ilkley's Summer ale and Ellands American Pale Ale.
Drinks do come at a price though. Two half-pints of coke, half of cider and a pint of bitter...£12.
Half a pint of ale is an eye-watering £2.20.
Poor choice of food at high prices - shame really as it is a nice pub in a nice location.
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Back to Hertford and the Old Barge was my fourth pub there and this was another excellent place. Although I did feel it lacked a little atmosphere, as it is quite a large place and maybe needed a few more customers. There is a small room to the left when you enter and a larger room to the right. A few people were in to eat. The barmaid was friendly and happy to offer advice about the ale and cider range and also to allow samples. The range was Madness Brewing Co. Lovestruck, Elland Catch The Rainbow, Woodfordes Wherry & St Austell Tribute. 3 real ciders were Abrahalls Slack Alice, Somerset Cider Co. Bootleg Moonshine & Lilleys Mango Cider. The pub has a lovely location next to the canal and next to a narrow bridge. Just the other side is the Hertford Club, not listed on the site, which was my next port of call.
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A really nice river-side pub with four real ciders and at least four, and probably five, real ales. My Betty Stoggs was in excellent condition.
Friendly bar staff, comfortable seating areas with a bit of room, and no music to spoil the atmosphere. I will be returning to this pub.
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Excellent riverside pub on the Lea, a perfect place to end a long walk before catching the train back from nearby Hertford East.
There's about 7 or 8 handpumps, usually 2 or 3 are for cider, the rest do an ever changing selection of ales from all over the country with Dark Star Hophead a permanent feature.
The Sunday roasts are to die for although there's always loads of middle-class families there at the weekends with brattish kids.
There's also a smaller room with Sky and plenty of seats outside, some overlooking the river.
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Lunched here on Saturday. Had a pint of Tribute and a pint of Wherry. Both perfectly fine, but expensive - around 40 pence a pint over the odds. The food is also expensive -�9.95 for sausage and mash - adequate eating, but nothing special. However, the fish and chips at the same price was very poor, two obviously frozen rectangles of white fish.
The Old Barge has a fine location down by the Lee Navigation, but it seemed very quiet for a Saturday lunchtime. I'm not going to quibble about their pricing policy, but if they are going to charge premium prices then the customer is entitled to premium quality which this decidely wasn't.
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Had a nice pint of Triple F Alton's Pride and Hophead while with a party of geriatric delinquents who also sampled Tring Colleys Dog and other brews all in good nic. The ducks were a bit noisy at times.
anonymous - 1 Jan 2012 11:03 |
DARK ALES FESTIVAL ALL BEERS IN GREAT CONDITION WILL RETURN SOON
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By far the best pub in Hertford with a great selection of ales and really good food. I regularly visit when in Hertford and the pub never disappoints. Great pint of Hophead!
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This pub has the very best location in Hertford but please do something about the food, its dreadful. If you like dry old beef, sodded broccoli, packet gravy and black potatoes then this is the place for you.
The doorstep sandwiches are all chewy old bread and no filling and the chips are these funny waffle cut type. Yuck.
Be warned, eat here and you will be disappointed.
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It's pleasant canalside lcation does lend itself more to a food & family kind of pub but it isn't too detrimental to a drinking pub feel. I tried the Dark Star Hophead (one of six ales on) which was drinkable enough. Ahndy for the bus station and also for those who like to feed ducks/geese.swans.
anonymous - 4 Sep 2011 11:22 |
Attractive pub in a lovely location by the canal. Good range of ales, only let down by the price (�3.40 for Hophead). Very convenient for the walk along the canal to Ware and beyond.
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I have been wanting to try the Barge for a long time now and called in on a Thursday evening.
There is a very good choice of at least seven ales. Trings Colley's Dog, Hop Backs Summer Lightning were good but, Dark Stars Hophead goes into my top three best ales. Three pints for around �11 does not come cheap.
The food choice was ok but not great. Burgers are not my thing and an Elvis burger for �12 certainly isn't. That made my rib eye steak, also �12, seem reasonable.
I asked for it medium cooked - it was served rare. It wasn't very big either. Could not fault the chips, onion rings, mushrooms and salad.
Despite the good range of ales I don't think I would come back for the food (unless I win the lottery).
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Currently the best pub in town. Catering for all in comfortable surroundings.
However on my latest visits the beers although acceptable, were not up to their usual high standards. At the price charged, one would expect the beers to be in top condition at least 90% of the time.
The food is quite good, but again at these prices, it should be!
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Top pub in the area if you like a constantly changing selection of top quality beers. Not the cheapest, but what's an extra 30p on a pint when everything else is spot on.
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I went the old barge on a recommendation and four of us had the sunday roasts. We had two portions of beef and one leg of lamb and broccoli and stilton pie, and the food was awesome tender meat, good portions, my vegetarian friend was delighted with the obviously home made pie option. Regular beers were Wherry, Doombar, Tribute and Hobgoblin plus three guests including golden newt which was in tip top nick. I would give it 10 out of 10 but the beer was a little bit pricey. Keep up the good work. We will be back soon.
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We went to the Barge for lunch on Sunday and had quite possibly the worst pub meal I have ever had. The roast was dry and gristly with barely any gravy and the gratin was indescribable. It looked like some very sad grey, leftover boiled potatoes mixed with some tough old mushrooms and a couple of bits of courgette. It tasted rank and I couldn't eat it, and I can eat most things. The pub is in a lovely location with a log fire, the beer is good but the food was shocking. These days most pubs offer good food and you can't go far wrong. I took friends out for lunch so I didn't want to make a scene in front of them but it was frankly embarassing. Pull your socks up and get a decent cook - you cannot serve food like that and charge for it.
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Utterly delightful. An idyllic riverside location, a vast range of ales and excellent food (especially the chips). The only reason its not getting the full 10 from me is that it's a bit pricey.
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Slightly hidden away from the town centre, but in a good location adjacent to the Lee Navigation and some outside seating which offers a pleasant place to sit if the weather allows. Ten handpumps, with two duplicates, giving a decent choice of eight real ales from near and afar. My pint of their 'OB Session' beer (�3.19) was fine and I would happily have stayed to try some of the others had I more time. Rather good.
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A hidden gem. ales all served in tip top condition. Good heating against the brass monkey weather outside. Highly Recommended
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Free house currently featuring a festival of West Country ales,with 7 handpumps including on my visit Beddows 4B's,St Austell Proper Job,Blindman's Icarus,Branscombe Vale Draymans and RCH Old Slug Porter.Pub very committed to real ale but the prices OUCH ! �3.40 for a pint of ruby mild ,I didnt dare move onto the 6.5% porter!
Made for an expensive session.Bar staff efficient and friendly and despite the premium pricing,the pub was busy possibly helped by jazz night.Still one of the best pubs in Hertford,a town with an excess of trendy bars and poor Mc Mullens outlets.
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This is one of the few pubs in Hertford that ale other than McMullens can be found and all of the seven available were from different breweries. There was also an interesting range of premium lagers available alongside Old Rosie cider and a standard draught selection.
This is a nice pub by the river although the outside seating all seemed to be on the opposite side to the water and most was located by the car park which is unfortunate.
I thought that the barmaid was very friendly and the locals seemed like a decent bunch meaning that I would return if in the area again.
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After moving back from Nottingham I have been delighted with the major improvements not only in quality of real ale but also the increase of choice available over the last twelve months here. Definately deserve their Good Beer Guide status at the moment and is the only decent ale pub in Hertford that I can get all my mates to agree on. I see a number of people have raised concerns about pricing but that's what you get in Hertford! There's always the Wetherspoons...
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Agree with all the above - except the food was not at all impressive - quite dull really - the elvis burger [yes! - overstuffed] was nicely presented but definitely no seasoning at all so very bland. A pity as it is a great location right on the navigation tow-path. People outside were catching bucketfuls of crayfish using a kids shrimping net and a pice of chicken on a string! - they seemed more tasty!
Also - no umbrellas on the outside tables so scorching in the sun. Will definitely not go back.
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No dogs allowed so that keeps the riff raff out and that includes me..!
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Nice looking pub inside and out but was put off by the West End London prices (nearly four quid a pint) and the rather up their own behind clientele.
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Very attractive pub with good seating outside in a quiet corner of Hertford next to the River Lee navigation.There is now a much larger selection of real ale available,often around eight with a mixture of larger breweries (ie TT Landlord) together with some microbrewery output.Ales are well kept ,throughput is good and the range is everchanging.It would be helpful if the board listing the beers available was kept up to date and also included a note of the beer style together with the ABV for anyone unfamiliar with the brew in question.
Atmosphere in the pub is friendly,bar staff helpful and only loud noise is that of conversation.Last thursday of the month is trad jazz evening which brings in an older crew of fans.Hertford is fast becoming an excellent town for real ale with The Old Barge,Old Cross Tavern ,White Horse and the Six Templars (AKA Six Asbos) all serving quality real ale.
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Despite describing itself as a family pub on the website all children are removed from the pub at 7pm. The food is OK so long as you like burgers and the beer was a toe curling �10.50 for two pints and a bottle of lager. They obviously aren't aware there is a credit crunch on.
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A very good allrounder; excellent quality Black Sheep and a Beartown beer in a very friendly riverside pub. Shame there's no really good McMullens in Hertford, but some good beer nevertheless.
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Friendly pub, good atmosphere, lots of good beers, cider and ales.
Food is expensive but nice. Average age of punters 30-60.
Best pub in Hertford on a summer's day. Nothing beats sitting by the canal drinking a pint or several.
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i went to the barge on good friday what a good looking pub, i order food and was told thier would be a 20 min wait we waited 30 thats was fine the food was very good i had a burger, the kids had cheesy fries and sausage roll they call it a pian ? i will go back when the suns out again for lunch. good friendly pub ( 30 min wait was because it was very busy NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE SLOW)
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I am gibbo2837, and so is my wife!
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Sorry about that gibbo 2837, we had a real toughie that weekend - my cook was off ill for the week and I had to do all the cooking myself - as you will remember we were very busy with the first sunny day of the year and I have to put my hands up and admit that the food quality suffered as a result.
Please don't think that that is the general standard of our food offering, usually we work really hard to make sure that the food goes out in tip top condition, and get really positive comments from customers about the food (and the beer!)
Our new menu comes out in April, please give us another try - if you let me know it's you at the bar I'll even buy you a pint to say sorry,
reagrds, publandlord.
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I was here on the first sunny day this year, glorious pub to sit outside for a pint by the canal and watch the world go by. Ordered food from the menu, which sounded superb "pan fried bacon and chicken" and the "crabcake salad" well given that the last reviews were 6 months ago i can only assume that the pub is under new management, as when the food arrived it was terrible. The so called pan fried....seemed to have been fried in a fryer, that may explain the chip residuals attached to the pieces. The crabcakes faired no better, they looked like they had been fried at least 4 times, they were completely inedible. The salad on the side was half brown, shrivelled up and dry. Nice pub, but avoid the food
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A pleasure to visit a real English pub. lunch was also excellent. Nice one!!!!!!
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good selection of ales had 4 guests on my last visit and the time before had a cider on offer,, only drawback are the prices which probably relect its location but well worth a visit
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Nice riverside setting with a great selection of real ales. Although I didn't eat, the food I saw being carried past looked good value. Certainly one of the top two pubs in town, but you have to know about it to go there - you definitely wouldn't just happen upon it by chance.
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A hidden gem. Lots of space, excellent service and a good selection of real ales.
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A group of friends attended the recent beer festival. Great selection of ales. Compliments to the new management. Unfortunately, the sleeve of my leather jacket stuck to the tacky grime on the bar. Would suggest a good polish as the order of the day. However, would definitely go back.
Korky - 15 Dec 2006 18:38 |
The Barge has been a favourite pub for years now.
Nice real ales and a relaxed old world atmostphere by the river. Enjoy.
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Visited twice last week during my holiday. They held a beer festival with minimum eight ales, (dark) milds and stouts per day. All the beers were excellent.
Very friendly and helpful bar staff.
Brilliant pub, would definitly recommend it.
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This is a real find hiding on the river just off Hertford town centre.
There are very few real pubs left and I applaud the landlords of this one and plead with them to keep it as it is. Fantastic!!!!!!
anonymous - 16 Nov 2006 23:58 |
A hidden gem of a pub!
It sits smugly on the river, has about 10 real ales and ciders
posh lager etc...
and there new menu looks superb.
Couldn't fault the bar staff, the quiz is excellent, haven't been to any other 'do's but looks like theres plenty going on for the more discerning drinker!
sally davis - 26 Aug 2006 16:58 |
Rare gem of a pub serving up at least 7 real ales, and all sorts of long forgotton rareties
new menu looks good too.
This is a pub you can actually sit down and have a chat in as you watch the world go by...(extra thumbs up, it's on the river!)
Bar staff were all really polite and friendly, bit dear, but this keeps out the riff - raff!
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