please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Elaine, the new landlady, has really turned this place around. Good beers, regular music and great food. If you haven't been in recently, give it a try.
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I think some of the comments below are well before the current licensees. Went there a few days ago, the pub itself and staff very welcoming, and a very well produced and run pub quiz. Good selection of beers and a nice place to while a few hours/pints away
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Really nice pub new landlords have done some hard work which has paid of.
But on another note its a shame they dont do something with the garden as advertised it is meant to be child friendly but on my visit the back of the garden is full of garden waste on over run by nettles. Also the fence at the bottom is falling down which gives the garden an uncared look plus I would have thought it is not very safe for the kids specially as the climbing frame is near it ,mst be annoying to the neighbour .
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Changing hands (again) this month - anyone know who the new landlord is, or been in since it changed?
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A dreadfully overpriced pub , ridiculous really (r they in central London), God paid less for a beer in the Savoy bar! Awful ripoff of a place. A very lazy pub with idle staff. Shame really as nice location. Have to agree with others i'd stretch myself to beat 0/10, a real ripoff and staff r so poor. Company summer party seeks location??? This place is a big NONO!!
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Good lord!
What on earth happened here???
I was never one of the "regulars" here but I went in a lot.
But now I won't be going in here for a long time! They sacked the old manager out of the blue when he was getting the place going. They brought in a new guy, who was nice enough but never there. And now they have no manager!
I popped in to meet a friend the other weekk, and there was no beer AT ALL. The girl behind the bar was just sitting down playing with her phone, drinking a glass of wine. And for some reason there were unisex toilets!
The manager they sacked is now at the white hart tap wup the road and i suggest the customers follow him.
avoid avoid avoid
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Lovely pub, we sat near a nice (though unlit) open fire and enjoyed ourselves very much. Local beers (Tring and Red squirrel), pool table, dart board and also, when we were there, the worlds biggest dog. Friendly folk in there, nice place.
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Popped in recently for dinner, they have a new 'grill style'menu. Ordered a burger, but had a long wait (in fairness it was busy) & the burger was delicious.
3 beers on, all OK
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Find this pub hit & miss now. The staff are very friendly, and the landlord has been there a while and is very pleasant. Has been taken over by a larger company tahn previous, but they do not really get involved. They need to sort out the paint job, but the manager says its being sorted! Good food, decent beer.
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Since the odd incident a little while back with the pub closing and reopening, have popped in a couple of times and it's seemed very hit and miss. Back garden in need of a clean up, litter and cigarette butts out there - not terribly nice. Think there may have been a change of management and it's gone down market. That said, quite a lot of people sitting at the tables by the side in the good weather.
I get the feeling it's a lack of care being taken.
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Another visit to the H & H leads me to conclude that it's not OK really. Most of the ales were unavailable, the "garden" at the back was scruffy with disintegrating tables and drunkenly-leaning parasols, and the other customers were not people whose company anyone in their right mind would seek.
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Decent pub, good selection of well kept beers. Worth a visit.
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I really like this pub. It has a great atmosphere and people and staff are really friendly. I love the quiz. The menu changes regularly and I've never had anything other than a good meal. The pub would benefit from getting Sky back though.
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2nd Monday out of four that I have been here on a Monday..... Seems a lively quiz night. Tribute tonight - decent pint. Friendly staff. Recommended.
anonymous - 7 Feb 2011 23:56 |
I hadn't been in here for years until someone recently told me that it was OK these days, despite being right on the edge of bandit country. So I had a look, and it was. OK, that is, nothing more. Only two ales were "on", it smelled of toilets, and there were too many tellys. But it was OK.
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Popped in the other day for lunch, but chef was not in. Had a couple of Tribute's which were good. Appears to be a mixture of old and new management team, fingers crossed it can get back to good form!
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When I moved to St Albans in 2009 I had a feeling initially that this place would be my 'local'. I used to visit it a fair bit. However I have not been there for months now because the service is pretty unfriendly. The bloke who seems to run it never seems to acknowledge me. He always seems to be in the Beehive taking the football too seriously. He used to have Sky in his own pub but I don't think does anymore.
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Popped in for the first time in over a year the other night. Not particularly busy with no-one waiting to be served we stood like a pair of lemons for at least 5 mins while 3 barstaff walked up and down the bar ignoring us. Then a regular' goes up to the bar and gets served straight away. One of my pet hates--wont be back.
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One of the better pubs in the saphra area, good selection of all drinks and food is best in the area.
Much improved over past few years, although recently it has become somewhat disorganised, and i would sugest their cellar may be a little cold for real ale, but staff are always freindly and helpful.
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I liked this pub less than most of the other pubs around here: It feels more generic and pubco-ey than its rivals. A long thin front bar room leads on to a games room at the back, and beyond that a pub garden. Three or four ales on, but mostly from the more standard end of the spectrum: I had a TT Landlord which was fine but not great.
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Good food, narrow menu. Stopped in here once and it was fine. Parking might be a problem (as it is everywhere in St. Albans).
Greg. - 30 Apr 2010 15:20 |
my favourite sopwell lane pub, and so many great ones to choose from! yipee
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I really like this pub and the food is really really good, and I had suggested it for a larger meal with some friends.
I found that the service was a little pushy, hurrying us along, I think he had kitchen pressures but I felt that we should leave as soon as the food was finished and that we had to order long before we wold have normally been ready. They lost out on sales because of this. I think he should be more careful with his bookings and not relay to the customers when he has overbooked. It's just not good service. Oh and the roast potatoes were deep fried, something I haven't had happen to me there before. Yuk!
I really like the pub though good selection of beer, nice poeple and always seems to be a match of some sort playing quietly in the corner keepig everyone happy.
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Good food, maybe a friendlier landlord needed though!
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I think this is a great pub, beer, food, open fires, garden, darts board, pool table - it's got it all. Definitely worth visiting.
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From a real ale perspective this is maybe one of St Albans� �lesser� pubs, but one that should not be forgotten, I check every now and again to see how it�s doing. Called in on a quiet Thursday afternoon and thought it as good as ever. The pub has a nice homely feel to it with complimentary newspapers, TV and comfortable seating. Had a decent pint of Oldershaw�s Mowbray�s Mash.
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A nicely-kitted out two-roomed boho pub/bar thing with four pumps (though only two ales actually on - Woodfordes Wherry and Doombar, which came out fairly well) as well as Aspells Cyder, which is always a good tipple - expensive though. Sports TV, daily papers, dominant foreground music and Jenga add to the mix - the TV seems oddly positioned by the bar, if you're queing to be served it feels like your blocking the view of others.
Whilst it won�t bother some of the big-hitter pubs elsewhere in St Albans I thought it was a decent place and worth a quick stop if you�re in that part of the town.
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recently had a wonderful pint of doom bar in the hare & hounds
was just like being in cornwall!
ales getting better and better every week, keep it up!
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Good range of draught beers: Wherry, Landlord & DoomBar when we stopped for a snack lunch. Also Aspall Suffolk Cyder on draught. The toasted sandwich dodgy: he forgot the ham (and the next table had the same complaint)! Comfortable scruffy seating. The building must have been a bit up-market when built (a few centuries ago) judging by the quality egg-and-dart carved decoration in the main ceiling beams.
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Potentially a great pub but service could have been better even when there was hardly anyone waiting and the beer made me feel a bit unwell also there were a lot of glasses and dirty dinner plates, but it was a very busy period as there was big football football on. Will give it another chance.
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Some great home-cooked food comes out of this pub. Could do with a little 'sprucing' up and more attention to the up keep.
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Ales are much improved, excellent at times, food is fantastic and they show the football AND rugby, whilst maintaining a good atmosphere.
Staff are very friendly too! Keep this pub going!
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Much improved. Consistently good beers and some startlingly original and tasty food.
anonymous - 1 Jan 2009 16:59 |
No, don't close this one down either, unless to turn it into my new Hertsboy Tavern. The food is excellent, sometimes sensational, and the drinks are much better than they used to be. It can get a bit raucous when the football's on, but so what? The Monday night quizzes are a hoot.
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CLOSE DOWN THIS PUB!
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Great cosy pub with a good selection of beer and even Aspalls cider on draught. Staff friendly.
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I went here for the first time last weekend because i was looking for somewhere to watch the england (v andorra) game, and didn't want to go to the usual bland places. all in all, i had a good time and would definitely go back again. the staff were friendly and flexible with what was being shown (there was a lot of sport on that afternoon). i watched the game in the back room which had a good atmos (tho i'd come early and got a table at the front) and free darts. the doom bar was delicious. only possible downer was lots of very young children when we first arrived but they might have cleared off when the main event started.
jmauk - 10 Sep 2008 15:38 |
just found this place through the st. albans food and drink festival and pleasantly surprised. We went on a monday night when then quiz was on, which was very entertaining, there was only bar food available as it was a monday but still a great night out.
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Have enjoyed a sumptuous but pricey sunday roast in here......locally produced food from Hedges etc went down a treat washed down with landlord...very happy!
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Great pub but the staff in here really need to get a grip! It would be handy if the owner let the staff know that it's the customer that pays their wages as I was let into a secret that the staff have a competition to try and only serve the regulars.
Twice this year I've walked into this pub, been ignored whilst the female behind that bar was busy chatting, any acknowledgement would have done, so I've walked out.
There are too many pubs close by for the staff to be taking this attitude! ! !
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Went in here on sunday 4th hoping to have a meal, but the chef was off that day and the menu was a bit limited, then got annoyed at a customer who was wheat intolerant constantly going on about it, and asking the barman to check if the gravey was gluton free give the barman some due he did and again when the customer then asked about vegetarian gravy, by then id had enough after wating 15 mins for my ale i drank up and left and went to the goat, not the pubs fault but some customers should just be shot
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petemac,
I was one of the party with caesar last week.We did not wish to indulge in the blame game as mistakes can and will happen however, in response to your reply,your staff initially took our order at the bar but came to our table when advising us that one of the dishes we had ordered was off the menu.At that stage, your waitress double checked the complete order for 6 people.However only 5 dishes came out! Even at that stage we did not want to make too big an issue out of it.We simply asked them to provide another meal, any meal!This was refused apparently by your Australian chef who had "closed the kitchen"! Not because you had run out of food but simply because at 9.30pm on a saturday night - he decided to close the kitchen! Please bear in mind that we made our request immediately we had been served and discovered there was a meal missing, this was no more than a couple of mins after we had been served our meals!! I find it rather incredulous for you to write that your kitchen closes at 9.30pm on a saturday. perhaps it might have appropriate to tell us that when we made a reservation for 6 people at 8.30! Does that mean that we would not have been able to order a dessert if we had stayed?? Your passion for your pub does you proud but unless your staff learn the first rule of any restaurant is to keep the customer happy, then i fear the worst for your establishment. For the record, on such a busy day I counted 4 other people dining in your establishment -This on a saturday night.The tables had not been cleared of glasses(I got up and did it!)my burger would have been very acceptable were it not for the fact that the bun was stale and hard. The decor was dull, drab and oppressive and totally unrecognisable from the image portrayed om your website.Iam sorry your staff feel hard done by - funnily enough the member of our party who did not get to eat also felt hard done by!!!! Your effort to put things right by telephoning one of our party and offering a complimentary meal was commendable. However, this has been undone by your posting and I am afraid that not even a free meal could tempt me to frequent your establishment again.
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This will be my last response to your comments. We did not make a fuss at all but your staff were not apologetic -merely matter of fact. If your chef was preparing roasts for the following day he could have offered to grill or put in the oven a slice from a piece of meat or I am sure you have eggs in the kitchen, he could have made an omelete etc. or something - anything. It is unacceptable for one person in a party of six not to eat whoever was at fault. I could go on but I will not.
As far as the food is concerned, I can only speak for my own dish - Thai chicken curry on noodles - the noodles were overcooked and there were not very many of them, I had limp wet courgettes covering the curry, served with a 'bought in' triangle of nan bread - all together not very much to eat for a price of 9ish pounds (I cannot remember the exact price).
Another guest said that his burger was dry and the bread was dry too. Perhaps we were given the dregs of the day and if so, this is also unacceptable.
I do however give praise for you taking these comments seriously and for taking the effort to telephone one of our party and offer us a meal however, with thanks we will decline your offer.
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Caesar,
I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your evening at the Hare and Hounds.
As you have posted your criticim on this website I think it's only fair that our side of the story is also put across. We all work extremely hard to make the Hare and Hounds a pub that people want to visit again and again, and I want to personally make sure that if there are issues with our service that they are resolved and our service improves.
I've spoken to all the staff who were working on Saturday evening, as I don't think poor service or a bad attitude is acceptable either, however their version of events is slightly different to yours.
Our barman said on the evening "sorry for any confusion i hope everything is alright" (i've paraphrased) and the response from one of your party was that it was probably our fault for getting the order wrong.
By the time you requested another dish the kitchen had closed (out kitchen closes at 9.30) and by that time had actually sold out of most dishes it had been an extremely busy day so it was impossible for them to get more food for you, I've spoken to our chef and basically all he had in the kitchen by that stage was food he had prepped for our Sunday Roasts.
We don't have toasted sandwiches or paninis on our evening menu, we don't have any frozen meals or pre-prepared foods as thats is not what we are about, we only use fresh local produce.
I believe everyone who works here does care otherwise they wouldn't have spoken to you about the confusion in ordering. They were also concerened when I spoke to them this evening that they had acted inappropiatley.
I'm sorry to hear your view that the food is mediocre, and of course that is your opionion that you are entitled to, fortunatley we have a lot of customers who enjoy our food enormously, especially the fact that it isn't brought in, or pre-cooked, but prepared and cooked on site using some great local suppliers like Hedges farm, Carpenters nursery and the Organic Redbourn Water Mill.
I'm extremely passionate about the Hare and Hounds, and personally think it is a great pub, with great food and great drinks, and staffed by people who care about the pub too.
I'm not posting this reponse to provoke an argument, but after speaking to everyone here they feel really hard done by your comments.
Pete
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I was part of a party of six who booked for a meal last saturday evening at 8.30pm (26th April). A young waitress came over to take our order and we then paid at the bar and waited for our food. At 9.10 our food arrived minus one dish so that only 5 of us had meals. Of course we immediately went to the bar to ask where the one missing dish was to be told that it was not ordered and moreover the kitchen was now closed and not able to offer anything whatsoever. We suggested that it must be possible to make something - anything - even a toasted panini (which are on the menu) but no - no apology just take it or leave it - with a really bad attitude. The staff did not care one shot. As far as the food is concerned it also left a lot to be desired it was very mediocre for the price and certainly the pub, its staff and its food did not live up to its image on its own website. I would not recommend this pub to anybody.
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This pub has to pin notices up to beg people to visit it. Situated on the fringe of a council housing estate it has taken to emplying a couple of chavettes. It knows its market then!
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Had a couple of pints of Doombar in here whilst watching the Rugby over the weekend, great day out apart from the result.
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I agree this eems to be 3 pubs in one. I quite like it. Choice of drink, garden, sport on TV.
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I use this pub regularly, Guinness is always good, my mate drinks Tim Taylor and he rates that. Wife likes going here for the food, I know they use hedges farm which is the best in my book, all in all i wouldn't want to go anywhere else.
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Can't decide whether I like it or not, prefer the lower section. Avoid on football nights, mainly because it's so popular you won't get in the door.
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A pub of 3 halves ( ? )My favourite bit is the middle with the great Open Log Fire for in the Winter (or for May Bank Holidays !) They kept hold of my umbrella when I forgot it and the staff are pretty friendly. Then to one side is the bar where the regulars drink some of whom are a bit scary looking and completely preoccupied in the twin-interests of lager and Football. Towards the back ( watch your head) is where the youngsters go, its a bit like a sixth form common room, but its all good... fun 3 pubs for the price of one!
anonymous - 29 May 2007 15:45 |
One of three great pubs to choose from on Sopwell Lane, this has good beers (including a nice Tribute, and excellent Timothy Taylor Landlord ), excellent food (duck especially), lively locals of all ages and very good staff. Lovely old building, with a quirky layout.
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Had a great night in here last Saturday, popped in with some friends for dinner, food was great couldn't fault it. loved the sofas afterwards, we'll be back.
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I'm amused by the contrast between the pub's website and reality. Yes, the barstaff are great, the food is good and the beer well-kept (Timothy Taylor Landlord is quite rare in St Albans). But this is a very "gritty" pub, and many of the customers are clearly stewed to the gills, as early as 6 in the evening. This makes for a lively atmosphere, but it can be a bit intimidating.
Meamwhile the website shows wine lists and comfy sofas. Hmmm. Well, that's part of the picture but not all. Visit this pub by all means, but don't expect tranquility.
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New manager & staff have certainly done a number on this erstwhile bleak boozer. Reliable local source of TT Landlord and decent food served by friendly, on-the-ball staff. Uncontrolled kids in the main bar occasionally a problem but overall a vastly improved pub.
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This pub has really Improved,I was in there last night and the service was excellent as was the beer.Well done Hare and Hounds!
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I've been drinking at the Hare for a while and since it's changed hands it has improved out of all proportion from the dreary days of constant Sky Sports News and only ever filling up for the football. The Landlord and staff are brilliant, the selection of beers excellent and they cook really well, if you ask for a rare steak they cook it rare rather than assuming you don't know what you mean and cremating it. I only used to drink here with my most disreputable mate as everyone else I knew thought it a miserable dive but it's recently become a favourite with friends who can chew with their mouths closed as well.
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I was in here last weekend and had a top night. There's a new landlord, new staff and a great atmosphere, young and old. And i hear there might be a Sunday evening quiz night starting soon. I'm in...
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Another Tardis of a pub: looks quite dinky from the outside, but inside it's huge. My Wadsworth 6X and Timothy Taylor Landlord were both quite acceptable. Most of the other customers were eagerly discussing football. Not really my kind of pub, but there's not much to criticise, and the service was good.
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Good stuff, massive place with big screen sports and beer garden. Again only really a place for a crawl, can get very busy
Dave - 30 Oct 2004 12:28 |
The atmosphere at this pub is appalling. We were made to feel completely unwelcome by requesting a drink as we were not locals. The bar staff were rude and unfriendly. I would give this pub 0/10 rating.
Amy Walker - 1 May 2004 23:42 |
Wide range of ages in here all of whom are interested in a good, honest boozer. 6X and IPA normally very drinkable, good outside garden for the summer, and the best table footie players in town!
Richard - 29 Mar 2004 23:52 |
