The Green Dragon, Barnet

If you are thinking of hiring this pub for a special occasion think again! I hired the 'function room' for my daughters christening. When I first called to enquire how many people their function room held as I had invited 170 guests, they said not a problem they have had many weddings and parties there for this many people and more. I did view the venue before booking it and the 'function room' was set out as part of the restaurant, it was full of people dining and looked a nice size, plus it was a hot day so the outside area was busy and this also comes with the function room. I had only 100 guests on the day of which 30 were children 10 of them small babies. As soon as everyone started to arrive it became clear that the room was far too small for even 40 guests! The children all went outside as id hired games and toys for them. All the adults were packed in like sardines, and then I noticed the big mirror at the back of the room that makes it look huge!
I was told we would have waitress service but not one of my guests was offered a drink they had to pour it themselves. I could not tell you if the food was nice as myself and half of my guests did not get to eat any of it as you could not move in the room to get to it, even if we had a plate of food we had nowhere to sit to eat it and before I knew it they had taken all the food away without even consulting me. The same happened with dessert but I questioned this as I said I wanted to take some home with me and was told I couldn�t , when I made a fuss my dessert miraculously reappeared!
I was also told that on the day they would supply staff to look after my guests and all I would have to do was enjoy my day. Well it was one of the most stressful days of my life; if I was a bride and that was my wedding I would be mortified. The whole thing was a shambles, the service was nonexistent, guests were leaving as they had nowhere to sit and whenever I asked to speak to the manager she would take ages to come to me. I told her it was ridiculous and she said �it is not my fault it is raining� and �had it not been raining my guests would be outside!� I was then told that my guests were �welcome to go round the other side of the pub� meaning they could walk through the restaurant and past the bar with plates of food and sit in a completely separate part of the pub! It�s so bad it�s actually comical! I hired a function room so I could spend the day with my family and friends to celebrate my daughters christening day I did not want half my guests in one part of the venue and half in the other! How they can have the cheek to say they have weddings in that room for up to 170 guests is an absolute outrage. All they want is your money. I would hate for anyone to book this venue after them selling it to you saying they can cater for 170 guests, that you will be waited on hand and foot all you have to do is enjoy yourself, and then you turn up to a day like I had. I have written them a complaint and heard nothing back. They are not interested as long as they have their money. It is a minimum spend of �1500.00 to hire their venue but you have to spend that per head on food and drink. This is very clever; I think they have this policy due to complaints like mine in the past. I could not tell you if the buffet was what I ordered and if they catered for the 100 heads I paid for as I did not get a chance to see any of it.

15 Oct 2010 11:08

The Railway Tavern, New Barnet

Lovely pub great atmosphere, had a band on when I went in on a Sat it was great. Staff seem very friendly too and got served straight away. Nice fun friendly pub that sint full of 16 year olds.

15 May 2006 11:23

The White Lion, Barnet

Lovely local pub, looks really pretty from outside with all the flowers. Very friendly staff and great food at good prices.

12 Jun 2005 21:22