< return to search results

St Albans
Wicked Lady, The

Gastropubs don't get better than this. A wonderfully ambient restaurant with softly polished floors, lots of blond wood, and a huge fireplace makes it a must for cosy winter dining. The 100 additional covers in the spacious garden, with select alfresco menu, means it's also a perfect summer eatery for the family.

Some people are born to work in hospitality, and Gareth and his lovely wife Helene are two of them. Their passion for the job, their menu and the sourcing and quality of their ingredients means 'getting it right' shines from everything they do. The service was excellent and discreet, with knowledgeable and friendly staff. Gareth offered intelligent wine recommendations from his eclectic list, which includes Kasteel Cru, a quirky little beer brewed with Champagne yeast.

As for the food, you would have to invent some new superlatives to accurately express how good the chef is. Move over Heston' Dan Turner is cooking up a storm in this place and he is beyond superb. An amazingly diverse menu offers some fantastic food combinations. Tomato and Bombay Sapphire soup; melon and feta with chilli ice cream; and the Baltic sharing plate loaded with roll mops and mackerel with horseradish sauce. We chose grilled scallops, which arrived cooked to utter, quivering perfection; and asparagus, Cumbrian ham, poached egg and hollandaise, each wonderful flavour perfectly complementing the other. Main courses offer delicious salads and simple pasta dishes, jostling for space on the menu with fabulous classics like Chateaubriand, chicken Kiev and calves liver. The steak Rossini we had was sublime. For the more adventurous, try rib-eye steak with Bloody Mary butter; or organic salmon with wasabi mash, sesame, and pink ginger. The monkfish with wild mushrooms and leeks was delicious, fresh from the sea and perfectly cooked.

Regular specials and seasonal menu changes ensure you will want to come back again and again. What a fantastic place.

< return to search results