Review: The Hertford House Kitchen

The Hertford house kitchen

(Hertford, hertfordshire)
Star Rating:  Food : 2.5 Stars  Service : 2.5 Stars

Date of visit: 24^th July 2012

Where to start?  I purchased a voucher from JackFM’sTop Town Deals, which gave me £50 worth of dining for the price of £25 for The Hertford House Kitchen .  We have bought these vouchers before as it offers good value for money and gets us to try a new restaurant.   On Tuesday evening after hard day at the office I got home and suggested that we use the voucher for a meal out, as the last thing I felt like doing was cooking. You have to book in advance when using the voucher, called and made a booking for 7pm.  I know we usually like to eat early, but 7pm seemed like a reasonable time to eat out and there should be other dinners as well to help create a good atmosphere.  We arrived to a very empty restaurant and had a choice of where we would like to sit.  They offer a walled garden outside as well.  We chose to eat inside, as we did not want the hassle of fly’s as it was quite hot.

The waiter was pleasant enough and gave us the menu’s and took our drinks orders.  The menu is not very large, but offers something for everyone.  I did find them to be a bit on the pricey side, an example for a Rib Eye steak they charge £19, whereas Cafe Rouge across the road charge £16 for the same size.  The decor is clean and modern, but not very warm and welcoming, can’t really put my finger on it, perhaps it was because they were empty, had there been more diners it might have felt more welcoming. 

 

This picture is from their website and does look better with more people in it.  We ordered olives and Mozzarella garlic bread for starters. 

For mains I ordered fish and chips, David ordered the Rib Eye and Danielle ordered a chicken Caesar salad.  My fish and chips was pleasant enough, just got a little irritated with the fact that the fish was put on top of the chips (tower food), never been a fan of building towers on my plate.  It was not a very large piece of fish, but it was very tasty, almost creamy in texture.  There were two little bowls on the plate both the same size one with Tartar sauce and one with mushy peas (barely a fork full).  For £10.95 one would like a bit more on the plate. 

David’s Rib Eye looked lovely and presented attractively as well.  He said it was very tender and cooked as he requested (medium). 

As for Danielle she ordered the salad and also liked it.  In total our bill came to £55.60, so with our voucher we only had to pay in £5.60.

Overall Experience

There is nothing that I can put my finger on, but we were rather underwhelmed by the restaurant.  The food was nice, service pleasant enough (not exceptional at all).  Will we rush back there, no.

http://www.hertfordhouse.co.uk/house-bar-and-kitchen.php

1 Fore Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire, SG14 1DA

Tel: 08444 119 476

Rating Guide

5 Stars - Perfect

4.5 Stars - Exceptional

4 Stars - Excellent

3.5 Stars - Very good

3 Stars - Good

2.5 Stars - Average

2 Stars - Bad

1.5 Stars - Very bad

1 Star - Dire