The Plough

Nice place. Lovely setting. Long wait for food though. Over an hour. Apparently due to staff shortage. Good food when it arrived.

Visited this pub based on the trip advisor recommendation. I can only think it was either the wrong pub or a long tine ago as it was appalling. The welcome on arrival was curmudgeon. No one smiled the whole time we were there. We ordered 2 ploughmans lunches. They arrived. The bread was out of processed packet. I had ordered Stilton and i had the 2 thinest pieces of stilton you can imagine. The crust was 2cm long. The Ham ploughmans consisted of 2 small pieces of reconstituted ham. It was not as promised online cooked on the premises. The rest was not a ploughmans but a measly garnish. I attach a photo of the ploughmans 'salad' the menu boasted salad dressings. The reality was a weird bottle of what i guess was french dressing although i cannot be sure. In these days of cost of living crisies we all hope for value but understand times are tough. This however was nothing short of a rip off. Do NOT listen to TripAdvisor, or the Ploughs website. Avoid this place at all costs. It was dire.

Nice dogs friendly countryside pub, sports on couple of screens, big garden with space for kids to play. Wide selection of vintage beer from all over the world, only as a decor unfortunately 😄

Went for a family meal Sunday lunchtime. Waited over an hour for my food with no warning how long it'd take and no word of an apology. To top it off members of the party had tummy troubles the next day!

Ordered the lamb burger (see on photo) which consisted of a rather sad white bap and the meat bun, that’s it. Mint sauce on the side was extremely acidic, chips tasted burnt oil…I think it’s more than a disgrace to serve this as “burger”, feel disappointed and rather angry. Rest of the table ordered beef roast which was similarly underwhelming. Don’t go here hungry.

Excellent London Pride and Food

A grand pub well worth the trip out of St Albans. Let's be sure we keep it out of the hands of Mitchell's & Butler or it will become a blooming 'vintage inn' or something else awful.

2021 December update (actually it's not quite December, it is in four days though) still as lively as ever. Grand, friendly bunch of folk and cheerful, quick and helpful staff. Absolutely a favourite.

It's like a pub Morse and Lewis used to go to at the end of that programme they were in. I can't quite remember the name of it though, 'The Professionals***' or something similar, I think.

***Note for people also of an age: the theme tune of 'The Professionals' was by Laurie Johnson, who also wrote (among many other things) the theme for The Avengers and - more importantly - Animal Magic.

I am not 100 per cent sure who the the drummer on The Professionals theme was, but he worked with Phil Seaman a lot. Any updates / amends welcome.

Amazingly, Laurie Johnson is - at time of writing - (December-ish 2021) still with us! 94 years old. I might seek him out and ask who the drummer on The Professionals theme tune was.

THANKS

Lovely drinks, lovely back garden, great local place to visit on a sunny day!