Crooked Chimney

One of the good things about working outside of London is that you get to visit all sorts of places you wouldn’t normally go to. This lovely, cozy pub is one of them.
You open the creaking door and immediately the rich smell of wood slowly burning and warm, yummy food hits you …
I’ve posted a picture of just one of the fireplaces… they have two. The interior is made up of several of rooms centered around a bar, with typical wood and leather décor which give it a very ‘olde inn’ type feel. Staff are very friendly, and they usually have a decent few ales on tap. (although tonight they happened to be out of both Doom Bar and Youngs Bitter… boo!)
The food was way better than I expected, as to be honest there are a number of pubs in the area masquerading as decent places to eat and drink. To start with, there are several fish dishes on the menu which is great for us pesca-​tarians sick of being stuck with the ‘fish and chips’ options at pubs. I ordered the fish pie which was absolutely lovely: had enough fish and not overpowered by cheese, served in a pretty nice sized portion. My friends each chose the burger and rump steak, each was happy with their dishes. Although not a meat eater, I must admit both plates looked really good.
Don’t expect trendy and hip here, do expect honest, good food and drink. It’s definitely a charmer.

Went there for a birthday celebration. The food was atrocious. Badly cooked, small portions, had to wait ages for it and the orders were cold and muddled. I would not recomend this restaurant to anyone. Money was deducted from the bill and we were given a bottle of champagne to make amends… but we would have preferred to have had a competently cooked and served meal after all it’s their job. I will never go there again.

Lunch here was the poorest paid dining experience I have ever had. We waited nearly an hour for our food to arrive and when it did it was thoroughly disappointing. They were not even that busy. The garlic bread was charred and clearly a budget offering from Iceland. The actual pasta dish consisted of shrivelled canned mushrooms, badly overcooked, dry chicken breast and a vomit coloured sauce drenched over soft tagliatele. They probably think Al Dente is one of their regulars at the bar as there was no sign of any culinary aptitude at all in this place. Maybe an OK pub but do yourself a favour and steer clear of lunch.

I wish I could give you more stars, Crooked Chimney. I really do. I like your name, your coziness, your English charm… but you blew it! I think it was waiting over an hour for food that did it. Or the food arriving cold. Perhaps the overpricing. Anyhow, I left unsatisfied and not impressed. Maybe we’ll give it a try another time. Maybe.

Nice pub with a cosy atmosphere, but the food was pretty dire when we ate lunch there. I had a pitta bread with hoummus and red pepper at a cost of around £4.95; this consisted of one pitta with a tiny amount of hoummus inside and a few strands of pepper, with no garnish at all. It looked miserable on the plate and I felt miserable when I looked at it! Tasted okay-​ish, but I kept resenting the fact that this would have cost them about 30p to make and I was paying nearly a fiver for it.

Nice atmosphere with a low ceiling.
This is a nice traditional pub (though it is run by a chain) which has a good selection of food and regular specials. Real ales served on pumps and good selection of wines.
Only negative point is the location — it is fairly remote.

This is a lovely pub to go to outside of welwyn if you want to catch up with friends for a chat. They have a great menu and the food is reasonably priced. Outside is a garden area which is great for the summer

This is a lovely pub which is situated close to brocket hall. It’s easy to get to and is out of the way enough not to be full of drunken rowdies on a friday night.
For a quiet drink it is certainly somewhere I would recommend, there is a nice homely atmosphere created by the comfy chairs and sofas. They food is good and reasonably priced too. They do a nice sunday lunch. This isn’t fine dining, but it is a step up from the brewers fayre type pubs.

Thanks to the loss of electricity in our village a little while ago we spent quite a few meals out. One of the places we decided to check out was this one. We keep passing it on the way home from work but have never stopped. I’ve always been attracted to, wait for it, the crooked chimney! I thought this lent a bit of charm to the place. The pub inside is quite nice. Modern with lots of comfy sofas scattered about. We headed straight to the back room and settled on a nice big table, one side with chairs the other with booth-​type seating. The view out the window was great, the pub backs onto fields so very nice. We decided to go for burgers and chips. It wasn’t the best gourmet burger but perfectly fine for a gathering where conversation is more important than special seeded-​buns and organic free-​range mayoThe table, cutlery etcwas all clean and tidy and the waiter who brought us our food (though you must order it at the bar) and the waitress who brought out all the dips and sauces were both very nice. Recommended for a chilled-​out gathering or family lunch.