The Foragers at The Verulam Arms

My best meal out in a while! I initially went for a 4 out of 5 but I’m not sure what reason I could give for not giving The Foragers that final star. £23 for a two course lunch meal wasn’t bad either that totally filled us up.
As you can tell by the name there are some nice foraged ingredients on the menu, they don’t get in the way of the experience though and really elevate the dishes. We started off with Deer Spheres, who doesn’t like risotto balls? Teamed up with two contrasting sauces of leek mayo and hedgerow syrup made this starter even better.
She had Hogbelly which had the best crispy pork skin I have ever experienced at a western restaurant. Thin and crispy with all the excess fat rendered out, this was a great piece of cooking. I had the Highland Seaside Broth which included nice unami flavours provided by sea purslane and seaweed. They were great accomplices to the fish, scallops and langostine, the dish was fresh yet had depth provided by the touch of smoky scotch, a brilliantly balanced dish.
You’ll also find homemade spirits behind the bar as well as a good range of craft ales, we tried the horseradish vodka and hedgerow vodka which provided a fine ending to a great lunchtime meal. Definitely a place recommended for people with an interest in food, and I commend places like The Foragers at The Verulam Arms who try to do something a bit different from the norm, and who do it with good food as the main ethos.

Quite a unique pub/​restaurant with a clean woodeny feel. Located in the less frequented back streets of St Albans near the park it offers a selection of craft beers and real ales as well as real food. Tempted to give 4 stars but felt price was a bit too much and to be honest it’s meant to be a pub and feels more restaurant.

This is definitely one of my favorite spots in St. Albans. The Foragers go out of their way to bring you the best in local fare and it certainly shows.
Here’s what sets it apart:
— Creative, locally driven menu
— Broad selection of drink (yay Estrella!)
— Magnificently done décor
Have a look for yourself, you won’t be let down.

This pub (named after derivation of the former Roman city name) suffers by the competition. Normally a 3 rated pub, while not my favourite, would be somewhere I could see myself going back to. Not in St Albans, where the locals are spoilt with fine pubs.
The pub does serve a decent pint of ale mind you and has a pleasant garden area. It has been a bit gastroed (yes I’ve made a new word) though so the inside is less appealing.
Still as the pub motto says ‘mediocracy is ok’

I went here on a Saturday lunchtime with my family and two dogs. The friendly bar staff were really welcoming, even of the dogs! There is a pub dog, a brown labrador called Dylan, who was in the garden: dogs are allowed inside in general during the day but not the evening.
The lunch menu was good: just the right size meals for a light lunch. And the food was delicious! The pub prides itself on being free range and getting ingredients from local sources; whatever they do, it works.
The beer seemed good too: there are Belgian beers as well as more typical real ales.
Definitely going back!

Hidden away just around the corner from St. Michaels Village this is a nice little local pub. They have some good real ale and serve food. I’ve turned up on a Sunday to find large tables of families enjoying Sunday lunch, it’s obviously very popular. This is probably a bit far out from the centre of town for a lot of people but that end of town has some great bars and this might make a good place to start a civilised pub crawl.