Thompson St Albans

On Saturday we enjoyed an amazing tasting menu lunch at Thompson’s in St Albans. The food from chef Phil Thompson and his team was fabulous and we were well looked after by our superb waitress Nicole. It had been a few years since our last visit but this more than made up for it. The restaurant is located at the top of Hatfield Road at the end of the high street. We arrived to a friendly welcome from Nicole before she escorted us to our table. We ordered a drink while we looked at the menu. Here you had the choice of A la Carte or a selection of tasting menu’s (ie the 5 , 7 or 9 course with an addition of a special dish from the chef. We opted for the seven course plus the chef’s choice dish. The afternoon started with a couple of delicious snacks that came along with the sourdough bread and butter. We then moved onto our first course of Heirloom Tomatoes which brought a delightful freshness to your palate. This was followed by the Maitake Mushroom , the Birds Liver Parfait and the chef’s choice which was a heavenly Squid ink Tortellini. We followed this with the Roast Noisette of Cod before moving onto our first to the main course where you had an option of either the Lamb or the Tamworth Pork so we ordered one of each and the were both fantastic. Our palate was the cleansed with a Pineapple Sorbet before finishing with a delicious White Chocolate Parfait dessert. While enjoying a coffee and petit fours we had a nice chat with Phil where we could personally thank him and his team for a fabulous afternoon. We also payed credit to Nicole who was a delight all afternoon and a credit to the industry. We then thanked the team as we headed back home to Essex and hope we would see them all again soon.

My wife booked us in to this restaurant a couple of Fridays ago for my birthday. Everybody had told us how good it was and we must go, so we had big expectations. Firstly, the food was good, but you would expect it to be at £119 for a 5 course tasting menu. Cocktails you were looking at £17-20, London prices if not higher than some places. The restaurant itself is quite dated and almost like going into a cosy pub environment, which again there is nothing wrong with that but it didn’t really fit with the premium experience we were expecting. I ordered a whiskey sour to start at £17 and what arrived after nearly 25 minutes did not resemble a whiskey sour at all. I politely took it back to the bar to say it wasn’t a proper whiskey sour as detailed on the menu with the aim of just getting it removed from the bill (I had only had a couple of sips). The waiter snatched the drink out of my hand and threw it in the sink aggressively saying ‘I’ll make you another one shall I?’. There was no conversation or apology just aggression. I removed myself from the situation and went to sit back down with my wife because I didn’t want to ruin the evening. The other staff were reasonable but proceeded to bring the issue up, not apologising but just offering us free items which was not the point and there was no apology from the member of staff who had been rude which would have been welcomed. Said member of staff proceeded to stare me out for the rest of the evening and made the experience quite uncomfortable and we did not feel welcome after that point. Whatever the staff members view on the quality of the drink, the way to deal with it was not to snatch it and launch it into the sink. All round, the bill came to the region of £350. They then get the bill wrong and we ended up paying circa £20 more than we should have which my wife had to battle with them to get back. When you are paying this kind of price for a meal, we would expect better. Nearby Hazel’s smashes it out of the water. The service is much better and in our personal opinion the food was better. Disappointing experience overall and we won’t be heading back, which is a shame because it had the potential to be really good. (Pictures: Whiskey sour I was served vs a quick google of what one should look like).

The food we had was exceptional and so was the wine. Works of art with excellent attention to detail. Ingredients top quality. Great attentive service but not rushed. So glad we have this gem of a place on our doorstep. Highly recommend.

Just had an outstanding meal at Thompson, every course was a taste sensation and beautifully presented, staff were friendly and knowledgeable, we will definitely be going back

This was our first time visiting this amazing restaurant in St Alburns! We were served by Nick and he gave us the best service ever, even put my jacket around my shoulders for me! Personal touch and massive attention to detail! The food was exquisite!! Huge commitment to the chefs the gnocchi I had - was the BEST I have ever had - and I used to be a chef myself. We can’t wait to come back here and experience the tasting menu! We had cheese board as pudding and it was off the dial. We LOVED everything about our first visit here ! Well done all.

Firstly the not so good points, I took a friend for a birthday meal, we sat at the bar and we still had to pick from the menu even for the 9 course tasting menu. We were presented with a menu each which had prices for the meals, a little embarrassing. The lighting in the main room was bright and harsh, the waitress did try to dim them and for a bit it was a better atmosphere but they started to flicker so back to bright. And the pasta on the tortellini was thick an a bit gloopy but the taste was fantastic. Now for the positives. Every other course of the 11 courses we had, the 9 courses plus the chefs choice and cheese were just delightful, my favourites being the mushrooms and the birds liver pate. The staff...attentive, polite, knowledgeable on what they were serving and just absolutely lovely. The wine we chose was out of stock, however the alternative suggestion was very drinkable. Crockery beautiful. We just had a wonderful time and my guest felt very special. Thanks guys.

Going to Thompson is a full experience and not just a basic dinner with some banality courses that don't say anything to your night. It's a full experience where the wine and food blend together in such a manner that couldn't be anything else that a good night. The chef deserves a full compliment, and the friendly team will take care of you in such a manner that you'll feel important fr9m the first step in the restaurant. Thank you so much for a lovely evening! We will come back with the first occasion!

It is one of our favorite local restaurant. Excellent food and service. We went this time to celebrate birthday and ordered 9 courses menu, to be honest, it was too much and too long service, too much mousses served in most of the courses (that's why only 4 stars this time). The chef's choice had truffles (...and mousse) which was very tasty (and adds £30 more per person, kind of expensive...). As conclusion, 7 courses should be more than enough.