Slug & Lettuce Harpenden | Our Thoughts

Last week we were invited to visit our local Slug & Lettuce in Harpenden. Having recently been refurbished and also introducing a brand new menu, it was high time we paid a visit to see what it was like. One of our friends regularly visits and often sings the praises of both the food and drink quality and the staff so we were keen to see if it matched up to expectations.

Upon arrival we were greeted warmly by Jason, the very cheery bartender who looked after us during our meal. He asked if we had visited before – and when we mentioned we had but not for years, he made us aware of all and any changes which was really handy to know in advance of the meal.

We were seated promptly in a comfy seating area in the corner where we could peruse the menu in peace. Jason left us to look over the menu at our leisure, even giving us time to choose our drinks – this was great as all too often places can rush you into making a drinks order and you sometimes end up with something you really do not want through sheer rushed panic!

We opted for a pint of Peroni for Steve and a Bambini Bellini virgin mocktail for me for our first drinks before moving onto a Diet Coke for Steve and a virgin Apple Mojito mocktail for me. I only seem to have got a picture of the Apple Mojito mocktail but believe me, both were equally delicious and felt very luxurious for this pregnant woman here!

We were originally just going to have mains and a dessert each but after taking a look at the small plates available, we decided to share three plates for the 3 for £11 deal. We chose the Southern Fried Chicken Goujons, the Soft Tacos with Salt Beef Brisket and the Pulled Pork steam buns. These were the perfect starters for us – sharing the three plates was just enough for us as a starter each and they all tasted delicious! I think my favourite were probably the pulled pork steam buns – the buns themselves were extremely tasty, the pulled pork as yummy as would be expected and the pickled red onion set it off perfectly. What we did notice whilst there was that Slug & Lettuce really like their pickled items (red onion, gherkins etc) on their menu and as Steve and I are both pickle lovers, this went down a treat with us! Steve also found the steam buns to be his favourite although the other small plates were just as tasty.

For our mains, we deliberated a while before opting for what may be seen as perhaps expected choices for us. I chose the hand battered fillet of cod with chips, garden peas and tartare sauce and Steve chose the Deli beef burger (eight hour slow cooked cured British beef brisket, melting cheddar cheese and French’s classic yellow mustard, topped with pickles and served with skinny fries) after deliberating over that and the Bacon & Cheese beef burger for quite some time. I do love fish and chips and Steve loves a good burger so we were hopeful that our expectations would be met.

These were both super tasty and Steve especially loved the pickles that the burger was accompanied with. His burger was melt in the mouth delicious and my fish was fantastic too. The fish was cooked perfectly, the peas too and the chips were great with the tartare sauce. Very impressed.

With our tummies expanding by the second, we obviously had to get a dessert each and Steve chose the Hot Chocolate Martini sundae – strawberries, vanilla, caramel and brandy popcorn, popping candy and a chocolate dome with hot chocolate sauce to pour over – and I chose the Blackcurrent & Prosecco meringue roulade – this was a light meringue roulade filled with a tangy blackcurrant and cassis sauce and prosecco whipped dairy cream. My oh my were these desserts incredible. I’m still thinking of my meringue roulade almost a week later, it was so good. As with the other courses, the desserts were presented beautifully and it seemed almost a shame to eat them as they looked so beautiful – but of course we had to tuck in!

We left the Slug and Lettuce in Harpenden with our tummies full and very satisfied with our meal. The service we received from the staff was incredible and they were all so friendly throughout our time there, especially Jason. We will definitely be visiting again – in fact I’m already planning a meal out with cocktails with the girls once baby girl has arrived! The new decor is absolutely fab, the new menu is a complete treat and the staff are fab – what’s not to love?

I was compensated with the cost of 2 courses & 2 drinks each for the purpose of this review. All thoughts & opinions are my own.