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Picture of The Blackbirds
Image posted by Graham Coombs
Submitted on Thursday, 21st October 2021
With picture contributions to 5110 other pubs
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The Blackbirds, Hertford

17 Parliament Square
Hertford
SG14 1EX
Phone: 01992509286
Correct details

Served areas

Reviews of The Blackbirds (Average Rating: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Blackbirds

ORIGINAL REVIEW February 2013
With an hour to kill on a cold afternoon ,inducing the need to find a gents,I popped in here after avoiding this pub like the plague for longer than I care to remember due to the presence of doormen most evenings.Through the front door there are initially two sections visible from the street.To the right all sofas and low tables,to the left trad wooden tables and chairs winding around a central column.The bar runs down the righthand rear wall and there is a mighty array of keg taps.Persevere along the bar and surprisingly you will now find two handpumps dispensing Brain's Bread of Heaven and a well kept Red Squirrel Conservation.There is a 20% CAMRA discount making my Conservation good value at £2.80.
Towards the rear of the wooden floored interior there is a side room with curtains drawn back on my trip ,but functioning as a VIP area with two circular tables with an inset ice bucket holder.The flock wallpaper and Beetles photos add to the theme,and prominent adverts for cocktails (£4.50 each,2 for £6.50) and Red Bull & Double Voddie (£5.25) give you a feel for the true purpose of this pub.As you wind around the interior of the rest of the pub there are numerous fruit and quiz machines and the outside courtyard has a series of circular bench seats.Food is served at lunchtime only.
The presence of muzak did not seem out of place and the sounds were not the usual dirge.From Thursday to Sunday there are R&B and DJ nights and a Karaoke.
In the days of my youth this pub would have felt like the jesus of cool,these days I could only recommend it at a quiet time of the day,but the presence of a decent pint of real ale has increased it's attraction.

December 2016

Stonegate have done a considerable refurb here,for the better.The two front sections below the exterior windows still survive,but much smarter with chintz wallpaper,black leather benches and an upmarket vibe.The large bar running down the righthand wall has a metal top,there are high tables opposite here but only a small flatscreen on mute with BBC 24hr News and pine flooring throughout.A series of french windows lead onto a covered central courtyard,good for smokers,while the rest of the interior has been opened out ,again with black leather padded benches ,traditional wooden chairs and brittania tables.The loos have been moved upstairs,allowing an open kitchen and a new section in that space.Candles were placed on each table,the muzak was being played at a sensible volume and the pub grub food offering is now available daily from 8am til 10pm.Sunday roasts may well be popular,and there are meal deals on various days as well as offers on wine and cocktail 2 for 1 M-F 5-8.
At the bar there are now 6 handpumps ,one devoted to real cider,the others offering regular Adnams Southwold Bitter,Doom Bar and Old Speckled Hen with guests of Haresfoot Sundial Golden Ale and New River Five Inch Drop (good nick ,£3.08 with 20% CAMRA discount),both guests being Locale.
There is still a DJ on Fridays and Saturdays when there is late opening until 2am,but outside these times this pub has an upmarket feel and is a good spot to sup ale.Now worth including on any real ale tour of the town,an upgrade from me.

UPDATE

Although popular with young drinkers and offering very reasonable drinks pricing,standards have dropped here with the PA noise level turned up to 11 making for a very unpleasant experience where everybody needs to shout to be heard.The ale line up is dominated by national and boring real ale brands with maybe one guest (Black Sheep Finisher NBSS 1.5 on my last trip) and a lot of handpumps with "available soon" signs.It's a mess and best avoided,a significant downdgrade from me.

On 25th February 2023 - rating: 5
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Graham Coombs left this review about The Blackbirds

A large Stonegate pub in the town centre with a modern feel to the main bar and separate sports suite alongside. There is a tabled outdoor drinking area in the centre. On handpump were Proper Job, London Pride and Doom Bar, with something from New River coming soon. Sadly if my Proper Job was anything to go by it will not be worth waiting for. A reasonable pub for for the younger elements, but they need to get their beer in order.

On 21st October 2021 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3322 recommendations about 3259 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve C left this review about The Blackbirds

I popped in here on Tuesday evening and thankfully there were none of the advertised events on as it was pretty quiet apart from the courtyard being packed with student types. The barmaid was very friendly, but there is no real ale as only a standard draught selection is available along with Amstel. There are plasma screens throughout which were showing music videos on my visit. There is also a small room at the rear of the pub which houses a pool table.

The ‘floor fillers' and ‘R&B' nights advertised are the sort of things I run a mile from these days, so although I wouldn't return now I may have done ten or so years ago.

On 9th October 2009 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]

This pub features in the following crawls:
Hertford by train man
External web links for The Blackbirds

No known official website for this pub.

Pub location see interactive map of local area
Map location corrected by Steve C
Hertford East, 0.42 miles, 8 min walk (show)
Hertford North, 0.79 miles, 15 min walk (show)
Ware, 2.53 miles, 48 min walk (show)
Latest updates View all updates for The Blackbirds, Hertford
25th Feb 2023, 10:34
Review submitted by Bucking Fastard amended by Bucking Fastard
 
25th Feb 2023, 10:30
Review submitted by Bucking Fastard amended by Bucking Fastard

Pub Details

Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.

  • Accommodation : No last updated 07 December 2016 by Bucking Fastard
  • Bar Billiards : No last updated 07 December 2016 by Bucking Fastard
  • Beer Festivals : No last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Beer Garden : No last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • CAMRA Discount : Yes - 20% - last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Car Park : No last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Child Friendly : Yes last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Darts : No last updated 07 December 2016 by Bucking Fastard
  • Dog Friendly : No last updated 13 January 2019 by Komakino .
  • Function Room : No last updated 07 December 2016 by Bucking Fastard
  • Hot Food : Yes last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Jukebox : No last updated 13 January 2019 by Komakino .
  • Karaoke : No last updated 07 December 2016 by Bucking Fastard
  • Live Music : Yes last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Micropub : No last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Pinball : No last updated 07 December 2016 by Bucking Fastard
  • Pool Table : No last updated 07 December 2016 by Bucking Fastard
  • Quiz Night : Yes last updated 13 January 2019 by Komakino .
  • Real Ale : Yes last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Real Cider : Yes last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
  • WiFi : Yes last updated 21 March 2018 by ROB Camra
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