Battle Axes, Elstree, Borehamwood

Official site of Battle Axes - www.chefandbrewer.com

Official site of Battle Axes - www.chefandbrewer.com

The Battle Axes is a large food orientated pub opposite Elstree Airdrome and just down the road from Haberdashers Ask boy’s school. I used to frequent it a lot in the late 70’s and early 80’s when I worked in Borehamwood as it was a decent place for a short drive away from ‘Bore them stiff’ for a pint in the country as this place has really nice views from the spacious garden area. It was always a hit and miss place for food with variable quality and dodgy service levels and various owners including Punch taverns and the Spirit group have struggled to realise the potential of this place. However , it is now part of the Chef and Brewer chain and they seem to be making a decent fist of it when I visited again when passing a couple of weeks ago. Although I didn’t eat this time, plenty of people were and it has the same food menu you will find in every Chef and Brewer (once you’ve visited one you’ve visited them all as far as the food is concerned). Its quite an old building datuing back over 200 years and internally it is now a single room layout in multiple sections, most set to tables for dining, but quite a few decent knooks and crannies allowing you to sit away from the madding crowd. And then there is a largeish conservatory to the rear that leads onto a garden area. Also there is a nice front patio area with additional tables and chairs. The Beer choice seems to have improved from what I remembered and there were four handpumps on the bar which included a couple of Adnams Ales in Bitter and Broadside and then a couple of guest ales. The one I tried was well kept but it had been a long day and I can’t remember what it was.