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Poll for date of Halifax crawl. with ROBCamra
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Alan Winfield
Submitted on Monday, 28th August 2017
With picture contributions to 6053 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (13 more images)
Detail Pages
The Verulam Arms, St Albans Central, St. Albans
St. Albans
AL3 4QE
Served areas
Reviews of The Verulam Arms (Average Rating: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about The Verulam Arms
They have dropped the 'Foragers' moniker now, but it is still very much a gastro pub. Even though my visit was Sunday lunchtime I was pleased not to see those annoying 'reserved' signs on every table that some pubs put out to deter those only drinking. Two handpumps with Tribute and Landlord at £4.50.
I get the impression they don't do a great deal of food business but may be busy weekend evenings with the 'cocktail crowd'
On 9th January 2022
- rating: 5
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Foragers at The Verulam Arms
One of a number of back street pubs in this part of town, the Verulam Arms has set itself apart from the crowd by defecting into the world of upmarket gastro pubs. In this case, the venture is known as ‘Foragers’ and, as the name implies, they specialise in food and beer made using foraged ingredients. It seems like the sort of daft marketing move that would do well given the fads of today, but there were only two other people in when I visited on a Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. You enter into a lop-sided U-shaped room with exposed floorboards and a similarly shaped tongue and groove panelled bar counter to the rear. The entire pub has been furnished with very fancy looking chairs and scrubbed tables, with no other forms of seating available. This makes the place feel both upmarket and formal, neither of which are really conducive to relaxing over a few pints. There is a neutral colour scheme throughout and a small but plain fireplace to the left, but thankfully there is some etched glass in the windows that helps give the place a bit of character and sense of history. The decor is heavily themed around the idea of foraging and includes pheasant feathers, dried herbs, jars full of sea shells and hops, an ivy-lined bar canopy and a set of mounted antlers with a load of grass tangled up in them. Boards around the room detailed upcoming foraging events, so you can presumably source the food you intend them to cook for you! To the rear there is a sunken beer garden with a fair bit of seating.
The pub has its own brewery out the back somewhere and they specialise in beers using unusual foraged ingredients. Options on this visit included Foragers Mediocria Firma and Slingshot, Squawk Oat Pale Ale and a house cider. My pint of Slingshot claimed to be brewed with Douglas Fir needles and I can confirm that it did indeed taste as though I’d fallen face first in the forest. The pint was also served unpleasantly warm, which made getting through it quite a chore and I was rather amazed, as I sat there slowly supping, to find that no other customers came to the pub the whole time I was there.
Considering I probably visited this pub at an ideal time, when it wasn’t rammed with diners, I still came away feeling that his place didn’t really offer much for the casual drinker beyond the prospect of trying some potentially grim experimental beer. I could imagine enjoying a nice meal here – it’s the sort of place you’d gladly bring the family along to – but I’ll definitely be chopping it from future crawls.
On 14th November 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about The Foragers at The Verulam Arms
The Verulam Arms is a decent looking back street corner pub,there were no signs of Foragers on its signage.
Once inside the bar faces in a single U shaped room which is bare boarded,the seating is normal tables and chairs,the left side of the room was set for diners,none in on my Saturday dinner visit.
The pub advertises foraging trips with the next one up Scotland,all very strange in my eyes.
The pub brews its beers which all seemed pretty weird to me with their pump clips looking strange with leafs and the like on them,i had a drink of Slingshot,which was alright,but not really to my taste,the other real ales noted were Meroicria,Saint Cloak and Grindcobbe.
The pub was busy with locals.
I thought this was a very strange pub.
Pub visited 24/6/2017
On 10th September 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
View more reviews of The Verulam Arms (12)
No known official website for this pub.
- Facebook - The Foragers
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Verulam Arms - whatpub.com
St Albans City, 0.82 miles, 15 min walk (show)
Park Street, 2.16 miles, 41 min walk (show)
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 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 14 November 2017 by Pub SignMan
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 14 November 2017 by Pub SignMan
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 14 November 2017 by Pub SignMan
- Karaoke : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 14 November 2017 by Pub SignMan
- Micropub : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 14 November 2017 by Pub SignMan
- WiFi : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Quinno _
