The Goat in St Albans

Set up as a pub there are a good range of beers. The Sunday carvery had a choice of meets and a good range of vegetables. Good value.

Very, very disappointing carvery experience.First of all, when we arrived the staff immediately projected their stress onto us despite the pub not really being that busy. Paying by cash proved troublesome since not only did they have to once again leave us at the bar to process the payment they also gave us the wrong change.When we finally paid for our carvery and 4 drinks which were served in dirty glasses, we were told where we could sit, but then weren’t told what the process is for getting the food. We were given a wooden spoon in a dusty bottle handed to us, but weren’t told what to do with it.In the past we remember having to wait until our number was called, but this time after waiting 5 minutes we decided to ask and were told that we can go up whenever “but give it a couple of minutes because there’s a queue”.What’s the point of a numbered spoon? Shouldn’t that be used to control the queue?Anyway, since there was a queue we waited a bit and then went up individually to get food. For some reason, the person carving was unable to cut the meat at any reasonable speed. I’m not sure if the knives were blunt or whether they’ve just never used a knife before but they were basically trying to saw bits of meat off by making very tiny movements which meant it was upwards of 30 seconds *per slice* of meat. The meat was quite cold once served and I wouldn’t have touched the grey looking beef. I ended up having lumps of turkey served which was dry and cold.Waiting for the meat to be cut was already a bad experience made much worse by how sticky the floor was where you have to wait. Honestly disgusting enough a reason not to return despite the rest of the issues, not all of which I have yet mentioned.After finally getting my lumps of turkey, I was just handed the plate with no Yorkshire. Turns out there weren’t any and I had to wait. Which I guess was good timing because I also had to ask and wait for roast potatoes to also be brought out.When I spooned myself some somehow luke warm but over cooked veg onto my plate, sharing the serving spoons between dishes because there wasn’t enough, I had to pull a very long hair from the broccoli.Once my plate was full and I finally got some roast potatoes and a Yorkshire pudding (at least these were hot) I tried to ladle myself some gravy using a comically large ladle which ended up just making a huge mess since the gravy was far too thick and gloopy, and also not very hot.Just to top it all off the table itself was dirty with bits of food stuck in the grooves. My father in law was quick to point out that the whole place needed cleaning top to bottom which I agree with but am disappointed by since it was only recently refurbished.We’re locals and used to come here regularly with a much larger group. (13 people) and it was fantastic before the pandemic, we were proud to take people there because it was good food and felt well organised. Today was a far cry away from that and I felt like we wasted our money and was embarrassed taking my in-laws there, who also paid for the meal.Very disappointing and I hope it can return to how it used to be, but we won’t be trying again until next year at the very earliest.

Always cheerful bar staff and a nice okay to sit with friends

The carvery was amazing today. Very fresh and great value. Keep it up..

Great local pub with amazing quick and attentive service with a good selection of real ales and even cocktails!

Great music venue. The Push are playing tonight one of the best bands in the region. And it's free! All you've got to do is buy a drink (at normal prices). Amazing value.

A really cosy proper pub. A small group of us went in and it was a really great atmosphere. The wine was good too.

A very homely pub. Great staff and a good range of beers.

A reall gem of a pub just off the hill of St Peter street in St Albans. It has a lovely old wooden interior and lots of nice old wooden furniture. It even has a nice courtyard at the back. It was very quiet when we went as life is still a little quiet after Covid, but I urge anyone to give it a try, aa it's a lovely pub.

We would like to say a big thank you to the team at The Goat Inn for making our evening perfect.It was the first time the guys have managed to catch up for the best part of a year due the current climate.The Pub team was welcoming, organised, efficient in all areas, was very impressed by them.Look forward to popping in again.Thank you again guys !