The Knowhere Guide

Eating and Drinking in Watford, Hertfordshire*

Watford, Hertfordshire Pubs, Cafes, Coffee Shops and Restaurants

Food

• Pizza et Pizza (top of town) Wicked pizza and pasta. Pane & Table (top) my mate Jon Palliser cooks there, so it should be good (everything is cooked fresh). L'Artista- good food, amazing Steaks - BAD service...
• King Do in St Albans road has lost it in a big way. Its now just a conveyor belt service. If you want london qulaity chinese, its the Flower Drum all the way.
• L' Artesta, the only good thing in the 'Cafe Quarter' now. Good quality food at resonable prices. expect lot's of noise and a que to eat however.
• WFC SUPPORTERS EAT SHIT
• Ask, Dial a balti, 'Dil'icious, Fast Food Express, Pizza Hut, HOT STUFF!!!!!
• New India Garden in Bushey, St James's also in Bushey and A brilliant little Italian place at the top of Watford High Street, also a French restaurant my the pond
• Avoid the kebab shop next to yates, their chips taste like cardboard, try the kebab place next to the palace theatre
• The Pasta Bowl at the top of the High Street is *really* nice. Good value too if they're still doing the 2 courses for £5.99 offer.
• King-Do, St Albans Road, is serves excellent Chinese at verrry reasonable prices. Sizzling garlic prawns are a favourite.
• i'artista-really fun casual loud italian restaurant if you go to pizza express with a large croud you can reserve the conference room which is basically a lovely sort of balcony overlooking the restaurant with sofas
• St. James . Chungs take-away and better still eat-in Sanorgaon Indian great All in Bushey
• McD's is open until 2am at the clubbing end of the town!
• L'Artista is the pick of many pizza/pasta joints. It's the one that stinks of garlic. Great atmosphere, food and service. After a night on the pi55 the chicken kebabs from the place next to Yates' can't be beaten -make sure you have mayonaisse rather than chilli sauce.
• ASK!!!!!!!!! candlelit, and v romantic if you're with your special someone, but also really nice with ya mates. the toilets are good too (a proven way to test the quality of any establishment)
• Flower Drum (Chinese restaurant) in Market Street is very good.
• alley cat cafe on the high street good food 70s discos

Pubs

• A great pub in Estcourt Road by Sutton Car Park in Watford called Reid's Bar has just been taken over by new owners. Within 6 months they turned it from a nothing pub to a great friendly pub with lots to do and great food. So if you are stuck for a mid-week drink, or somewhere to watch the footy, or even somewhere different to go, this is the place!!!!!
• Bar Risa the loudest and best bar in Watford.........
• Rat & Parrot, Cosy, Yates, Relaxed, Red Bar, O'Neils, Llyods Bar
• Depends what your after, if your a student, elderly or mentally disturbed then 'Moon's' is the place for you. If your 20 something and like good music and a friendly atmosphere then either the 'Rat And Parrot', 'O'Niells' or 'Bar Risa'. If your a teenage rebel who professes to be a true clubber but your CD collection amounts to no more than one Backstreet boys album and an S Club 7 EP then 'Iceobar' or 'Yates's' for you. For the more maturer of you (the 30 somethings, Bored Housewives on the pull or family trying to prove you still have 'IT' then 'Chicago's is the place for you.
• Recommend the Moon Under Water for a cheap piss up. If you're looking for a bit of sophistication try Maximo's, a great new bar, where the old West used to be.
• Only theme bars at the top end of town with splattered paving stones outside smelling of urine and vomit. Some grotty ones the further down the bottom you go with the same pavement decoration and smell outside.
• The Hogshead is nice but expensive. Good for watching footie. The Firkin by the station is good and big. The Southern Cross does a good pub quiz on a Thursday night but the questions are *hard*.
• Red Bar, on the High Street. A trendy, mock Soho bar comes to Watford. Not typical of Watford, therefore quite good.
• The Moon Under Water is one of the best pubs in Watford. Even thought there's music, it's prices are extremely good - it's 99p for a bottle of Smirnoff Ice tonight - you'd pay 3 1/2 times that in Destiny!
• Yates! Best Pub for miles!!!
• O'Neills is the place to be any night of the week. Great looking bar staff who are friendly and fun. Great atmosphere all the time and lots of Rumpleminz!!! Get lashed and have a boogie without the usual attitude you get from other bars in Watford.
• Load of Hay, Pinner Road. Essentially a gay pub but a real mix of every persuasion!
• The nearer the pond the trendier and more expensive they get. Rat & Parrot is good mix - a bit trendy but you can still have a chat. Moon Under Water is a standard Weatherspoons. The Hogwash & The Old Westminster - music's too loud to hear yourself speak. Ice-o-bar - very hip and linked to Jongleurs Comedy Club. Yates Wine Lodge - good for a punch up. But my favourite for a great night out(drinks expensive though) is Chicagos - good music, good atmosphere and always packed.
• There are 121 pubs and rising in the borough of Watford 2 "super-club" status Nightclubs - The Awesome Destiny, and the Ultra-Modern Area
• The Rose and Crown is now called the Salthill. But don't go there unless you (a) want to start a fight (b) want to be beaten up. The "bouncers" and barstaff don't care less. Anyway it's crap.
• Yates, Bar Risa, Ice o Bar, ONeills, Oflahertys, The Old Westminster is great - load of music and a good laugh,. Chicagos, the Artichoke, - any more - absolutely loads!
• Rose and Crown.
• Watford is full of bars/pubs so popular with the younger residents.
• There's a good bar called "Chicagos" this attracts the slightly 'older' crowd as it plays great 80's music along with videos. It is also generous on the measures, so it should be as the drinks aint cheap.
• Pub crawling from the High Street down towards Bushey Arches and then through Oxhey, Bushey and Bushey Heath was always a long and interesting experience. The old licencing laws used to make it more of a dash than a crawl. Bushey has a heritage museum which supplied me several years back with a book called "From The Wheatsheaf To The Windmill" which gives the history of many of the pubs on this route, past and present - highly recommended!

Cafes and Coffee Shops

• Loads at the top of the town...too many in fact....Checkout Frankies and Bennys at the Leisure Centre in North Watford on the A405. McDonalds are everywhere.7 within a couple of miles.

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Credits

Last updated: 2007-05-18