12 Nov 2025
James Cameron take a jaunt outside the confines of the city to explore a rural restaurant by the river…
Tiring of the smog and urban decay of St Albans, for this week’s dining experience we escaped to the idyllic Tewin Bury Farm, just north of Welwyn Garden City. If you’ve never been to Tewin Bury Farm before, it is a kind of rural tourism complex, nestled by River Mimram and surrounded by pleasant hills and a very large viaduct.
When we first went there these many moons ago it was mainly used for Tesco management meetings with a few random bedrooms tucked in amongst the meeting rooms. Now it serves multiple purposes, from weddings to afternoon tea gatherings and weekend flits from St Albans.
What this meant was when we popped to the Stables Bar for a pre-dinner drink the place was already packed with various guests, wedding and otherwise, and we were banished to the outside seating area. This wasn’t a disaster as if you can put your ecological qualms aside there was an effective heater to sit under, and we were by the river. We couldn’t see it in the dark, but we could feel its calming presence.
There was a short cocktail list, but the daiquiri I ordered was properly mixed. It was more bitter than I was expecting, but pleasant enough and though it wasn’t quite the posh hotel bar experience we were anticipating it was a fun way to start the evening.
Things carried on in a similar vein when we ventured across the farm yard to the restaurant in the old cow shed. The first view was very encouraging, enticing us in from the dark and the cold with a positively glowing bar island. The decor I would describe as like a trendy neighbour’s kitchen, with exposed brickwork and calming blues and greys. Our table was less inviting though, squeezed in beside a busy thoroughfare.
We had taken advantage of a very good deal that gave you a room, breakfast and a three course dinner for two people for £289. Whilst this isn’t crazy cheap, for the quality of what’s on offer it is very good value for an indulgent weekend getaway. This is reflected somewhat in the service, though. It was friendly and competent rather than luxurious perfection.
There was some confusion about how to cater for a vegan within the set three-course menu that came with the deal, as only one item was suitable. They dealt with it very well, however, as the chef seemed to take it as a challenge rather than an inconvenience and no-one felt short changed.
To start with there was a Butternut Squash, perfectly cooked to be neither squishy nor hard and swimming in a lovely creamy sauce. This creaminess was offset by richness from a smattering of pumpkin seeds and bitterness from a herb oil, plus a big crispy crisp.
My starter was a venison scotch egg, crisp crumbs enveloping rich smokey meat which in turn contained an egg with a yolk of perfect runniness. It was perched on a dash of celeriac puree and jauntily sported some mysterious but intriguing dark pickles.
After a strong start the main courses were not quite up to the same standard. I ordered Cod Bouillabaisse, which I think I had mentally conflated with Bouillion as I was expecting some form of soup. What actually arrived was a good chunk of fish sat in a bowl of what reminded me of Japanese curry sauce. It was spicier than expected and was served with strands of fennel that had their own very strong flavour, so there was definitely a lot going on. It was like a party that was always on the verge of descending into anarchy but where the lid is just about kept on and despite some smoothing over needed with the neighbours the next morning no one actually called the police. There were also some very cute little parmentier potatoes, like croutons in the not-soup.
It could have done with some greenery to calm proceedings down, but green was certainly not lacking in my companion’s dish. This was Jerusalem Artichoke Tortellini in a very murky green sauce, like tortoises that had wallowed too long and allowed the moss to grow on them. The sauce was tangy, landing just on the right side of saltiness, and the mushroom crisps added texture. Texture was possibly a bit too present in the tortellini, though, as it required quite a chew and could probably have done with a bit more cooking.
For dessert I had the intriguingly titled Popcorn Panna Cotta. This came complete with a little blob of ice cream and what I thought was a drizzle of sauce but which held its shape when I attacked it like a Bear Yo-Yo. The popcorn was definitely needed to add variety to the dish as ironically the generosity of the portions actually worked against this dish as otherwise it was like a large slab of unbronzed creme brulee.
My companion had to go for the general standby for vegan desserts, the sorbet, but it was a revelation. The rhubarb sorbet was surprisingly creamy in texture for something lacking entirely in cream and had a tangy aftertaste which blended well with the upfront sharpness of its passionfruit companion in sorbeting.
Overall the food was of a good quality, with fine ingredients shining through and very generous portions. The three course meal is available to non-residents for £35 which considering the range and depth of cooking is really commendable. Where the restaurant does fall down against truly great hotel dining experiences, such as St Albans’ Sopwell House, is in the service.
We ordered tap water, but were not trusted enough to keep hold of a jug and so had to rely on the waitress topping us up. This would be fine if it happened regularly but there wasn’t a single time where we didn’t have to ask for it. Eventually they relented and allowed us to gain possession of the jug, but this was right at the end of the meal. I would presume this was to punish us for our thriftiness in ordering the free option but it was equally difficult to get drinks you had to pay for. I resorted to leaving both my empty glasses at the edge of the table, assuming that we could actually benefit here from our prime location right by the waiting staff’s migratory route, but they would rush past many times before I could actually get someone’s attention.
Waiting times between courses were also significant, with the whole meal taking close to three hours. This is excusable for dishes that have to be prepared but when you are looking at over half an hour wait to serve up sorbet and panna cotta it seems a bit rum. Things calmed down towards the end, and in fact the only time we were asked if we wanted more drinks was just after we had been served our peppermint tea.
This was the only really discordant note of the evening, however, and is possibly the price you have to pay for some very nice food in delightful surroundings at a not exorbitant cost. I would not be in a rush to return to Tewin Bury, and given it’s rate of expansion I assume by the time I do it will be a sprawling mega-city, but if you do fancy a change in scenery and feel you have earned a small treat then you could do a lot worse.
