18 Feb 2025
James Cameron is back at The Horn, but this time he’s reviewing the food, not the music…
Firstly, an apology. In my end of year round-up I mentioned that The Horn did great waffle fries.
This is true but misleading, they did great waffle fries but no more. Now they have skin-on fries, which is a downgrade in anyone’s books. When I used to work in St Albans and things were particularly bad at the company I was at, we would console ourselves with a nurturing burger from The Horn, so they will always have a fond place in my heart. Returning to a cherished site always has an element of risk, though, as often the only way is down.
Most people heading to the Horn are doing so for music, rather than food, and so dining feels like a bit of an afterthought. The menu refers to a Specials board which is nowhere to be seen, and also features a whole section of waffles which have similarly gone walkabout when we try to order them. This leaves us with the choice of burgers, hot dogs or loaded fries, which to be fair are not bad options.
The menu choices all have suitably musical names, including the Snoop (Hot) Dogg and Piggie Smalls (Loaded Fries with Pulled Pork). You’re not really here for healthy options, though there are a smattering of veggie and vegan dishes at play. Purple Haze referred to fries covered with vegan chilli, for reasons that escape me, and you got a good pile of food if you go for the sharing option. The chilli was definitely not lacking in spiciness, and hid its veganess well so you don’t feel the lack of meat.
We tried a couple of options from the burger menu. The Classic Rock Burger featured cheese and bacon, with a pleasant signature sauce, but overall it was more Nazareth than Pink Floyd.
Notorious P.I.G. was a pulled pork burger, soft and squidgy and more flavourful than the standard beef patty. The buns were pretzels so had a chewiness to them, but this bordered on tasting stale and visually they looked a little shrunken. The lasting impression was one of dryness, possibly why the Pulled Pork was a better bet.
This aridity continued into the Louisiana Styled Chicken Strips we ordered from the Starters menu, though they had a nice coating.
Ironically the blue cheese sauce they were served with was if anything too watery, so I suppose when you combined the two they balanced out. There was a very good and lively buffalo sauce present on the dish, though it seemed to have been concealed by the chicken and I ended up eating most of it with the salad base, where it was very welcome. I was going to point out that they’d missed a good opportunity to name the dish after a famous band from Louisiana, but having googled it there don’t seem to be any. Sorry Louisiana.
The Vegan Hot Dog, again Purple Hazed by the presence of the vegan chilli, was fairly standard on its own but when combined with the chilli, the fried onions, mayo and a very good bun it did come into its own and achieved some level of minor magnificence. A side of Onion Rings were unremarkable but again featured the saving grace of the buffalo sauce.
Being a pub there were of course many drink options to go with your meal, though I have a tradition that whenever I’m at a gig I have to drink Red Stripe (if available), and this apparently extends to eating beforehand.
Some dining experiences blow you away with the first mouthful, sparking your tastebuds with a powerful opening chord of flavours.
The food at the Horn is not like that. It’s more like a Coldplay album track, seemingly quite underwhelming at first but if you stick with it you might find yourself humming the melody whilst you’re doing the dishes later. I would not recommend making a visit to the Horn specifically to dine, but if you’re there already to see one of the amazing bands they manage to attract then you might as well grab a cheeky burger beforehand.
It will definitely give you enough energy to mosh the night away.
