The Fishery Inn

Food is very good by pub standards though it is most certainly not cheap for what it is. Still if your looking for nice pub food, it’s one of the better in the local area.

we had lunch here a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday. I remember this place when it was a pub, then a gastro-​pub and now it’s more like a restaurant with a bar. it’s a very nice setting, you’ll probably find a place to park although most of the clientèle seem to be local to Boxmoor anyway.
we didn’t book a table in advance but got there early enough to still be offered an available table, there was a good choice of food and drinks on the menu. service was polite and we weren’t left waiting very long even though the restaurant soon got very busy.
when our meals were brought to us, my wife’s was wrong and had to go back. we was told it’d be a 15 minute wait for the new meal. the waitress didn’t offer to take my meal back and when we questioned this, we was told that my meal would only be kept warm until my wife’s meal was ready. I wasn’t keen on this so I ate my meal alone, then sat and watched my wife eat her meal alone afterwards. the meals were alright, we’ve eaten a lot better elsewhere locally. however we was mainly disappointed that her meal was the wrong order in the first place, also a proper restaurant would’ve offered to bring back two fresh meals so we could eat together. we weren’t even offered a complimentary drink to enjoy while we watched each other eat our meals one at a time.
although this place has become very popular with the people of Boxmoor, there are a lot better places to eat locally if you don’t mind a short journey however I must say it is a nice and convenient place to go if you do live nearby and everyone else in the restaurant seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Reasonably placed (close to the station, looking out over the canal and Boxmoor), this place is something of a disappointment. Bar service is unfailingly and unfathomably slow ten minutes to register our presence at the bar on a Saturday lunchtime is not OK. I actually began to wonder if I had unwittingly insulted someone between getting out of the car and coming in. The food was mediocre when it arrived (eventually, and in the chef’s own sweet time). I say this, as he spent most of the time between our order being given and it actually appearing in the bar, talking to a customer about Portsmouth FC’s prospects for the season. Not worth the wait, either the burger I had (billed on the menu as awesome) was a tasteless, dry puck of mystery meat, and looked lonely on a large plate with a small bowl of (admittedly quite good) chips, while my dining companion’s sea trout was overcooked, although balanced on an acceptable salad. In sum, should I ever need to eat in a pub next to Hemel station, I’ll go to the Harvester. It’s closer, for a start.

If you take one piece of advice today then let it be– avoid this place in the same way a prossie actively avoids a checkup at a gum clinic. At the very least avoid it on a sunny day/​evening. Over capacity doesn’t come close. The staff to customer ratio was mind blowing stupid. No business could operate with this few staff– especially not a rammed to bursting point pub with punters needing a thirst quenching bevvie on a summers eve. Don’t even get me started on the wait at the bar, especially as other tossers decided to keep pushing in.
The pub itself seems nice enough, on the river and recently done up but this will not entice me back. Ever. We were wanting to eat dinner here so moved from our sunny spot outside to indoors (as they won’t serve you outside on most of the seating… about 3 tables where you can actually eat out there, so unless you got there at say 9am, you wouldn’t have a chance). Menu very large which I always find a bad sign. As Gordon Ramo says ‘how can they possibly cook all these options– well’. Quality not quantity people, come onnn. Chose a skinny burger (sans carbs you see) and decided I wanted a fancy cocktail to make up the calories (it was a Friday night people). Said cocktail never arrived. No waitress passed. Fuming. Not even a ‘how is your dinner’ fakery was offered our way. Dry dinner. Hot day. Not a happy customer hence the reason a usually placid, calm Nicola went for the waiter when he dained to bring said drinks over approx 35 mins after ordering them. Hands slapped on the table, hoisted self up and raised voice. Very loudly. Waiter gave us them free and scuttled off, looking frightened. Well. Never experienced such slooooow service. Food was adequate but the no drink with dinner thing was too much. Straw that broke my back. Bill took an ice age to arrive. No tip was given. I have never looked back.

Great pub for the Summer, not so for the Winter. Food is quite expensive here.

An Ember Inns pub within walking distance of the train station. Not the best place but ok for meeting friends and moving on.
In the summer it is nice to sit out by the canal. The food is ok. Bar service a bit hit and miss. A small bar and lots of female customers ordering complicated mixed drinks means you could wait 10 minutes to be served. Also likely they will serve out of queuing order. Very irritating.

This place has just had a major refit what a waste of money cant get served, staff not trained, ran out of food at3pm and we had booked.

A great spot right next to the grand union canel. Masses of seating outside for a sunny day and a nice range of real ales.
I only stopped here for a quick drink while waiting to be picked up from the Hemel train station and was deligted with this tucked away place.