Dylans at the Kings Arms
St Albans , Hertfordshire
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What was a 15th-century timbered hostelry in St Albans' Cathedral Quarter still makes a virtue of its great age, as one would expect. Rafters festooned with hops compete with stuffed mammals for visual attention, and the memory of a much-loved deceased Labrador is preserved in the name of the restaurant. Josh Searle furnishes a snacking menu in the front area, while the main culinary action occurs in a slate-tiled space at the back. The menu changes monthly, but is tweaked daily (depending on local supplies), and the result is a roll call of robust modern pub dishes such as duck hearts and girolles with salsa verde on sourdough toast or a salt cod and salmon fishcake with very lightly curried mayo and a fried egg. Main courses are protein-heavy, and definitely need leavening with green side-orders, but the quality of Dingley Dell pork belly with a mustardy sausage roll or chargrilled onglet with beef-fat chips are not in doubt. The show-stopper at our visit was a daily special of whole Dover sole, easily enough for two, in brown shrimp and caper butter with savoury-sweet pipérade – an object lesson in how to treat a majestic fish. Dylans' desserts seem curiously underpowered, although the kids might enjoy a bubbling-hot helping of chocolate soup with peanut-butter ice cream (bring plenty of wipes, perhaps). An excellent, broadly based wine list opens with glasses of one of Nyetimber's Sussex sparklers at £15, and there is a virtual beer wall for the delight of committed brewheads.
