Review: Lussmanns Fish and Grill Restaurant in St. Albans

I'm starting to think that restaurants take a good couple of years to reach their peak - which, based on today's visit, Lussmanns certainly has done.

This is the second time in just a few weeks that we've revisited a local eatery, a year or two after it's opening, and found things dramatically improved since our initial visit within a month or so of opening. We weren't terribly impressed with Lussmanns in the early days but, with a bit of time to get things right, it's been transformed into established, well run restaurant with an interesting menu and tasty food that's beautifully presented.

For today's dinner, we arranged to meet friends, another family with two kids, at Lussmanns for lunch. Thankfully our friend thought to make a table reservation in advance because the restaurant was completely full at lunchtime.

Although children are welcome at lunchtime, I get the feeling that the ambiance in the evening is much more geared towards couples and small groups seeking an intimate and possibly romantic dining experience.

Our party ordered a variety of dishes. Two of us had the Pollock (fish) and Leek, which was beautifully presented, perfectly cooked, fresh and very succulent. Definitely tasty.

Several members of our party ordered the soup of the day, which was a spicy carrot recipe, described by both who had as "Moroccan" and "spicy", served with fresh homemade bread. Delightful.

Being vegetarian, I asked for a recommendation - Lussmanns has quite a few choices for vegetarians and is listed in the Vegetarian Visitor Guide - and was rewarded with the vegetable casserole with fries. It was delicious, hot, nicely presented, but perhaps a bit on the small side.

Another member of our group had the burger, a speciality at Lussmanns, which looked mouthwatering even to me. Again, good feedback from the friend who ordered it who found it very tasty indeed.

All in all, we fed four adults and four children, with drinks, for just under £100. Whilst this didn't feel like a bargain lunch, it also felt like we'd paid the appropriate price for what we'd received. Pricing seemed about right.

Lussmanns has a lot of things going for it - great location, close to the Abbey; a menu full of interesting dishes; and a kitchen that seems to understand how to make tasty and attractive looking dishes. If we have any criticism, and it's only a small one, it's that the food did seem to take quite a long time and wasn't delivered all at once, as it should have been, but rather in a couple of spurts, seperated by about five minutes. We were a group of two familes so this wasn't a problem for us, but it could have been disasterous for a smaller group.

But please don't dwell on this one tiny criticism as it's countered by much praise - we were able to order for a choice of interesting dishes, the food is beautifully presented and full of flavour. The environs of the restaurant itself make it equally great for a business lunch or romantic dinner, with reservations necessary at peak times. For families, I'd recommend going during the off-peak times.

We reckon Lussmanns is well worth a try. You'll find it at Waxhouse Gate (off the High Street, just across from the Clock Tower), St. Albans, AL3 4EW.