Prime Steak & Grill

I have now lived in London for a number of years and am used to dining at the best Steak restaurants the capital has to offer, including Goodman, Hawksmoor, Mash Steak, Hix etc. I was over the moon the hear about a potential competitor opening locally in St Albans and visited with 6 local friends last weekend. Every one of us was extremely impressed - between us we had 4 steaks, 2 pork bellies and a salmon and every dish was cooked to perfection and exactly to order for each of us. The cocktails were delicious (I highly recommend the Hugo) and the service was exceptional - it's not easy to look after a table of 7 with differing drinks orders but they did not miss a beat. Well worth the money (while it's not cheap, it actually worked out less than we'd budgeted for and we had no issues paying for such delicious food). I've been back for lunch with a local friend too and was again highly impressed - especially with the value. £12.90 for 2 courses is an absolute steal here! 24 Oct 14 Prime Steak & Grill

The arrival of a new restaurant in St Albans always generates a lot of excitement as there aren't enough quality, local restaurants in this town. However, our visit to Prime Steak and Grill was something of a disappointment. Our meal there was beset by continual service issues which spoilt our enjoyment of the food and drink we'd ordered. Here are a few examples: We weren't offered the set menu, we had to ask for it, which instantly irritated me as this suggests a wilful attempt at up-selling. We had to ask to have our drinks order taken. Starters arrived at the same time as the Parmesan rolls. I didn't feel as though we were being looked after sufficiently well considering the prices we were charged - £32 for a Rib Eye Steak, £11.90 for a scallop starter. The evening's catalogue of errors culminated in the manager offering to waive the “discretionary service charge” which was automatically added to our bill. I left a small tip as I actually felt sorry for our waiter who was young and obviously hadn't received a decent standard of training. If Prime Steak and Grill want to be considered as a high quality eating establishment to worry the likes of Phil Thompson and Andrei Lussmann, they will have to address these service issues quickly. 20 Oct 14 Prime Steak & Grill