The Feathers

Do you remember the «uh-​uh» you’d hear on Family Fortunes when someone gave an incorrect answer? That’s what I hear now when I think of The Feathers. Uh-​uh, uh-​uh, uh-​uh!
My sister and I brought my mum here for Mothers’ Day last weekend for what we thought would be a nice treat. We ended up at The Feathers because it was pretty much the only place in the area that wasn’t all booked up. Perhaps that should have rung alarm bells for us.
First up, we were seated in a draft, which kept us chilly whole time we were there. Then the toilets weren’t up to scratch — a bit whiffy inside and also outside before you even entered them. They’d crammed so many tables into the pub too that it was very difficult to make your to the WC at all.
My sister’s lemonade and lime turned out to be pretty much a glass of ice. After a couple of sips on her straw, she was left with nothing but ice-​cubes. She pointed this out and asked for a refill that actually contained some liquid, which she did receive, but I think we were charged twice.
For a starter, we shared bread and olives. The bread was described on the menu as «artisan», but was clearly a cheapie sliced supermarket loaf. The white bread was sweet and fluffy like Tesco Value (no offence to you, Tesco Value!) and the brown seemed to have been put into the microwave to warm it up, which meant that it ended up hard and chewy around the edges. The olives were nice enough, but there weren’t many to share. When we queried the «artisan» bread with our waitress, she went to speak to the kitchen and admitted that they’d run out of proper bread. I think this ought to have been mentioned at the start.
For mains, we all ordered roasts, which took a good hour or so to arrive. I understand that things can get busy on Mothers’ Day, but by this point they didn’t even have a full-​house. When the food eventually came, none of us were impressed, least of all my mum — and this was supposed to be her special day. My sister ordered chicken breast, but was given a leg. My nut-​roast looked like a dry, burnt brick. Similarly, our yorkshire puddings were hard as a rock. Had we been paying a fiver at a Wetherspoons, fair enough. But this was £15 a plate, Mothers’ Day, and we’d been waiting for-​bloody-​ever for our meal to arrive. So we decided to call it quits and go elsewhere.
Maybe The Feathers is alright on your average day, who knows… But I think they completely over-​stretched themselves for Mothers’ Day and tried to cram in more people than they could handle, and unfortunately it showed. I would say though that our waitress and waiter were very nice indeed and did the best they could under the circumstances. We felt quite bad for them being sent to serve substandard food from the kitchen. Not their fault.
Won’t bother coming here again though!

I have never visited the Feathers simply to drink, but of all the restaurants in the area, this is the one that I choose to revisit time and again. This is for 2 reasons; the food is always excellent and the service is possibly the best I have received in the UK. They frequently change the menu too which means there is always a new reason to visit. The atmosphere is also lovely here and is perfect of a couples dinner or dinner with the girls.

The best pub in the centre of Rickmansworth. The food and service is great. The pub has a great atmosphere and outside seating comes with blankets if it gets a little chilly!

The Feathers is a breath of fresh air on the High Street in Ricky. Great Food, excellent selection of drinks and most importantly of all GREAT SERVICE! The staff are friendly, attentive but not intrusive. They have got every aspect just right, which is why I had my birthday party there last year.
I highly recommend The Feathers, but two words of warning, as the only decent pub in the town it’s often very crowded, so book early if you want to eat there. It’s over 21’s at the weekend, so don’t wander up with your 19 year old cousin and expect her to get in…