The King William IV in St Albans promises “authentic British cooking and real ales in a genuine local pub warmed by a cosy fire”. It certainly lived up to it, keeping the fire on even in last week’s 20 degree heat purely for show.

The large venue is surrounded by extra outdoor space, perfect for the summer evenings ahead of us. My partner and I sat inside to enjoy the effect of the fire.

The table seating creates an atmosphere which crosses over between pub and restaurant, giving it a little more elegance than your usual experience of pub grub.

We began our evening with a couple of craft ales, Camden Hells Lagar and Brewdog Dead Pony Club, which was on offer at £6 for the two cans.

To start I had the parsley breaded mushrooms (£3.99). They had a hearty crunch surrounding the soft and juicy insides, accompanied by my favourite dip of sour cream and chive.

Despite how much I enjoyed the dish my partner came up top trumps with his smoked haddock and spring onion fish cake (£4.49). Similar to mine, you crunched through the breaded surface into what was a sumptuous texture and decadently flavoured fishcake. After tasting it I considered changing my next course, as this is also available as a main.

In retrospect, I wish I had. I chose the sirloin steak served with seasoned chips, grilled flat mushroom, half a grilled tomato, garden peas and beer-battered onion rings (£12.29). I do not have regret because the dish was disappointing in any way, but it didn’t quite match the opulent taste of the fish cakes. It was exactly as you’d expect, albeit a little tough to chew at points, but in most respects it hit the spot.

I think a little more flavouring of the meat would have gone a long way, however smothering it in hollandaise sauce remedied this.

My partner went for the grilled sea bream, butterflied with buttered baby potatoes, green beans and a Buerre Blanc sauce on the side (£10.99). It was a perfect with different flavours and textures complimenting one another.

After noticing that for an extra £3 my dish could become a ‘Surf & Turf’ with garlic prawns he also added this to his plate. It was a shame they weren’t king prawns, these were a tad small to be worthy of a ‘surf’ title.

After a much needed break we moved onto dessert, something not all too common on pub menus. Their offering is surprisingly substantial and wonderfully varied and I struggled to choose.

I eventually settled on the Eton mess sundae (£4.99) of Crushed meringue, vanilla pod ice cream, seasonal berries in sauce and fresh cream. It was quite an ample serving but despite my full stomach I wolfed it down as it was delicious, but not too rich.

My partner got the Belgian chocolate brownie (£4.79), served warm with vanilla pod ice cream and Belgian chocolate sauce. Once again you got exactly what you wanted with the dish. It wasn’t too rich but was, of course, as rich as a brownie has to be, and soft throughout.

My evening at King William IV was no better, nor worse, than I expected but that is the beauty of it. If you want some hearty, wholesome food in a relaxed setting then it is definitely the place to go and the friendly, accommodating staff better the experience.

King William IV, 185 Sandridge Road, St Albans, AL1 4AH. Details: 01727 869272