Berkhamsted eats as if it were a London neighbourhood that happened to keep a castle: High Street independents, a canalside pub, and queues that form for pastry.
GAIL’s, Fred & Ginger, Epicure and Copper House describe the town’s current appetite. The Gatsby is the night out. The Boat is the walk-in after the towpath. You can eat poorly here, but you have to try.
The High Street car parks fill by brunch on Saturdays. Train in if you can. Book The Gatsby; do not expect a walk-in at 1pm in a cafe with four tables.
Cake that tastes of butter, ice cream that is not only a freezer brand, rooms that work after school.
GAIL’s is a chain, and Berkhamsted treated it as a civic event anyway. The bakery is useful: proper bread, coffee, highchairs, a pavement that works in March. Independent cafes further along the street still make the better flat white for some regulars: which is as it should be.