Discover Hertford Online Forum

Reply ID 1969

There does seem to be a lot of chat on the Hillside threads but this is only because they seem to have evolved into chat about different restauants as a whole it seems. People obviously think its a good place to ask a question concerning local/Hertford restaurants I think. As for free meals, none have been coming my way..

Reply ID 1970

Twojays - it's a discussion forum, folk chat on the threads they find interesting. If they are about restaurants then so be it. If you actually look at the actives threads, the ones relating to restaurants are a small minority. If you want to discuss something else - get posting!

Reply ID 1972

I agree with Joby. "If you want to discuss something else - get posting!" People will respond to the issues they want. You even responded to Justin yourself and you were also supportive of Bar Humbug.

Reply ID 1977

I know what twojays means about the forums feeling a bit cliquey sometimes. Woe betide anyone who expresses anything other than sycophantic praise for the unsurpassably wonderful culinary experience that is The Hillside. I think the food there is excellent and fairly priced but I once dared to say the ambience was not quite my cup of tea and I got a nasty reply from one of Justin's acolytes telling me I obviously didn't like real food. And Justin gets very prickly about any criticism of the Hillside as he is chef there and one would expect him to take pride in his work and attempt to defend it if anyone expressed any criticism, but this can make one feel unable to voice any less than positive feedback in case it gets taken personally. I suppose that's going to happen in any forum where people comment on local businesses because the proprieters of those businesses have a right to reply. I think twojays has noticed the Hillside theme recurring only because most local businesses don't take such an active role in the forums as Justin does. They really should. If lots of other local pubs, eateries and shops took the time to log on and let people know about their businesses, like Justin does (for example, the insights he gives us into the Hillside's suppliers and pricing are genuinely interesting) then we would have less Hillside-heavy forums. The forum threads can get a bit muddled sometimes when topics evolve to include other themes. I wonder if admin could tidy up and rearrange sometimes - for example, I know someone who logged on to read the Hertford County Hospital thread and couldn't find it because the person who started it put it in 'Traffic and Parking' for some reason and there it has stayed ever since. I think the admin on this site is deliberately 'light touch' and they seem quite tolerant of off-topic postings which is nice really although it can make the threads a bit difficult to follow sometimes.

Reply ID 2226

Feel free to start some more threads Twojays! As others have said, Hillside only gets the most mentions because the chef is a regular on here. First of all, he's a keen Hertford resident, which is great. He never really plugs his stuff, its just that he has to answer a lot of questions. Having a forum here can be a great way to communicate with business owners. We find out about events, they get valuable direct feedback from their local customers! Word and mouth can make or break businesses around here. More shops and bars should get on the forum!