A restaurant bar in Harpenden has shut up shop after just seven months trading.

Barbarello, which was somewhere between a formal restaurant and a wine bar on the High Street, only opened in May 2018 but has recently stopped trading from the busy thoroughfare.

It is not yet clear why the independent eatery closed down, but its Facebook page and website no longer exist.

Owners of the restaurant have been contacted for comment.

TripAdvisor reviews are varied, and the venue had a total star rating of three and a half out of five.

Just two weeks ago Imogen H said: “Excellent food, drinks and atmosphere. Visited here with my parents for Christmas Eve dinner.

“Food and cocktails were fantastic - definitely recommend the sea bass and croquettes. Must try the espresso martini, so good! Great addition to Harpenden.”

Mulberryha added: “Amazing place - very cool bar, and the restaurant ambiance [was] perfect with its dimmed lights and relaxed setting.

“The food was delicious. Great tapas style sharer plates, our favourites were the halloumi, steak, and lamb. Very well made martinis too! Deconstructed cheesecake for dessert to die for.

“We love this place and will be back for sure. Service was also good; so they seem to have got over their opening teething issues as mentioned in earlier reviews.”

In November, Nimrod104 had said: “I had seen the mixed reviews on TripAdvisor so went there with a certain amount of trepidation. We were a party of 11 and they couldn’t have been more helpful although the service was a bit slow.

“We had to remind them a couple of times of missing food but the food was pretty good. Wine was reasonably priced but I felt that the food was expensive for the ‘tapas’ portion size.”

Others were more critical. Patchouli3462 said: “Went to Barbarello last night with some friends. The place is beautiful but the service was terrible, the food tasteless, the portions very small, hardly any choice on the menu and generally overpriced.

“I do not intend to return there unless they completely change the menu or find another chef.”