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Devonshire Arms, Peak Forest

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user reviews of the Devonshire Arms, Peak Forest

please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.

We popped in to this pub last Saturday for lunch. The landlady generously kept the bar and kitchen open after the planned closing time (not sure why the pub closes on a Saturday afternoon). The food was very disappointing. The chips were uncooked and tasted of fish. When we complained we were told that the fryer was broken so they had been 'cooked in a different pan'. The land lady was then very blunt in explaining that we could like it or lump it. With hindsight we would have prefered to have nbeen told that the pub was closed. Avoid this pub!
mmmfood - 19 Dec 2011 13:22
Me and my wife recently stayed here for 2 nights, and we find all the negative comments to be untrue. The minute we got there we felt really welcomed. The staff were brilliant, even when they were really busy on the friday night all of them were smiling and seemed very composed. We noticed the service and care to every customer was great. The food was fantastic, me and my wife really enjoyed both meals we had during our stay. Presentation was absolutley excellent considering its a country pub. Which brings me to my next point, about the post from fredegar. Nobody in the right mind would eat a grey, flabby, sinewy steak and risk getting food poisoning, nor would anybody "persevere" eating food that was supposedly that bad. Any normal person would complain about the food before they ate most of it. To me, it sounds like you were trying to pull something. We also noticed there was a dog there while we were eating, and id like to point out that it was not in the dining area of the pub, it was near the back door by the beer garden. It caused no problem to us at all. I think some people forget it is a pet welcome pub, and not every dog is going to smell like roses. I also think you have to realise that if she was to ban one of the local dogs she would probably have to ban them all to be fair. If you have such a problem with this person and their dog, maybe you should talk to them about it rather than taking it out on the landlady, or not return there as the previous person has said. To me, you seem quite two-faced that you will post a negative comment, but yet you visit there on a regular basis.

Anyway, i highly recommend this place if you are planning a stay in the high peak area. Me and my wife will be returning in the future.

Patrick
Patrick61 - 7 Jun 2010 12:05
Myself and my boyfriend have recently returned from holidaying with my parents and my sister and her family. We stayed in accomodation in the grounds of the Devonshire arms. The first time we went to the Devonshire arms we were met by friendly and inviting staff. Over the week we became friends with the majority of the staff who work there and the owners. My parents ate there on four occasions and my boyfriend and my sister and her family ate there twice. Every meal that we had was fantastic. It wasnt just the taste of the food thay was fantastic, the presentation of it was fantastic too. The service was friendly and we were really made to feel at home even though we weren't even staying in the hotel itself.
Whislt we were there we did see dogs but what do you expect when it is a country pub and it offers accommodation for pets too. Surely if people are put off by that then don't go in the first place.

I would also like to mention the fact that I actually left my purse behind in the holiday cottage and the staff from the Devonshire arms actually went out of their way to find it for me and send it by recorded delivery through the post. How many people would do that. The staff really are a credit to the pub and we all wouldn't hesitate in going back there.
Bluenose81 - 17 Apr 2010 08:55
Whilst I haven't commented for quite a while, I have been visting this pub regularly. The biggest downside now is that it allows horrible stinking dogs in the pub/food area. I was unlucky enough on the Easter weekend to call in and try a pint in the 'locals' side of the pub. I had to leave before finishing my pint due to a large stinking old english sheepdog. It really was horrible and made me feel sick. Even the locals were complaining to the landlady about the dog & it's owner (he smelt too) but she ignored them. There were other dogs in the dining area, which I'm afraid counts me out from eating there. It may just have been a 'wrong' night, but it was horrible.
peakresident - 6 Apr 2010 15:10
We stayed here recently. Breakfasts are the only saving grace.

Accomodation is poor. Cleanliness standards in the rooms are poor. Evening meal was poor and confirms fredegar's post. The propreitors do not really know how to run this kind of establishment.

Avoid!
cantspell - 27 Oct 2009 21:06
My wife, 9 year old son and I went to the Devonshire Arms for a meal last Friday. The pub looks pleasant and we were looking forward to a good meal. Wrong. We ordered sirloin steaks with blue cheese on top, medium rare on a bed of fried tomatoes. What we got was flabby grey steak, flabby, grey fat, sinewy and tough with half melted cheese on. They were probably the worst steaks we have ever been served. The bed of fried tomatoes had morphed to two virtually uncooked tomato halves on the side of the plate. We persevered with the food, unable to eat a good deal of the steak and when our plates were cleared, the woman said 'All right'? offhandedly, so we said no and explained how bad the steaks were. She poked about on out plates and said 'Well I've served lots of sirloins tonight and they were all fine, you must have been unlucky' Take it or leave it basically. Nobody cared that the meal was crap, nobody knew how to deal with a complaint and because we'd tried to eat what was on our plates, their attitude was 'there's not much left so it couldn't have been that bad.' They just thought we were trying to get out of paying. We paid but will never go there again and will tell anyone else who cares about what they eat never to go there either. Customer care and service is non-existent.
fredegar - 13 Jul 2009 12:17
Makes Fawlty Towers look like the height of organised sophistication. Food was poor, ingredients were changed from the menu and when challenged the staff refused to accept that Cranberry and red onion relish does not look and taste like blackcurrent jam! Steaks were cremated and we were asked to move to another hotel after we complained at 10:30 because the TV in our room didn't work. Asked if they would pay for the Taxi as we had both had wine with the meal we were told it was our problem so sort it out. Eventually we were given a tiny room with a double bed. Breakfast was OK. There were no apolgies aprt from removing the steak from the bill when we checked out. The chances of a return visit are non-existant.
MollyOscar - 22 Mar 2009 19:53
The welcome was friendly. The beer was very good. The restaurant (evening meal & breakfast) were freshly cooked and interesting - not the usual 'pub grub'. Would recommend staying there.
Chris
north Wales
13th July 2008.
chrissikins - 15 Jul 2008 13:46
An OK B&B but an awful chemical reek in the back garden makes it a less than attractive option. Don't bother asking for a refund either ...
trommler - 23 May 2008 22:40
The place is quite simply a rip-off do not waste you time going.Apart from a decent breakfast the service is virtually non exsistant along with any courtesy .The special offer that they advertise you will not recieve because they worm out of it with excuses of non-elegibility.Avoid at all costs.
johndfc - 16 Nov 2007 12:26
Before its change of decor this used to be a homely, friendly pub. The meals are decidely average and the service poor. No longer popular with the locals and bypassed by tourists. It would suit a city but totally out of place in the High Peak. Bring back country pubs!!
peakresident - 24 Jan 2007 12:23
Pleasant pub, with accommodation.

Watch the speed camera to the west of the pub on the main road.

The pub itself is popular with the locals, and transients, including tourists and business travelers. Beer is good - and the food is excellent; real home cooking, with first rate quality ingredients, well cooked - and in generous portions, too!
Nice ambiance [yes, you can use that word for a pub in the Peaks!].
Well worth a visit.
railtracksurvivor - 2 Oct 2005 14:25

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