The Druid Inn

Food

The menu was very appealing. A few café favourites, a few pub grub, some local produce, a few specials, so it took us ages to decide. Everyone else went for the lamb, but I decided to test the recommendations of the waiter (bad idea). But first the entrees. The Crispy Bakewell black pudding, crispy streaky bacon, brown sauce onions, poached free range egg (£6) was stock standard, reminding me of breakfast really. The Lump White Crab Meat, Marie-Rose Sauce, Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab (£10) was very nice, presented in a martini glass with the crab crawling out. The batter was light, the crab still retained its juice from the frying, and the sauce had just the right zing.

I was kinda disappointed with my Lemon Sole with Capers and Asparagus (£20) . I guess it’s the seafood again. Even though the waiter did promise me the sole came fresh off the line, I still felt it wasn’t quite there. The asparagus were nicely blanched but didn’t quite more that spring asparagus taste, and the butter and capers was not enough to lift the fish. The Aged Bakewell market Ribeye steak, creamed Ashbourne field mushrooms, chunky hand cut chips (£19) was better. The steak was cooked to medium rare as requested, with some lovely mushrooms and a jenga style stack of very chunky chips. Said Hand cut chips (£3) also appeared, in a bowl, for the table to share. They were lovely and buttery, but perhaps cut just a little too thickly for chips, as there was not much crunch. For “potatoes” they were sensational, but for chips, a little misleading. I did try some of the lamb, which was sensational.

I had ordered a ½ pint of Druid’s Ale, which was a slightly sweet, nutty ale, which made me too full for dessert. Slokky had the Sticky toffee pudding, toffee sauce, gingerbread ice cream (£6), which was very ordinary. I still have to say that my sticky date pudding is much better.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

Well, for a country pub, it was huge, sprawling over 2 levels of the original house, and then over to an extension, and then to a separate self-contained building. They actually managed to fill up most of the tables on this Saturday night though, so it was very loud. There were all sort of people, girls nights, big family dinner and also the romantic couples, and not to mention a couple of muddy foodies from London.

Rating - 2

Service

Things started off very well. We were quite early for our booking, but they accommodated us no problems. The waiter was humorous and good natured, but things got worst from there. The service became slower as the room filled up. I asked for a refill of our water several times before my request was met. We waited for a long time for the bill, and had to ask two different waiters for it. It took so long to arrive we actually considered walking out. Another thing too, the recommendation from the waiter was not great, so either we have different taste or they were trying to make more money by recommending the more expensive meals!!

Rating - 2

C-factor

Acceptable for generously portioned food and a nice surrounding, pity it was all let down by the service.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 12

Info

Main Street
Birchover
Matlock
DE4 2BL
Phone +44 (0) 16 2965 0302
Website