Devonshire Arms in Beeley

I was keen to revisit the Devonshire as this had, in a previous life, served us the worst meal with the worst service ever. My girlfriend and I enjoy eating out and were excited about visiting the new Devonshire. The atmosphere and ambience were very nice. Staff friendly and helpful and we were shown to the table straight away.

However, the food was disappointing given the cost. I ordered scallops to start at a little under £13. This was very steep considering the small – but attractive – portion that came. 3 – 4 very small scallops (3 I think) with three small pieces of belly pork. The belly pork was tasty, the scallops less so. This is perhaps as high as I have paid for a starter at any restaurant in the midlands area.

My main course was pork shoulder on crushed jersey royals. The pork was delicious, the jersey royals not cooked enough. There was no selection of veg and none was offered.

My desert of chocolate brownie with marshmallow cream was not good because the brownie was very dry in texture. There was a small amount of the cream which was very gluey (as one would expect). Something with more of a liquid consistency would have perhaps made the brownie more appealing.

Service was very fast and efficient. We enjoyed the atmosphere.

We were a party of 5 including 2 visitors from Devon and expected service and quality to reflect the prices on the menu. The service was slow to say the least, although the staff were polite – the bar staff appeared to have no knowledge of the bar whatsoever. We waited at least 30 minutes for our order to be taken, then after a lengthy wait after the starter, the main courses arrived in two stages 10 minutes apart, meaning that the first two to be served then had a cold meal to eat. We were not offered vegetables or salad, nor were we informed that these were not included. The manager asked for our comments at the end and although he apologised for the service errors (I did point out I think it's the kitchen that had the problem), his only justification for the extortionate prices was the cost of the meat – I think that £15 for a chop and some mashed potato which I am not convinced was real potato is absolutely ridiculous.

We eat out regularly and do not mind the cost. However, we do expect the food, service and atmosphere to reflect the prices. This was a total rip-off in our opinion and should be avoided. There is no value for money – indeed, we all left hungry.