The Devonshire

Despite only opening a matter of months ago, I already feel late to the party in writing about how fantastic this place is. Getting a table has been almost impossible (a testament to how much of a word-of-mouth hit it is), but after a stroke of luck with a cancellation we made it there for lunch. Start with a pint of Guinness in the pub on the ground floor. The landlords set out to create the best version of what a pub can be, and they delivered entirely. It has all the buzz of a great London pub without any of the pretension. If you're not making it upstairs for food, the cheese and ham toasties we saw floating past us towards other visitors looked absolutely stunning. Upstairs are two floors of restaurants offering the same, simple but deceptively delicious, grill-oriented menu. Seafood dominates the starters, but for mains it's largely chops, steaks and sides. You might find yourself seated next to the massive fire that's fuelling much of what comes out of the kitchen. Of course every dish we had was outstanding. And the sticky toffee pudding was the best my husband has ever eaten, or so he claims. Get down there just as soon as you can get a table - the hype is deserved.

I was very excited to try Devonshire after I managed to secure a booking for their Sunday roast. I was keen to also try the pub before food. The pub is traditional and is buzzing with a great atmosphere. With the pub trending, it is busy. Not somewhere you’d come for a deep conversation. There is a good range of drinks and of course I tried the Guinness that was perfectly poured. We said we had a reservation and the staff took us through the back where there are even more seats. A bit of a maze but a nice surprise. The staff were so friendly and attentive, we asked a few times and were told we would be informed when our table was ready, it took us 40 minutes for us to get seated at our table. The dining room looked beautiful and had a fire, we were located right at the top in the wine room. It was still a nice space and had a good atmosphere. It took us a further 10 minutes for anyone to come serve us. The staff were so friendly but they were too busy. We had a nice glass for fizz, nice to see a £11 option available. We didn’t order a starter, but were given a side plate and butter on promise of bread but it never came. Was disappointed after seeing reviews of how good it was. The roast is lovely. Every side was delicious, including the creamy leeks and the candied carrots. The beef is the star of the show. There are no other main options available. So if you don’t eat beef or vegetarian this is not for you. There is great theatre as the beef is cut by your table. It would also have been nice to have more potatoes. For dessert we had a sticky toffee pudding. It was so great, possibly the tastiest one I’ve had in a long time. Only letdown was no ice cream or cream or anything to balance the richness or to get that hot / cold taste. Overall, this place is great. The service was not up to standard but I believe it is just teething issues and over time it will match the food and buzzing atmosphere.