please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
One of the best beer gardens in London. Is over priced however nice decor inside with plenty of tables and sofas. Beer garden is large with plenty of seating. Nice clientele, beer range can be lacking however plenty of spirits if that is your thing. Haven't eaten there however heard food can be hit and miss.
|
pub and decor is pretty good,but when you are charged just under �25 for 3 large jack daniels and a dash of coke (i asked for dashes cos i didnt want to drown them) I said "how much" nice northern barmaid (possibly a geordie) replied its the brewery that sets the prices,i said to her �11 in any wetherspoons.everyday i see great pubs newly boarded up.would never use this pub again
|
Went back here again to give it another go. God why do I put myself through it? Souless and overpriced with no saving graces or justification for the exorbitant charges on their food and drinks. Avoid.
|
Went here yesterday and I think it was the manager who served me. It was really great service and i'm surprised to read other people had different experiences from ours. Maybe the other staff aren't as attentive but from what I could tell they were very good.
The food is over priced, but it was ok. I doubt we'd eat there again. The bottled ciders were almost �5 which seems ludicrous.
|
Lovely beer garden round the back with a strange waterfeature that only serves to make you want to pee, used to drink here when it used to get clubby in the back room, has had a massively poncey make over and you can get food with jus instead of gravy and served on beds of stuff with vegetables you probably havent heard of, bit garish, great beer garden, well over priced for standard youngs beers, looks a bit like Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen has got hold of it and now the punters are paying for the thick arty wall paper and hundreds of lightbulds Nice bar staff though, really friendly and worth a visit, rammed on a sunday with media, legal types taking their mum and dads out for Sunday roast. Nice drinkers in there, unlikely to get glassed which is always nice.
|
All the previous comments seem to be spot on with this place.
Youngs took a great, traditional local pub, bursting with history and character, gave it the regulation gastro-pub makeover and left us with this bland, over-priced monstrosity.
Staff are at best slow and miserable, at worst surly and rude. The food is totally average and doesn't come within a mile of justifying it's price tag. Bar prices something else. The best part of �6 for a pint and half of beer. Rip off.
Do yourself a favour and go somewhere else. This place is an over-blown, over-priced, under-performing shadow of its former self.
|
Bad service! Bad bad bad service!!! My friend and I took our hangovers to the Devonshire for Sunday dinner a couple of weeks ago. After ordering, we waited for an hour before we went and asked where our food was and we were told that it was being plated up 'right now'. Half an hour later there was still no food, so we went to the bar to ask again and were avoided like the plague by all of the bar staff for another 10 minutes until they couldn't avoid us any more, at which point we asked for our money back. The icing on the cake was the sticky-fingered glass collector taking my drink away before it was finished.
The place is soulless, over priced and very badly managed. You're better off going to Wetherspoons.
|
Not the pub it once was, now full of Jeremy's and Samantha's (with little Jake in the pram), drinking Pimms and Magners. Have never tried the food but the menu has a salad that costs �20.
Unless you like living in a Pimms advert avoid this place. We now head to the Nightingale for a decent pint in a less contemptible environment.
|
I have signed up to beerintheevening especially so that I can come on and have a bit of a rant about this pub. What an old grouch. I wouldn't bother, but I went there last night for a friend's birthday, and had exactly the same poor experience as I had about a year and a half ago, that time in the winter.
The first time, the refit was new and I guess so was the kitchen staff, so you could put it down to teething problems, but not any more.
Both times I have been to the Devonshire, I have TRIED to order food, and been told 'We're snowed under, you can't order right now, I'm afraid you'll have to wait half an hour.' And both times when I have been allowed to order, they have run out of what I wanted to order. The first time I would say I waited a full two hours for my food.
Firstly, where does this ridiculous policy of delayed ordering come from, and secondly, I know they are a big, busy pub, but, come on, get with it!
The staff are pleasant enough, despite having to offer up such ridiculous suggestions, but they need more of them.
Anyway, rant over, I won't be going there again if I can help it. Not to eat, anyway!
|
couldn't be more disappointed with the revamped devonshire. the food is overpriced and bland, and the manager is smug, patronising and unhelpful. won't be going back any time soon.
|
Pretty dull, chrome and mirrors bar. Way overpriced though. I paid �48 for 8 drinks yesterday (2 wines, 2 Guiness, 4 large spirits with mixer). Bar staff were good though.
There must be better and cheaper pubs in the area.
|
staff used to be ok , customers were always the chavs of the area, esp when the puzzle closed. now the staff are rubbish, the chavs have changed their shirts but still are as feral as ever. a quick pint and then carried on , wont return
|
Really just adding support to the other reviews.
The refurbishment accelerated a long decline from the days when the back-room was accessed by a side door. The staff are charmless, the prices inflated (to pay for the refit) and the decor ludicrous.
If the weather is fine enough to use the garden and you can accept the prices then it is worth considering. Otherwise avoid.
|
Okay. not as good as it was but huge beer garden. Um. Yeah, the rest of it is pretty pretentious and over priced. Saw a prat with the collar turned up on his polo shirt. Wanted to kill him. Nice seats in the beer garden though!
|
Pretentious, snobby, void of any soul or character. Avoid
|
Wat to say, same as the rest of you just not good
Was in there on Friday afternoon and had a shocking time poor service
so we thought we would have a look around and see if we could find a better place to enjoy the weekend, not wanting to mix with the jack door crowd we headed towards Clapham and found the grove, now this is a delightful back street boozer, staff are really friendly and so helpful nothing was a problem and best bit was we got to sit outside on their patio area and get full table service. This is my recommendation for the week so if you want to have proper service and still enjoy the weather the grove would the place to go
|
Absolutely crap!
My friends and I loved this pub.. I held my Engagement party here and had 25 friends attend. Since the re-furb most of us have tried it once and never returned. The staff treat you like sh*t (After 11pm on a Saturday night the place was packed and we asked to sit at a table in the 'restaurant' area and were told it was reserved for diners.. the area was empty at this time and not likely to have a rush at midnight, ridiculous).
Expensive, loud, and just like all the rest of the Balham pubs now.. so character whatsoever. Sad.
|
I really despise what they have turned this pub in to. �4.15 for a pint is disgusting
|
The pits - the only good point is the naff furnishing and the pretentions of being the american bar at the savoy will soon ware thin as the economic down turn bites into its prices and average food. It is a pub in Balham and will, I guess, soon return to being one. At the momment, its like an old bird that has just had a face lift and bob job. At a distance it may attract a little attention, but at the end of the day it is still mutton dressed as lamb, the tits will soon become saggy and when the face looks like an old boot, despite new boot, will continue to look a old boot.
|
bloody abysmal......was my local before the refit
seems they dont want their old client base at all.
the barstaff used to be friendly and chatty now there only interested in getting u served and if u dont want food they make u feel like a leper.
there is no soul nor charm about the place anymore....
just full of young proffessionals that shout rather than talk and have more m oney than sense..i'll not be back...
would also like to know how they justify not far off 4 quid for a pint of fosters (possibly one of the cheapest lagers on draught) for that price id have hoped it was brewed by angels.nope.never ever again,i refuse to pay extra on my beer to cover the price of the tarty wallpaper.
|
Oh dear very disappointing.
|
Absolutely awful, a tragic waste of what was once a fantastic boozer. I won't repeat the rant that I made on the Duke of Devonshire (as was and as was loved) entry.
|
RIP DOD I miss you.
|
I'm sorry, but I have to say - the Duke may be no more, but the Devvie has certainly picked itself up, dusted itself down and moved into the 21st century, at long last.
Nice to see that although Youngs have sold out in Wandsworth, they are not afraid to spend the shareholders cash on doing their old boozers up. The Duke was in dire need of a refit to keep it up to date and current in Balham - there's a fair bit of competition about the area. I'll be honest and say that I actually like it - I was a customer before and I will remain one. I'm not a huge fan of some of the interior design, but that's a personal thing for me (probably shared by a few others too!).
Six of us ate last week on a Friday night. Food was good, not brilliant - but the service and the atmosphere made up for anything it might have lacked. Our waitress was friendly and made us very welcome - ended up staying until closing time (woke up nursing a bit of a head!). I feel that there could be more choice on the menu - maybe something for the veggies in the group?! We would definitely return for food if there were some healthier options and perhaps some specials too.
Reading through some of the reviews left on here has made me wonder if those with a totally negative outlook have been in since the facelift? If you haven't, pop in and have a look - it's not as bad as you might think! There is room for improvement, as with all new things, but I think they have the foundations in place. It's clean, comfortable and busy, so they must be doing something right there. Just need to concentrate on the menu more - then I think it will be hard to fault it. Cracking garden too!!
|
Ok I'm neither a CAMRA-anorak or an over 50s moaner, though I must admot a few of the comments on the pubs in Balham do seem to be full of comments by people who could fall into this catergory..the comments on The Bedford would be a prime example. I'm actually in a late 20s professional so probably just the kind of person the refurb was done to attract.
I also don't know what the DOD was like before the refurb as I've only just moved to the area. So I don't have happy memories of years gone by dancing around there. However I decided to check the place out with a few friends this weekend to see what the refurb was like. Basically we walked in, had a look around and walked out. My understanding was that it was supposed to be a pub not a gaudily designed restaurant with a limited menu. Staff were way to overattentive we hadn't gone anywhere near the bar or mentioned wanting to eat before 2 (not just one) staff tried to usher us into the back room to eat, no mention of just getting a drink. Their attitude also made it feel a bit like being frog marched in and forced to eat.
From the sound sof it before this place offered an alternative local venue to have a late night drink and a dance in. I must admit I'd prefer to have seen a return to that than this overpriced eatery. If I wanted a gastro pub I'd rather head to the Clarence, at least it's decor didn't make me think I was in a bad copy of a 19th French brothel. If I want a quiet drink the BBC is a much better bet. In short whatever you would want from the place can be found better else where. OK maybe the food is ok I didn't try it but it does seem like they tried to cover all the bases and hit none of them. Overall I would avoid it. What a waste of money
|
