please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Superb micro brew pub/hotel/restaurant close to Ambleside, but up in the hills. Brew pub that brews several excellent beers. There is a strong emphasis on the restaurant, but the bar is excellent too. Warm welcome but space is at a premium, so get there early or later when the diners have moved into the restaurant. Staff friendly, beers superb. I think that things have changed since the previous reviews. Well worth the trek to drink and to eat. 6 pumps all brewed on the premises. Additional pale ale on craft keg although I am not sure about that!
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Had a quick pint last night. Very pleasant and surprisingly busy for a November Monday evening. Will visit again next time in the Lakes.
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Visited whilst walking from Ambleside to Coniston. Good choice of their ales so well worth a visit. Heavily leaned towards diners so we was happy sat in the beer garden with a great view of the Ambleside area in the background.
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Visited in November 2012. The beers were great if a touch expensive, especially as they are brewed on site.
The meals were the most STINGY portions I have ever had, though the quality was good. The waitress said they were starters, though the menu did not.
Otherwise the lunch menu was very limited.
They obviously cater for one time visitors prepared to be fleeced. Avoid it if you are a hungry walker looking for value. I won't go back again
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bit of a walk from the 505 Ambleside to Coniston bus route, not the half mile on the sign at the lane end. Really loud hyperactive barman that just wouldn't be quiet, the restaurant sealed off to drinkers on a saturday at 3pm making the bar cramped, had one pint and left.
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Good selection of ales, can sit outside.
Haven't eaten here, but read the menu, and was surprised, given the reputation it has for fine dining, that the prices didn't look too expensive.
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Went here a couple of weeks ago while on holiday. As other reviewers have said, it's more of a restaurant - which was why we were there - than a pub. It's in a nice spot, looks good and has a nice feel to it - but I wouldn't come here just for a drink. Actually i wouldn't come here for a meal again either, but that's not to say it was awful, just that there are better places around. The food was decent, but for the price was nothing special. Thankfully i wasn't paying - if I had been i think I'd describe it as disappointing. The service was pleasant enough - though a bit too 'try hard', and was actually amateurish. They totally screwed up our wine order and my second pint was left standing on the bar for 10 mins before they bothered bringing it so I'm told, i didn't see that myself. (A couple sitting near us had to ask for their bill 3 times and eventually got so fed up they went and paid at the bar.) All in all, a bit of a 'meh' experience, but I'll be kind and give it a 6.
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Called in recently. Arrived 2.30ish on a Saturday afternoon. Umpteenth visit. I really do love this place. Great location and good ale. There were 9 of us in total and we sat outside at first. Then it rained so a few of us sat on the bar stools and a few near on the table near the door. A few snooties sat in there having afternoon tea and I think we spoiled the atmos for them, but luckily everyone in our party managed to hold in their flatulence, which cannot be said for some of the other less established hostelries we frequented � we do have some self awareness! I think this is the problem. They do excellent beers, but on the other hand it�s a bit of a posh place so they�ll always get a mixture of both walkers and snooties during the day. Tried their Cat Nap 3.6% (excellent) and Westmorland Gold 4.2% (good, but too bitter for me). All in all another good visit and I�ll certainly be back.
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If one accepts the fact that the food and the room lettings business together with the on site brewery keeps the 'pub' running then this a very good destination for visitors and 'locals' alike. A good range of well kept excellent ales. A fine selection of wines and spirits. Fabulous food. Friendly staff. A place to overnight for CAMRA members who want to offer special compensation to their suffering better halves.
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Called in during a trip to Ambleside for New Year. We go when in the area to have a pint of their own brewed beers. Tried their Mothbag and Tag Lag this time around very nice indeed. If you get in at the right time and you focus on the beer it's a good place. There were some rich looking folk sat on the bar stools at the bar supping expensive champas but if you can look beyond this it's a cosy pub in a great location.
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I used to love this place. You could relax with a warm welcome, good quality, if sometimes quirky food, excellent beer and fantastic location. Our dog and children were always welcomed. Then over the last 5 or 6 years, they seem to have had pound signs lighting up their eyes, which in turn has led to the ruination of this friendly pub. This is no longer a pub. It is a restaurant more concerned with the idea of trendy, overpriced food (even by home counties standards) than it is with the comfort and relaxation of patrons. When the sports car brigade have got bored of the "jus/foam/everything with coriander" style cooking and moved on, I only hope those looking for a genuine lakeland pub will find they are once more welcomed and catered for. Don't get me wrong, I love fine dining and in the lakes if you can go in with your boots on, accompanied by dogs & kids and enjoy a good beer and have some pretty fancy food, all in one place - excellent. Why does it have to be one way or the other? The DD no longer manages this balancing act and unless there is a major change in attitude, we will not be returning.
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Lovely food. Full of complete prats when we went in though.
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Good quality beer is about the only good thing to say about this place. It was once a brilliant, atmospheric walkers pub, now it's like a combination of the clubhouse at St. Andrews and the pavilion at Lords, stuffy and full of mutton dressed as lamb old farts dribbling over their over-priced food. Management is so stuck up its own arse they won't even serve bar food outside in the evening - which with the views across towards Ambleside is just what you want after a hard days trek. Lets hope someone buys this place and reverses this gastro-monstrosity back to its former glory. For four better pubs, better priced food and a warm welcome, what the real Lakelands tourist wants, then head a couple of miles down the road to Hawkshead. But if voluntary euthanasia is on your agenda The Drunken Duck is for you.
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Visited again in July 09. Mothbag beer not too bad but found it to be more bitter than the last time I tried it. Westmoorland Gold disappointing. I find the staff here a bit hit and miss. I think the bar manager served us the first time around and poored a great pint. Next we were served by a new starter who pulled a very poor pint, which made the beer flat and it had a 2 inch head on it (I didn't feel confident asking her to top it up). It's a shame because the past couple of times I've been the beer has been fantastic. Perhaps just an off day, but it must be easy to train the staff to pour a decent pint given that the brewery is just behind the pub.
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Visited this pub last weekend. Cycled from Ambleside where we were camping - killer hill up to the pub. The beers were all pretty decent ( Mothbag, Westmorland Gold, Pride of Westmorland, Chester's ).
Sat outside with a lovely view,though as soon as the sun went down got eaten alive by the local flying wildlife - staff unhelpful - no candles!
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I find myself agreeing with RealAleQuaffer - 29 May 2008 00:54, the pub is in a marvellous location but is let down by the atmosphere of 'inverted snobbery' and yes, I was eating too!
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I visit Ambleside about twice a year and have recently been visiting the Drunken Duck again after a break since it turned into a restaurant. I discovered their Mothbag own brew in the Stickle Barn back in Sept 08 and so decided to try it in the place that it was brewed. I have to say their Mothbag is excellent as are all their beers that they have on in the cosy but small bar (get in there before or around 4pm or else it gets busy). I went in there on the 30th December 08 and the beer and the atmosphere were fantastic - I shall be going back in July on my next trip to the lakes. Their Tag Lag is available from Booths and is pretty good for bottled beer. This place would get a 10 for real ale but I give it a 9 'cos it isn't really a pub after say 5pm when it fills up with hotel residents and people coming to dine for the evening. No bad thing, but if you enjoy your ale in peace go early! Enjoy.
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The DD used to be my favourite pub. Fabulous location, excellent real ales (especially the Theakston's Old Peculier, which was always superb) and straight forward food. Excellent. That was years ago. It's not really a pub any more, just a restaurant where artistically laid out poncy meals replaced the real food (and came with a fair old price hike). The Old Peculier was sent packing and their own brand microbrewery ales were on all the pumps. Some of the Barngates beers are not bad, but they're a very long way from OP. The comfy bar was 'redesigned' to look trendy, and in so doing lost all its character. Drinkers were banned from anywhere but the bar itself. I now check it out every three years to look for improvement. I'm due back in 2011.
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dear real ale quaffer,have you ever heard of lacing on the side of the glass,think guinness,when you can see after every mouthfull how much you have sipped,sounds like a good pint,but i wasnt there so will go with your thoughts and tastebuds,i have not been in the pub for 11 years,but have fond memories of it.love rubyshoesday comments.no rating given,but will try and go back before my liver gives out.
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Visited this pub for the first time recently and I was so disappointed. With the Barngates brewery behind you would expect the ales to be better than anywhere else but sadly this isn't the case and the family should be utterly ashamed. I tried both the Westmorland Gold and Pride of Westmorland and, whilst they tasted great, presentation was poor (very frothy head which disappeared within a minute) and the glass was dirty as witnessed by bubbles clinging to the side. To be fair I don't think it would have been possible to pull them any better as there was obviously some fault with the beer engines 'bubbling away' (and no, if the family care to read this, the beers weren't running out you just need to maintain lines and beer engines!!) however there was no 'bon ami' or any kind of welcome but then we weren't eating!!! Can't comment on the food but won't return to sample thanks to our experience. Fantastic location and probably was fantastic in it's day but not a place for beer drinkers and that's really sad. By the way, don't believe the website - it is stuffy and whilst relaxed it most certainly isn't friendly unless of course you're in with the management which was quite apparent. Oh and make sure your wearing a tie and driving an Aston!!!
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Excellent friendly pub with superb beer. Yes its a little more expensive but they use local produce and it tastes great.
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Gets a good mark for location (a truly stunning view) and good beers - a couple of pints of Tag Lag went down rather well. However the food and accomodation is a bit poncy and overpriced for my simple taste.
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This pub is upmarket and the food is expensive!! The average age of the customers is about 50. Pleasant inside but not your typical country pub, but the location is lovely. Its a bit to poncey for me and the menu wasn't that great, my wife is a veggie and there was only one choice. If you do want to go for a meal, you must book it gets very busy.
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This is no longer a 'pub' - I have been going to the DD for the last 5 years but I am sad to say that I am starting to fall out of love with this pub. The continual updating of the bar area, removal of the open fires and general decision to appeal to a different clientele has made the pub into a slightly pretentious and over priced restaurant. I have stayed here a few times too, usually in one of the suites in the courtyard but as the prices for B&B have gone up by approx. 50% over the time we have been going it is starting to get a little bit 'over priced' (paying up to �200 a night). I know some of you will disagree but these days a visit to the DD means sitting in a cold bar area in leather bucket chairs listening to people with more money than sense trying to impress their friends with their wine 'knowledge' or how many horses they have under the bonnet of their 'jag'......not my kind of people.
The positives - The food is still fantastic, the staff are still very pleasant, the bedrooms are kept clean tidy taseful and warm and of course the BEER is excellent!
But I still long for the days when I could call in on a cold winters day, get a couple of pints of Cracker at the bar and plonk myself in front of one of the little open fires dotted around the pub.
I know that this is a business and everyone has to make a living and I am sure that there are many many people who will still find this a wonderful place to drink/stay but I will continue to look for that something that the DD has lost over the last couple of years.
And to those who sit around in the bar smoking cigars and talking very loudly trying to impress their companions with their knowledge of Champagne 2 pieces of information which you may find useful- a) You pronounce the T in Moet! it's not Moay.... b) You can't get a "good deal on a cheeky little spanish champagne" - that's Cava!
Chin Chin!
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One of the best pubs around, lovely food, great food and the barmaid was very friendly, thanks Jill will COME again soon.
anonymous - 14 Feb 2007 11:13 |
Cannot disagree with comments about the location,ambiance,quality of thebeers (Barngate Brewery in the back yard) but the food is only affordable to the upper crust!!
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Magnificent setting, good beer, exceptional food, surely one of the best pubs in the lakes. Gone upmarket over the years, but a must for anyone visiting the Ambleside/Hawkshead area.Worth the trip (and it's not easy to find) just for the views.
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This is currently my favourite pub bar none - based on a visit in May 2004. Given a location like this it would be difficult to fail. Wonderful views from the benches over the road from the pub looking out over the lake district. Their beer is wonderful - Catnap being my favourite - fantastic flavour without being too strong.
Just the beer and location would make this a nine out of ten but when you sample the food....Simply the best meal (evening) I have had in many years. Don't miss the Australian desert wine - the white one called something like orange muscat!!! Thank you Erwin for treating us to such a wonderful meal.
I hope to be back there in 2006 and will file a new report then.
One warning. If you smoke (like I did then - have since given up) make sure you bring enough cigs with you as they don't sell them - we walked all the way to the nearest pub - which was closed - and then all the way back the Talbot to buy a packet!!!
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One of my favourite pubs of all time, which I have visited many times (and occasionally stayed) with my wife when on holiday in the lakes.
Pros:
Beautiful Lakeland setting, the pub oozes character. Good quality pub-brewed beers and fine food (even for veggies like me!)
Cons:
No more Old Peculier (absent for the last few years). The food and beer are expensive even by London standards. Over the years the pub, while still good, has lost something; it seems to be becoming purely a money making operation.
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The food is expensive but then it is of much higher standard than your average pub grub so cI couldnt grumble too much.Decent ale
James - 13 Nov 2004 21:21 |
AA Pub Guide 2002 � � Pub of the Year�
Here the emphasis is placed on good food in a relaxed and informal environment. Head Chef Nick Foster has gained a well-deserved reputation for well-presented and imaginative food. At night the two rooms are candlelit providing an excellent setting for forty guests. Booking is recommended.
For more info telephone 015394- 36347
Keith - 17 Jul 2004 08:19 |
Surely the finest food served in any pub in these fair isles. Yes the food is expensive, but trust me it really is worth every single penny.
Good beer from the local Barngates Brewery too - a pint of Cracker Ale or Tag Lag goes down nicely!
Rich - 12 Mar 2004 09:06 |
