The Devonshire

In June 2010 a fire caused the Devonshire to close.  However, the pub had struggled finanically due to its poor location, and has now closed. It provided decent food at prices that were a little high for what was delivered. The following notes are of historical interest only.

This pub, tucked away at the quiet end of a residential street, was previously a disappointing gastropub. It has had only a slight makeover in terms of decor, but a serious upgrade in the kitchen. It was Gordon Ramsay’s third London gastropub (after the Narrow and the Warrington). The room is simple and sparsely decorated, with dark wood panelling and wooden floor. The menu had just over half a dozen choices for each course and was firmly in British territory e.g. a home-made pork pie, Cumberland bangers with onion gravy and champ, sardines on toast. Starters were £4.50 - £7, main courses £10 - £14.50, with vegetables £3 extra at a piece and desserts £4 - £4.50. There was a very respectable wine list, with carefully chosen growers like Rioja Alta, and plenty of options in the £20 - £30 range, though little under £20 a bottle.

Service was extremely good, friendly and capable. The chef, Chris Arkadieff, is not well known in London, but previously cooked in Australia and won an Ansett "Best Apprentice Chef of the Year " award there. The bread used here is from Marcus Miller in Battersea, so the bread you are eating here is essentially the same as at Gordona Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road. I began with Dorset mackerel, simply grilled and served with a neatly presented potato salad with well-dressed salad leaves and correctly cooked potatoes; this dish was simple but very well executed (14/20). It was better than soused autumn vegetable salad, which had perfectly pleasant leaves but pickled carrots and beans etc which for me did not work as a concept - why take perfectly good seasonal vegetables and then pickle them? (11/20).

A special of the day was duck breast, cooked pink and served with some cooking juices, honey-glazed parsnip, watercress salad and, on the side, pleasant red cabbage (which would be even better if enlivened with a little wine vinegar) and very capable thin chips, nicely seasoned. The duck was 14/20 level. A caramelised red onion and Beenleigh blue cheese tart had pleasant pastry and a green salad, topped with a poached egg (13/20).

Desserts were classics: lemon posset is a simple dish but can easily be messed up; here it was very nicely made, the posset creamy and texture with pleasing acidity, served with shortbread biscuits (15/20). Bramley apple and blackberry crumble had crunchy crumble and filling that had plenty of fruit flavour, topped with good vanilla ice cream (14/20). Coffee was also pleasant (13/20). Overall this was a very good gastropub, delivering simple food well. Extras mean the bill mounted up; we had three courses, a mid-priced (£34) wine, glasses of dessert wine but no pre-dinner drinks, and it was £62 each, which is not outrageous but no bargain either. However this is about the only thing to really criticise.