Smithy Pond in North East Derbyshire

Food was good for the price. Friendly staff. Beer was too expensive. That's the case for most pubs, but didn't expect a tenner for a beer & a shandy at a chain eatery. Maybe I'm just old & remember when beer wasn't a rip off.

Friendly staff and great service , fran, Henry, Katie, Becky, Elliot , Sarah, Kyla,Lee , Matt, Allen ,holly and Lee what a great team and the best san Miguel around 👍. From Nathan and Tayo

Unfortunately you can't leave any less than one star, the second time I've been and the food is way below par.

Great food, nice friendly staff, good prices but needs a bit of smarting up. Will definitely go back in the summer to sit outside and watch the life on the pond.

Senior menu great value will be returning again.

Lovely pub and super friendly staff we go in at least once a week, nice food and great for the kids as well.

Lovely pub/ restaurant. Deff one of my favourite one.. Food is very nice since they change a cook a while back..

Lovely place and very friendly staff , food very nice and very hot

Bangin place, one of my favorites to have a drink and some food. Highly recommended 👌

I have been working in the area for 6 months and often driven past here and popped in for a meal for the first time yesterday. I found the staff very welcoming and friendly and was pleased to see a good variety on the menu. The food is reasonably priced and I did not have to wait to long for my food to arrive, the meal was very good standard and overall it was a very enjoyable experience

Absolutely lovely pub, very quiet. Such a relaxing view of the pond. Tried the Italian burger, oh my gosh, delicious 😋

Wow, just one of the best meals we,ve had in a long time,, i cannot tell youhow good it was go for yourself and see,

Good pub food value for money and good for kids

Brilliant pub. The kids love the little play area and we always go for a walk around the pond after our meal. The staff are great and food has always been spot-on. Will be back again when we can!

A cracking little spot for delicious pub grub. The Hunter’s Chicken is top-notch – juicy chicken smothered in BBQ sauce, bacon, and cheese, and served with proper chips. They’ve got all the pub classics too, like fish and chips and a decent burger. Portions are generous, and it’s all served piping hot. A great place for a laid-back bite to eat. Plus, the drinks selection is alright – perfect for a few pints with your meal.

Great food Great beer Great service

First time visiting for a family birthday , the view of the pond is lovely and the feeling inside is lovely. It's a good job we had a lot of catching up to do as we waited just under 2 hours for our food. There were 16 of us and it's possible they just aren't used to big tables but it was fairly quiet in there and 2 hours was excessive. That being said we only had starters and main and skipped dessert as we just couldn't stand to wait any longer. If they sort the wait time out then our experience would have been 10/10

Just had a birthday meal for 16 people. Fantastic venue very scenic and comfortable Great meal great prices and lovely helpful staff. There was a problem when ordering the meal for so many people and the staff went out of their way to make it right for us. Highly recommend. 5 stars

A really nice place worth a visit.

Surf and Turf £18.95 4 tiny prawns 8oz steak 4oz of un edible gristle.

Wonderful experience all round! Speed of service was excellent and staff were great! No added wait time on food even whilst the pub was rather busy. Really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere of the pub, will absolutely be visiting again soon 😁

This is a place me and my partner used to go a lot and with family for Christmas Day, Well where do I start , Walked in table for two most of the tables have been reserved it was a Sunday I understand, and there was two left we sat in the bottom end of the restaurant with all the glass surrounds and the pond was beautiful. It’s a Nice view at but be warned. It was very cold! Next “The menu” same old usual pub food no inspiration same shit different day I struggle to find a meal on this menu with any creativity so I settled on a Bacon and cheeseburger with fries thinking it’s simple I know but they can’t get that wrong! My partner really wanted a Sunday dinner so this is why we stayed, The food came to the table and I’ve got to say it’s was mediocre frozen Beef burger With mayonnaise, may I add?????? Anyway the fries Can I only be described as Iceland skin on fries then to mask the old oil that they cook them in they sprinkled some rock salt on them not good! The onion rings well well trying to find The words to describe them soft, soggy crap that’s the best I can do! My partners Sunday dinner there was a lot it looked okay but she did say the parsnips were rough hard and un edible, I’ve got to say, the service was good as in the people Were polite and friendly they did ask me how is your meal? And my partner said the fries wasn’t good and they felt like they’ve been cooked in old oil. The woman said they change their oil every day? Would you like me to change it? I said no because if you can’t get it right the first time then what’s the point? It’s only a Burger! This is ongoing problem with the pubs/ restaurants Around this area, no one stands out. They’re all the same. You’re better off cooking at home to be honest this not a place we would go back to the staff seem nice but the food not good!

Went for drinks on Friday and fed the swans and ducks ( best £3 spent) Went back Sunday for lunch , food lovely , only issue was we had our dog Milo with us and had to eat in dog area . All the seats in the dog area were high , not ideal for our elderly parents. We'd have preferred seats where our feet could touch the ground .

Friendly atmosphere and staff, the food was delicious. I will definitely go there again. 👍 I had the steak and ale pie this time and it was absolutely fantastic, I would recommend it if you haven't already tried it.

Visited this evening to spend time with a friend Was appalled when I visited the female toilets human excrement on the wall of the toilet and again one of the three toilets out of order For a pub that serves food to families Unbelievable!! All about profits with no care for costumers Won’t be returning 😨

First visit, very impressed, will certainly be going again

Great find, will be visiting again.

Great location overlooking a large pond, which was beautiful and tranquil. We shared nachos for lunch, which was a generous portion. Good quality, great value. Good range of food and drinks choices. Also a seniors menu, which quite a few other diners chose from. Very good parking, easy access. Lovely outdoor seating area. We had our dog and took a lovely walk around the perimeter of the pond. Very well kept grounds and private fishing on the pond. Highly recommend.

Used to be cheapest for carling in the village but they put the price up every couple of months, it is now 65p per pint dearer than the nearest competitor.

Wonderful meal, great setting and very friendly staff. My family all thought it was excellent

Beatiful day out at the smithy pond ,food was excellent ,very clean pub ,beautiful views across the pond ,fantastic staff ,couldnt fault this pub ,from cleanliness to brilliant bar staff to the fantastic chef ,i cant wait to come back ,went with a wedding party on thursday 29th ,amazing choice recommended by good friends ,just a great atmosphere ,all staff so happy which makes a big difference ,thankyou all for a fantastic day We will be back .

after being witnesses for my best friends wedding at the chesterfield town hall, we went straight to the smithy pond for their wedding reception we had a table booked for 12 people, on entering the smithy pond we was greeted by Fran once again and made to feel extremely welcome by herself and her team , nothing they do for us every time we go is to much trouble , as always drinks flowed every time with no bother at all , food was ordered and all came out on time and was absolutely divine , my wife and I have been to the smithy pond on several occasions and always we are met with a wonderful smile from every one , the food is always top notch and is amazing for value we never leave hungry , we always have a great time with a great atmosphere , the pub and restaurant area are always clean and well presented and the views across the pond are amazing watching the wild life float across in a majestic manor in a very relaxed atmosphere , with plenty of parking we never worry about that and every one seems to leave with a big smile thanks to the amazing team at the smithy pond , we will continue to visit as we know its a great day out , and we certainly will never have a bad word or bad review to give with regards to the amazing chefs who cook amazing food and the amazing bar and restaurant staff its a 10/10 from us every time and we recommend it to our friends and family and work colleagues who have said that its an amazing experience and will be going back time and time again , so Fran and everyone who work so hard to give us a great service and great food and atmosphere thank you so so much and we look forward to seeing you all again x

Fabulous food and staff. Holly was lovely and so welcoming. Will definitely come again, fully recommended.. and compliments to the chef

Lovely place, especially in the summer when you can sit outside and enjoy the view over the pond. The bar menu is good, and their Katsu Curry is a firm favorite.

Nice location. Had to wait nearly an hour for food to be served. Pity they let people smoke and vape on the verandah overlooking lake. Some smoke was drifting in to restaurant where we sat and wasn't pleasant

At the time we were there it was very busy

Lovely pub in a beautiful setting so we sat outside overlooking the pond. Typical pub food, I thought the portions were a tad small. It's dog friendly which is nice to see. Definitely visit again.

Only went for a pint and onion rings Staff are friendly really good place to go to watch duck and swans and the world go by . Thank you

£7.99 for a non alcoholic drink,wrap and chips. Chips were outstanding proper crispy only thing was they were that nice I could do a double portion! Lovely location and lovely staff,excellent.

Order the beef couldn’t eat it because the beef was so thick it was like a door stop. My nephew told them about it and all they said was the cook knew that the beef wasn’t good

Elliot was absolutely 💯 helpful in everyway and very pleasant

Lovely restaurant on a sunny day.

Great atmosphere and lovely staff. Was served by a lad called Elliott who was friendly and very attentive. Would definitely recommend and will be back soon. Thanks

A great experience as always Regular attender and lots of lovely staff to include Fran/ Becky/ Sarah/ Henry / holly / mat/ Allen / Katie / Elliot Best Prosecco and lots of ice through the night

Brilliant fun quiz night every Thursday. Staff are lovely, Kyla & Becs always really friendly. Food is good and nice to sit outside in the lovely weather.

Absolute shambles!! Nachos should not be swimming in liquid, no matter what salsa / tortilla wraps you use. Lame excuse. Absolutely disgusting, soggy nachos & curdled cheese 🤮 Paid £8.99 but was only offered a single £5.79 starter? Our empty replacement starter dish just sat there for 35 minute's despite a male member of staff walking past several times, clearing & setting tables around us! Always seems to be a dissapointment whenever we've visited here. In the end we got our money back & went elsewhere! Appalling quality! Short staff!! I'd recommend eating elsewhere!

Great value for your money. It also has great views over the tranquil pond area. Very nice place ...

Came back for another visit. The Lamb Shank is to die for, fell off the bone, absolutely delicious with mint sauce and seasonal veg. Didn't have to wait long, the staff are friendly and helpful.

Food and entertainment was great apart from the southern fried chicken burger where the chicken was a but overcooked and grizzly. But apart from that it was a lovely survice.

Quality food, cooked to perfection,great service. Nice and busy atmosphere. Thoroughly enjoyable visit.

Excellent roast dinner- relatively quiet this lunchtime due to the overcast weather. Scenic view of Smithy Pond itself from the balcony

Nice pub and lovely setting outside to over look the pond! :)

Sat outside on a glorious afternoon, I ordered a mixed grill for the missus and one for myself. Amazing food, great views, and very reasonably priced.

Beautiful pond side pub and dog friendly😊

Went to the smithy pond on the 20/6/24 for our wedding dinner with our guests , I will say we had 5 star treatment all the way with a drink thrown in for free , the staff here are absolutely wonderful , friendly , attentive , polite , what a great team , as we sat outside we noticed a baby swan with a fishing line coming out of its beak sadly and we informed staff member Fran who came up with a plan and found a man that can with a boat to float and rescued the poor little thing , she then took it to the vets , she is a true hero , a great laugh , and a great member of the team , we are so looking forward to going back for more of their great food and hospitality they’re a credit to the greenking chain of pubs , looking forward to seeing you guys again soon

The table service was rubbish lazy staff ! No menus on tables no condiments either ! When I asked about condiments more or less told to fetch them yourself Lazy lazy staff !

We had 3 Sunday roasts which we all agreed was very nice. Lovely succulent thick cut turkey and homemade Yorkshire puddings, Just how it should be. Can't give it 10 out of 10 though because no Sunday roast should be without mashed potatoe and the roast potatoes where too light. If these simple things could be sorted it would deffinately be the perfect Sunday roast. Its a nice pub in a great location with friendly staff.

Holly and Beck were an amazing team!! so friendly and lovely had a great time thanks to them both.

Very pleasant place for a family lunch

The settings are in lovely surroundings, plenty to see on the pond while eating, the food was your typical bog standard JW Lees, it was just enough to fill a gap, it's not somewhere that I'd choose myself as I've had a bad experience previously at one of the other JW Lee's eateries, I only ended up her because a friend was treating me to lunch, then staff were pleasant and attentive.

We went for my husbands 60th birthday lovely pleasent staff the meal was lovely very tasty and didn't wait long at all for them to bring it out once we finished a lovely lady called fran bought out a birthday cake we took up and sang happy birthday to him she was going to bring us dishes and cream out but we decided to take it home once again all staff very friendly will definitely go back again 😀

Fantastic food choices and welcoming staff

The pub is lovely, if you want to sit outside on a nice day and appreciate the view, it's great. However, the food was poor. I had a burger and probably would have been better off at McDonalds.

Lovely pub however sat outside , 4 rats ran next to us , a couple kissed and were "told off" for being intimate (these are regulars here ).highly embarrasing there was just us and another couple outside no children or elderly .neither took any notice . Not a place for couples in love obviously .

Little gem. Good food and very reasonable seniors menu, Service was excellent. Would recommend a visit.

After reading reviews we decided to visit Smithy Pond which is in a excellent location it was very draughty inside uncomfortable as for the meal i had steak pie (this was good) which was served to me with Pie not many Chips a small jug of Gravy and no peas instead i got 2 pieces of some very limp green Vegetable still not sure what it was, but because of being uncomfortable and the meal not as good as i expected we decided not to have any sweets and left not happy it is a shame because the Staff are very friendly but the pub its self really needs some much better furniture this could be incredible, but i suspect if you are making a profit who cares this is not negative feedback just have a look yourself,s this could be much better and start by dressing the Staff with Smithy Pond clothing smarten everything up you know it makes sense

The food is lovely and the staff is very friendly. So nice to sit outside overlooking the pond and watching the birds in it. The only downside is the people smoking around us whilst we are eating. There should be a smoking area away from the seating.

Nice setting but getting ready for a revamp

Family get together. Great location and staff. Great food and choice..

I hate to give a bad review but it was possibly the worst roast ever came out cold without cutlery the potatoes were solid as were the parsnips the meat struggled to cut disappointed to be honest 😞

Absolutely love it here, great views, plenty of vegi options, will deffo come bk for more, and lillys cider 😁😁lovely staff too, thank you

Ducks were cute, food was better 😋

Served in peaceful and pretty surroundings, Smithy Pond is a great place to visit. They show live football too, but in a friendly atmosphere. The staff are amazing, from the manager leading from the front to the young lady with the dark hair wearing Guinness 0.0 t shirt, really friendly and attentive. The lady working behind the bar with blonde hair and glasses was amazing too. Furniture a little worn and mismatched but it's not that important, drinks typically greene king overpriced. Good food, really good in fact. Some different dishes that you don't get in normal greene kings. Won't hesitate to return. The food also came out quick, was fresh, hot and tasty. Will definitely be back!

Absolutely loved eating here the other day me and my partner popped in for a bite to eat. 30 min wait for food on a busy Saturday night perfectly understandable the views of the pond and the ducks made it worth while. Katsu curry amazing vale for money fish and chips also great value. Will be returning again.

Can take dogs ....nice walk round pond plenty of different choice of drinks hot or cold...Nice seating area outside

Been a visitor to the Smithy Pond over the years but on the last 3 occasions the time taken for meals to be served has been noticeably increasing. Today, it took 1 and a half hours between ordering and receiving our main meal. The meals themselves are average pub food with an extra star given for the crumble, which is delicious. The wait staff are great- friendly, efficient and extremely hardworking but today there were 2 serving a very full pub of lunchtime customers. The fault of the poor service does not lie with them and they did an excellent job at maintaining relations with peeved off, hungry customers. Think our group of friends left the pub this afternoon feeling that we might use a different venue next time. Shame, as it is in a lovely location.

Food as gone right downhill it's alright if you're into gastro kind or vegan, but even some of the meat is undercooked

Absolutely love this place would recommend to anyone it’s a different atmosphere and scenery. Great staff always polite and friendly. Food and value amazing! My favourite place to go! Try it for yourselves!

Called for a meal as our kitchen out of action, stood at the bar waiting to order our food and drinks on a quiet Tuesday night, ten minutes later still stood there whilst two staff trying to solve a customer’s problem between them, a few more joined the wait at the bar and then we were ignored and the people who came after us got served, we call in here on a regular basis and this was not acceptable!! We spoke up to say it was our turn and got ignored, we will not be returning again and wasting another moment of our time for absolutely nothing , this place is going downhill and needs managing in a proper manner!

First time yesterday meal with family very nice place made to feel welcome staff very polite and helpful food very good will come again . After a very bad time with one of the other green king establishments

My wife and I shared lunch yesterday with a friendly couple. The meal was delicious, but took quite a long time to complete service.

As local Church Walking Group, we often go to the Smithy Pond for lunch. I always ring to book and ask if they can accommodate us by giving an approximate time. Sometimes there may be a group of 8 of us at other times we could have a group of 20 persons. The staff can usually accommodate us, even if we can not have the time slot that I request. For this, we are always grateful. The staff are always helpful. On a personal note, I think the gluten-free options are limited, especially the dessert menu. But the staff are always helpful when discussing the menu. Thanks, everyone. Keep up the good service that you provide. Pete Ambrose.

Good menu Good food nice venue.

Plenty of choice on the menu good drink selection

Lovely food ,though quite a wait for meals to come, over half hour wait from ordering!

we came on the 22nd of February for my daughters birthday and the staff were amazing thank you so much

Visited 19/02/24 Ordered- Vegan plant meat balls on foccacia with chips. Vegan mushroom pie with chips. Child's pasta with foccacia and corn on the cob. Firstly wasn't meat balls on the foccacia- was a burger (strange.) Chips on both dishes fully left and inedible as potato crunchy and gross. The foccacia on the child's meal was so hard and dry, it became a game to her to see if any of us could cut it (so was untouched and left) corn on cob solid- uneaten. She ate the pasta after being persuaded when I knew no one was coming around to ask how the food was and by this stage we had waited so long for food. The pasta was so dry. All food barely warm. Was £1.80 for a tiny dash size glass of lemonade. No one came to ask about food. All in all terrible, alot of food left and wasted.

pub is nice and in an immaculate setting 👌.

Waited an hour for food and when it came, the ‘creamy mash’ were only just warm and over microwaved, the broccoli was cold and the pie was only just warm in the middle. The waitress came to ask if our meals were ok but didn’t wait around for a reply, not a good experience all in all.

Very very good came for food last night service was very very good was busy so expected a wait on food 30 to 40 mins wait on food no body said anything that there was a wait to me but another woman got served while I was ordering and the lady did say to her there is at least 30 to 40 wait on food.. when the food got here everything was right with what I ordered apart from the mixed grill I ordered medium rare and it was more like rare. And I ordered sautéed mushrooms they should be called frazzled mushrooms they tasted better than they looked but other than that was good

I take my 4. 5 year old on his bike to go around the pond they have and feed the ducks and swans. Then we go to the bar for a drink. In the summer it's beautiful. They have a park on site. I havnt are here yet.

I've been three times now and looking forward to four and more.🤗

We called at the Smithy pond today 29/01/2024 at 2 10pmit was not very busy ,we had a meal off the senior meal deal ,my wife had hunters chicken and it was very poor,it was very small and under cooked it was the worst meal we have ever had and we call on a regular basis but it will be a long time before we go there again.

Gone down hill.. booked a table for 5pm.. tried ording food and nothing left on the menu,..very poor..

Despite a few hiccups booking our table for seven, we had a lovely lunch. Although only 2 front of house staff were available, we had excellent service at the bar and waited no longer than expected for food. Both staff were very friendly and helpful. For a Monday lunchtime we were surprised how busy the pub was. All in all, with a reasonable bill, we had a good experience.

Visited again yesterday and had another lovely meal.It's such a friendly place with lovely staff and nothing is to much trouble.Will be visiting again soon.

We love Smithy Pond visit regularly. Our kids like it great value for money with great food great atmosphere lovely staff

We decided to revisit Smithy Pond as my fiance had grown up in the area. The pub sits right next to a lovely pond. We ordered a Sunday roast and I had the delicious lamb shank the meat was succulent and fell off the bone. The lady who served us (slim short dark hair) was courteous 10/10 for service. The bar staff were attentive well dressed and polite also. All together a great experience and well worth a visit. Well be done the Smithy Pond Team.

Don’t ask fat blonde lass behind bar for anything she’ll just ignore you

Really decent pub considering it’s part of the green king chains , the food is what it is being a chain but it’s always better than expected and enjoyable , really good selection of beers , icebreaker being a personal favourite, lovely views over the lake and the staff are always lovely , great place to take the dog and can eat in the bar area , has everything you would want it to and we enjoy our regular visits