The Derwent Arms in County Durham - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

6 of us booked in for 18.30pm sat 20th July. We all arrived on time. Drinks arrived within 15 min which is acceptable. 5 of us ordered starters. These were served to us after 90 mins of waiting . Not acceptable. Our mains arrived at approximately 20.30. 2.5 hours after we arrived . Our friend who did not order a starter was without food for 2.5 hrs . Not acceptable at all. On querying this we were informed that they were minus 1 chef. Not acceptable due to the 2.5 hrs wait. My wife’s steak was really tough and hard to cut, the chips were like they had been thrown on the plate with the remnants of the chip fryer. My wife questioned if there should be peas etc. The waitress read the menu to my wife and answered “ No “ . She offered to cook some veg which my wife politely declined . The plate was so bland no colour not inviting at all. My belly pork was the worst I have ever been served . Just basically a slop of pure fat that mingled with the mash . One of our friends ordered the chicken burger. This was served between 2 pieces of normal loaf bread ! Of which she had to remove them and attempt rather bravely to try cut into the chicken burger itself. Also I do think that £9.95 is an awful lot to charge for a large glass of Pino. However we travelled through this abyss of awful terrible service & food to try and make our evening as pleasurable as we could. After all we were 6 friends meeting up for what we thought would be a “LOVELY “ evening. Oh plus … we were never asked if we would like a dessert… ahem not that we would have dared to accept. Very very very disappointed with this place . When it first opened it was truly amazing ! We recommended it to everyone we know . Not now . I don’t know what’s happened but we will never ever forget the awful evening we had there on the 20th July .

Great choice of exciting dishes with some nice twists. The Bakewell tart was very light .breakfast Excellent choice of cold and hot food plenty of coffee on tap.

Visit for Sunday Lunch absolutely superb. Lovely fresh veg great yorkie pud, and the beef tasted wonderful. Great staff , great food and lovely location.

Stopped off here after going for a walk to the Derwent Reservoir, had Sunday lunch and I can honestly say it was the best Sunday lunch I’ve ever had! We had a chocolate brownie to finish and even that was mouthwatering! The pub is clean and a proper country pub! The staff were friendly and had a laugh with us! Bonus points it’s also dog friendly! 10/10

Speaking as a spectator of a diner...The lady paid her bill by card and walked away The bar person had to call her back twice.eventually the lady responded.we were waiting to pay our bill....it was obvious there was a problem with the card.after the second attempt she was asked if she would like to insert the card....this worked ...at which the lady verbally abused the bar person accusing her of being rude shouting and letting everyone know her buisness,Quoting(loudly)that the cauliflower cheese was awfulll,,, .NOW THAT WAS RUDE.She was apparently some chairperson in the area..Well done to the professionalism of the staff.