The Dragon in South Derbyshire

Friendly greeting on arrival. Food and service were amazing. Great value for money. The pub has had an amazing makeover and now has a relaxing and stylish look and ambience. Would recommend this pub in a heartbeat, can't wait to go back.

Went to the dragon for Sunday lunch taken straight to our table by a young man, the food was absolutely delicious and dessert same, cannot fault anything including the staff they were lovely, please keep up the good work shall keep coming back.

We had a couple of meals here recently for big birthdays and were in the garden room for both of them. The heating was not very warm (we went for an evening meal for one of them) but the food was delicious. It is a bit expensive so we only visit when we have a do or a special occasion.

Leisurely, unhurried lunch. Set menu gave ample sized portions. The pate is lovely but 2 small toast is not enough for the size of pate served! But that wasn't a problem when we asked for more! Served by a friendly and polite Tristan.

Wow..love he conservatory, fantastic service and outstanding food. Well done everyone 👏

What a wonderful experience the family had for my autistic brother’s Birthday. Nothing was too much trouble. The service was excellent (a special mention to Emma who was so so lovely with my brother) as was the delicious food. Lovely ambiance inside the pub too on a miserable February day. Thank you to all for making this such a special day for my brother.

Great food and atmosphere. Parking terrible

We went to the Dragon Last night and my wife had Belly Pork her comment "very nice", I had Gammon 8oz 2 x eggs, peas (extra), Pineapple chutney & Cajun Chips topped with Cheese, also Garlic bread, Very filling how I like it. The food was as expected with no complaints. The service I thought was excellent, they had enough staff and was served very efficiently we sat down at 8:00pm, ordered by 8:20pm and dinner arrived 25mins later with an apology which I thought was a nice touch by the Manager, however I must say our waiter (Tristan) was very responsive to all our requirements and was impressed with his enthusiasm to his work. All in all was a good night out.

I didn't receive my order and the waiter was rude .

The Dragon is my local watering hole but I’ve never had breakfast here so thought I’d give it a try. Definitely did not disappoint! I had the full English breakfast that came with Butcher's country sausage, bacon, black pudding, hash browns, baked beans, tomato, field mushroom, free range eggs, served with a choice of granary or white farmhouse toast and my partner had the Bacon Maple Pancakes with a couple of hash browns on the side. We both also had a latte, freshly squeezed Orange juice and a smoothie (Blueberry flax) to go along with it. Overall great experience here at the Dragon and will definitely come back again for another breakfast.

We drove 20 miles to have a light lunch, we have had lunch here on a few occasions and it’s been lovely, this time we was met to be seated, I mentioned we was only having a light lunch, the lady who greeted us pointed her finger and told us there was a table next to the bar, yes there was a table but no chairs. The bar was full and quite loud, with the noise and no chairs, we asked if we could sit in the restaurant, we we’re told it’s full, we couldn’t even see anyone in there. It was clear we wasn’t welcome, so for this reason we won’t be back and we will definitely discourage friends and family.

A fab local with faith great staff!

Had a lovely meal here. Food was lovely and great choice of gluten free 😋. Staff very nice and very efficient. Would highly recommend.

Stunning pub, great food, brilliant service. We stay every month through work and we always have an amazing stay

Had a really nice Sunday roast, the vegetables were really well cooked, and there was plenty of gravy.

A large pub, but didn't have to wait long to be served or for our food to be ready. Also a good GF offer which is essential for my daughter and I.

Will not be going back the burger my friend had was pink in the middle the pie I had came with 2 spoons of cold mash and red cabbage we sent the burger back and they came out with a another burger that was cold and under cooked the portions are very small and not value for money 😑.

Good food and friendly atmosphere. Service to table a bit disjointed, some mains arriving 5 mins before any veg showed up. To be fair this is the first time this has happened, probably the Christmas press, the bar was slow too. We will be back as the food is worth it. Bar selection was very good.

Lovely traditional pub. Easy to get to and has a car park although it does get busy. Food is good too. The staff are polite but I feel could be a bit more friendly

Visit on a summer's day, outside seating and entertainment is a vibe next to the canal bank.

Had a lovely meal at The Dragon the food was good quality. It had a lovely atmosphere full of friendly staff and customers. It is also dog friendly which worked really well for us. Jess our dog enjoyed all the attention she got. She was given her own bowl of water and there were dog biscuits on the bar too.

We have just had our family Xmas lunch, and everything has been absolutely fantastic! The salmon rilletes starter was so light, with a lovely pickled cucumber, the presentation was beautiful. The turkey main was lovely, nice mix of veg on the side (I adored the chanteney carrots), but the lemon posset was a perfect end to a perfect meal. Staff were friendly, professional and prompt, the ambiance was chilled and festive. We will definitely go again!

Nice pic with very good food. Can cater for larger parties too. We use regularly for work visits with clients.

Good food and a very good restaurant manager. We ordered roast dinners for a large family gathering and the quantity of vegetables was about lacking. Unprompted, the restaurant manager came over and asked if things were OK and before we replied she said there’s no enough veg and that we were missing a Yorkshire pudding so she rushed off to the kitchen to get it sorted.

Great service and food was excellent

Went for meal on 17/12 at lunchtime and the food was great could not fault that however service was less impressive. Asked for a glass of water with ice & lemon received a tepid glass of water. I ordered from the set menu and my friend from the main menu. We waited almost an hour for our main meal. A couple that sat behind us arrived after us and had received both their starter and main meal before we got ours. Had to physically find a waiter to order our puddings. Received the bill and it was incorrect. When we queried it we were informed the set menu was £27.99 however I knew it was £16.99 for 2 choices and asked him to check this. Few minutes later he came back with an amended bill minus £11.00.

Absolutely fantastic Christmas meal today at the Dragon Willington. The presentation was a la carte professional standard. To top it all off, the textures and flavours were devine.

Sorry but have been to the Dragon many times but won’t be back. The portion sizes have become so much smaller for all meals we had and £9 for the size of the pudding is ridiculous. Definitely not value for money and they add 10 per cent onto the bill for the service. I do usually leave a tip but I don’t want to be dictated how much to leave … good job we checked bill and saw this addition

A pleasant meal here mid week. Fairly busy and no parking spaces by 6pm, but you can park in public parking nearby. Menu choice and food were good and service was great.

Cosy pub but with a large dining area. Friendly helpful staff and a good menu choice.

Good food not the best but very very good. Our waiter was very pleasant. Tbh my portion was a bit on the small side I had the haddock and had to ask for some chips to pad out the meal a bit more. The meals of the guests I was with were better portion sizes if not too much for them. Overall a bit overpriced in my opinion. Would I visit again? Probably, yes. Would I order the haddock meal again? That's a definite No.

Excellent food, my favourite place to eat. Great pub, great staff, always a dream

Good food though pricey! Nice atmosphere, bar staff everywhere, quick service!

Friendly staff, excellent coffee and the small fish and chips is very good value and plentiful.

Good pub food and drinks, friendly helpful staff.

Just absolutely fabulous Sunday Lunch. Food, staff, service all great and I am a picky customer. If youve not been you are missing out.

A really great place right by the canal side and lots of outdoor seating. Super clean and tidy with lots of choice both on the menu and range of drinks available - lots of parking available and disabled access ok. Dog friendly in the covered outside patio area but no smiling / vaping there

Lovely place great service lovely meal will visit again advised to book

Good place to stay did not eat though. Service bit lacking as not allowed to sit in eating area although disabled

We were a party of 12, so we pre ordered and paid for the meals and desserts before we got there which was fantastic saved having to mess about with the bill after. Just had drinks and service to pay for on the evening. The food was amazing, everyone enjoyed it. We are not local to the area but it was a great meeting point for us all. We will be back!

Great choice of beers and some amazing food. The new rooms are excellent too

BG Sips ale on draught. I know it well. Good to see it. Nice to see such variation on draught.

Really good meal cooked to perfection very tasty and a good atmosphere.

Was pleasantly surprised to get a table as hadn’t booked. Staff were very attentive and orders taken and food served promptly. Not a huge choice for veggies or vegans but the cheese pie was very tasty. Parking was a bit tricky for the van but there are spaces if you have something a bit smaller😁

Fantastic food, delightful pub, nightmare of a car park

Lovely place for a Sunday lunch, good value and great portions sizes. I had the dragon platter which was chicken pork belly and beef. My only constructive criticism of the meal was that there wasn't enough sauce with the sticky toffee pudding, as in it could have been doubled and then it would be just about enough! Didn't want to say anything at the meal as I didn't feel comfortable complaining in person. Given this though, I would definitely visit again

Seats were a little bit uncomfortable in the window area .

Enjoyed eating here, quite a lot of parking. We hadn't made a reservation but had the option to sit in a bar or restaurant. Staff were great and attentive. Lots of seating to choose from. The only thing that got me was that there was a service charge on the bill at the end. It would have been nice to be informed of this beforehand. I would like to pay a tip on my experience and not have a forced SC on the bill. I have never come across this before.

Got to big and has deteriorated. Food and drink expensive.

Just a one off visit , parking was okay , nice little pub , good food , overall it was great , would recommend... expensive though...

service was good and the food was nice but, we ordered the ‘double smash beef burger’ and both of the patties were full size. Nowhere near smashed and quite heavy and filling. But overall , a great meal.

After enjoying food many times over the years at the Dragon, today was disappointing. Food ok - chunky chips amazing but sandwiches a bit dry and lacked flavour. Bit strange as the ingredients appeared fresh - maybe bread to filling ratio was not balanced. Service perfunctory with minimal smiles/interaction. Didn't feel a very welcoming atmosphere.

Arranged lunch with relatives. Friday dinner and it was very busy, always a good sign of what to expect. Food and beer were excellent, service was good (as usual), and a nice, calm, pleasent atmosphere. Have ate there before, will again.

Awful experience which was costly. Service rude and downright disrespectful too Lovely surrounding but spoilt by this place.

But disappointed that we sat in the bar ( not a problem) as work was going on above the restaurant.told we would get table service and got forgotten. But we enjoyed our food and would go again Pie ,needs to have more gravy on the side

Our whole family visited the Dragon for a lunchtime meal and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There were seventeen of us with ages ranging from 80 down to only 3 months ! The pub is deceptively large inside and very tastefully laid out and clean. I am sure that you would find a spot to suit your needs in there. We all enjoyed our visit, the food was good and the service friendly and efficient. The pub backs onto the canal and there is outdoor seating in the open air and also an enclosed glass seating area to allow for English summers ! I would definitely go back there and recommend you to give it a try !!!

Waiter forgot to bring cutlery then told us we could get our own from the bar. Good beers and great beer garden, just a shame about the staff

Very friendly team and great food.

Plenty of seating. Excellent location. Definitely recommend.

The food in the dragon is lovely, we are twice as we stayed in the Cottage,, both times v good food, the service is good as well, but the place was dirty, and there s a smell that comes out in the night, such makes it impossible to stay inside, they need to fix this.. apart from that the cottages are not great to stay in despite they are clean, they are quite noisy from best by neighbors..

fantastic place. Great garden next to the canal, speedy and friendly staff, great choice of beer and the best chips I have ever had. Highly recommended!

Good food with some interesting choices of beers brewed locally. Service was a bit patchy but it was busy

Sumptuous and lovely with a beer garden partially under cover if that's your thing.

First-time visitors, and we will be back! We visited for breakfast on a Sunday, and the atmosphere and decoration of the restaurant and bar areas are lovely. Staff were efficient, and there was no delay in food service to say that we didn't book a table. The only thing that caught us off-guard was the discretionary service charge on the receipt that we weren't aware of, but everything was brilliant, so we will return regardless.

Absolutely lovely pub. Stopped at Willington for the Weekend on my Narrowboat and visited The Dragon on both the Friday and Saturday nights. Food is absolutely lovely, great menu, and great service. They cater well for Gluten Free too. Can thoroughly recommend.

Excellent food and a good pint.

Came here for food - 4 adults and 1 child. The pub is in a really nice location and was busy when when came on a Tuesday evening There is an issue in the local area with flies and this was explained to us. We only noticed one buzzing around so maybe the issue has now settled down The food was really nice, portions are large and we left stuffed. Staff were friendly and attentive. If we were in the area for longer we would have gone back again

Had a great time at The Dragon, and a big shoutout to Charlie for making it even better. Super friendly and on top of everything, he made sure we were well taken care of from start to finish.

Staff were excellent, food was good but flies were herendous for this reason we wouldn't return

I'm very disappointed. It's been a while since I visited, I told my family how good it was at the Dragon, only to spend our time swatting flies, trying to keep them off our food. I can only imagine what the kitchen is like. Wish I'd read the reviews, but as a returning customer, I just assumed it'd be as good as it's been previously. I won't be in a rush to return unfortunately. The amount of flies attacking us while we ate was highly unpleasant.

Staff and venue are excellent and the food was very high quality. Lots of beef in our pie etc. Mostly executed well and everything has great presentation but only giving 4 stars for the food as sometimes it would have been nice to have a little more sauce/gravy with our dishes. Otherwise I would definitely recommend and would go back to try more dishes!

Enjoyed a delicious lunch served by friendly helpful staff

One of the most tasteless and disappointing Sunday lunches I have ever been offered. I appreciate the Dragon was very busy, but if they can’t maintain any sort of standard they shouldn’t be taking orders. Food was cold, watery and slow, the latter would have fine if there had been anything tasty on the plate when it arrived - there wasn’t. Certainly won’t be going back.

Came for a family birthday, all had a burgers which were lovely, food was great quality, service was great also. Desserts followed same excellent standard. Only complaint was that a lot of flies kept coming into pub due to doors and windows open

Lovely place for lunch and beers . Espically for holidays

Excellent food and service. Really friendly and well worth a visit. So lovely to eat by the canal path.

A great Sunday lunch menu .3 courses for less than £30 .Very tasty .Plenty of staff on to serve.Mocktails good .

Went there for a medical meeting. Nice atmosphere. Not many parking spaces on site but there’s another nearby parking lot.

We sat in under cover outside part of pub next to canal enjoyed having meal and watching the canal boats passing by.

Fabulous place for Sunday lunch

Lovely place you are make to feel so welcome Breakfast cob so nice

Great place to go to for a nice drink by the canal and good food.

Mid week dinner with family. Delicious. Well done and thanks 😊

Very good experience with exceptional food

Best breakfast ive had in a long time, absolutely piping hot aswell, lovely place in a lovely area

What a lovely breakfast. The wife treated me to a champagne breakfast as part of my birthday celebrations. The food was superb, great portions too. The waiting staff were superb and I think it must have been the manager/supervisor who was wonderful and in chatting she found out it was my birthday and decided to do something special for me which you can see in the pictures provided. Fantastic morning, we'll be back for sure.

Great place for a nice meal. Lovely to watch the canal boats go by. The atmosphere was great

Prices are extortionate. Food is not fresh. Service subpar. Wouldn’t waste money here again.

Not much to say, great food, great beer, great location, lovely staff

Second time I've ever been to The Dragon, and the first was the better one, unfortunately. Don't get me wrong, the pub is fantastic and the staff are so attentive and friendly.. but the food could've been better given the price you pay. We had a steak each; cooked well enough, but it just lacked a little flavour. The Stilton sauce also had no hint of cheese at all. Everything else was great. I think it just needs a bit of tweaking.

Great food and a good selection of well kept ales. The place can get very busy but seems to be very well run so not a problem. Would definitely go back.

We came here on Saturday and sat outside when it was beautiful and warm. Were surprised but super happy there were a couple of spare tables! Service was super quick - the waiter took our order and payment straight from our table, meaning when we'd done eating we could just get up and go We both went for the burgers, which were amazing, so tasty! Beautiful to sit outside by the canal, will definitely come back.

Updated June 2024 Visited The Dragon many times over the last four years. Today will be the last! Food excellent, but then it goes terribly wrong. Booking special requests ignored. First point of contact a young girl (name known to us) very negative, condescending, back answers customers, and when asked to confirm her name, replied why, so you can say I was cheeky and rude online, must know in advance what customers are saying about her. Useless manager/supervisor who just starred blankly. Apparently customers no longer allowed bar tabs, even when having a meal., bar staff also aggressive when our party queried this, as never had this issue in the past at The Dragon. Service comes without a smile from the whole team. We ensured that the added 10% service charge was removed, never had such constantly bad service. We always spend in excess of £200 per visit, well no more, if Pat the group owner can afford to throw away loyal customers by employing such horrendous staff and introducing stupid new rules, then he no longer deserves our business. Our advice, go elsewhere! Gone downhill since this review - BE AWARE! Visited for festive Christmas Sunday lunch which was exceptional. Food perfectly cooked and service excellent from a very friendly but unobtrusive team.

Fantastic place to visit for food and drink , great atmosphere ,loads of seating etc the outside space is brilliant

Popped in to catch up with family we didn't eat but bar service was with a smile. Good car parking.

Nice welcome, friendly and helpful service. Good quality pub food.

We had a great Sunday dinner and the service was excellent in really nice surroundings.

Great place to dine, friendly staff and a good choice on the menu.

Great pub with great attentive staff! We booked a tent outside and the 6 of us had a fantastic time!

Having been asked to go to a surprise birthday breakfast for my daughter in law, I was in impressed with the standard of food supplied. Not the cheapest breakfast you will ever have, but for a special occasion really nice to do. There was a party of 10 and they managed to deliver everything virtually together, so it was a well done to all involved.