The Saracen's Head in Derbyshire Dales

Not visited this pub for about 8 years, in which time it's changed hands. Went for lunch today and I wasn't disappointed. It was as welcoming as I remember it with a good menu choice including some very good value lunch options. Everyone in our party really enjoyed their meals, fresh, hot, tasty and beautifully presented. Service was excellent and we were made to feel very welcome. We will definitely return and I would highly recommend to others, couldn't fault it and I wish the relatively new owners the best of luck in their new venture.

After a few hiccups with different owners the Saracens has settled down under it's latest management.The food is excellent as is the service and atmosphere.A good variety on the menu so something to suit most tastes. Would recommend a visit.

A very pleasant experience. Excellent gastro pub food, and friendly service. Nothing at all to quibble about. Highly recommended The only thing that could be improved is contact details. All there is is the mobile number.

Superb Sunday Roast was enjoyed by all. Couldn’t fault the food - the best gravy I’ve tasted in a long while. Friendly staff, spacious settings and the pooches were very welcome too.

Had a lovely walk from Osmaston to Shirley and called in to the Saracens Head for lunch! The food was absolutely delicious and reasonably priced. Will definitely return!

Superb Sunday Lunch with family, lots of choices all well cooked and beautifully presented. Very friendly and professional team. Great to see the village pub in good hands.

We had an amazing pie at the pub, I had lamb and mint and I think it was the best pie I’ve ever tasted. Loads of meat in it. The pastry was lovely and crisp ( no soggy bottom) and the veg were beautifully cooked. I didn't like the wine, maybe should have drank more of it !! it wouldn’t stop me returning though. Well done to the new managers!

It's back to being a good place to eat! We went for Sunday lunch. The food and service were excellent and we'll be going back again.

This is an absolute gem! I found this pub a few weeks back and the new managers are smashing it! Lovely atmosphere, all staff were polite and super friendly. I have to give it out to Adam most of all though, from the moment we walked through those doors there wasn’t enough he could do for us, it’s people like him that make or break these pubs. Well done Adam keep smashing it, excellent service, to be topped with some even better humour! Thankyou

Teri and Robin left at the end of 2022 they created THE most fantastic gastro country pub in Derbyshire! There have been many failed attempts by new tenants. But finally, Tom and his team took over on the 29th Feb, we visited for a birthday meal and I am delighted to confirm the Saracens Head is Back!! Our party of 6 all thoroughly enjoyed our choices and speaking for myself, the Haggis Scotch egg starter and Roast beef was superb! It's still early days, so restocking and re-organising, but we are delighted to place the SH back on the map and looking forward to our next trip! Best of luck to the new team!

The Saracen’s Head has new chef/proprietors so we decided to try lunch. We were delighted with the offering at prices which are reasonable with food which is interesting, creative and of high quality. Top marks from us! We are looking forward to our next visit.

This pub is under new owners since 29th February 24. We ate last night and the pub was vibrant, wood burners in full flow and the food was excellent. Venison sourced locally and cooked to perfection. Starter choice was very good and I look forward to visiting again.

Visited for Sunday lunch with family. A disappointing experience. Not offered drinks when we were sat down. Limited menu options. Starters were a little below expectations but we ate them. Main course took far too long to arrive. Approx 1 hour after finishing starter, some 90 minutes after arrival. Served on cold plates. Temperature of the food on plate varied from cold to lukewarm to touch. We rejected the mains and left to eat elsewhere. We now realise there was a change of ownership mid 2023, so the overall trip advisor rating is calculated on reviews which have been accumulated over many years and thus gives a potentially misleading view of service and food today. This experience was the second visit to this place in January. Our first booking was cancelled by the establishment because they didn't have many bookings so decided to cancel serving food that lunchtime. Unfortunately we didn't find out until we turned up. The establishment said they tried to contact us but appeared to have recorded our contact number incorrectly. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and rebooked for following weekend.

A lovely country pub with welcoming staff and chatty people,a lovely pint and some nice food,will definitely visit again

The food was excellent and beautifully presented. The landlady and staff were very welcoming and friendly. The turkey dinner was delicious and abundant. The venison and mushroom pie was out of this world and the Bakewell pudding was the best pudding that we have ever had. Well done Chef! A good pint of Landlord too.

Wonderful welcoming village pub with fabulous food. Nice cosy fire and lovely interior. Cant wait to visit again, thank you

What a find! Impromptu lunch. Greeted by one of the warmest of welcomes in a very long time. French onion soup was superb but the desert was the star of the show. Simple apple crumble turned into a delicious sweet treat instead of a soggy mess. Tart and sweet apple with a hint of cinnamon topped of with a delightful crunchy crumble. Yummy. Booked in for Sunday lunch straight away.

I have had my fair share of pub Sunday lunches and this was outstanding. The generous serving of locally sourced beef was cooked to perfection, succulent, tender and carved from a large roast. The Yorkshires were home made, the gravy rich and beefy and the green beans were as they should be, slightly al dente and an imaginative flair wrapped in a cabbage leaf. Three of us had beef and my friend very much enjoyed her locally sourced turkey. Desserts were splendid, the trifles were made with creme anglaise, the rice pudding was creamy and flavourful and my Christmas pudding ice cream was inspiration itself. The service is friendly and welcoming. Don't hesitate!

Absolutely love this place,went for the 2nd time Saturday,the food is fantastic all the staff are amazing and make you fell so welcome . Its definitely worth a visit ☺️

Fantastic fish and chips. Great service, nothing too much trouble. Really friendly relaxed atmosphere, warm fire. Made very welcome by the lovely lady serving and by other customers. The sticky toffee pudding was ok but not as good as the main course. Why can’t gastropubs do good puddings? Will definitely go again.

OMG, such an amazing meal! The welcome is so friendly, welcoming our dog as well. The ambiance is cosy and warm on such a cold night with the log burners warming us. The menu choice is brilliant with vegetarian and gluten free options. Really tasty, substantial food and beautifully presented. But best of all the proprietor was so kind and really looked after us. We felt valued as customers and got a lovely hug when we left. We would definitely recommend The Saracen's Head in Shirley and look forward to going back again soon. Loved it. Thank you.

I've been to this gastro pub loads of times and never disappointed. The menu is great and provides a great choice. The staff are friendly and the atmosphere is great

Attention au fish and chips il est possible qu'il soit frais et bon mais il arrive qu'il soit avarié : pas de rebus de stockage !!

I've been a few times, each time hasn't been great but I like pub food so I thought I'd go back. We ordered our food, although the lady said they had ran out of fish fingers and orange fruit shoots. I changed the mixed grill slightly by swapping the gammon for one sausage, and added an egg for an extra 50p. I ordered the cod and chips. I asked for the receipt and once I got back to the table I noticed the waitress serving me had added a £2.99 charge for the sausage!.. Drinks were Coke and squash. The Coke was flat, the food took 40 mins to come out and only came out when I went up to the bar to ask how much longer to what seems to be the manager - who was on the phone with the impression of taking a personal phone call. The kids food came out, the beans was cold and you could tell by the heat from the plate it had been sitting on the service hot plate in the kitchen for a long time. The mixed grill was cremated and every bite tasted dry and burnt. They forgot to bring the egg out so I had to go and ask for that. The cod and chips on the other hand was nice. The waitress came over to take our meals and of course asked how it was, I told her and her response was oh, sorry. And that was that. I couldn't find the manager to speak to her about it, seemingly she disappeared, much like allOf the staff throughout our visit there. I honestly would avoid and go to a different pub in the area for food. I will add, the restaurant wasn't at all busy either.

Bellissima serata in compagnia di nuovi amici.Ottima la qualità del servizio e dei prodotti locali.Ricchissimo il menù che può variare dal tipico al continentale.Il locale e accuratamente arredato e accogliente,lo consiglio a chiunque passi da quelle parti!

Came here as it was on the Mitchell's and butler website so thought we could use our 20% off voucher, but wasn't able to-false advertisement. Upon entering we ordered drinks at the bar, the lady must of been new as she didn't have a clue. Ordered food starters took ages to come and when they did it was average. No cutlery so had to source our own. After clearing our own starters our mains arrived a while later. Really awful food and very small portions. The salmon was sent back as it was dried up and cold. The woman who seemed like the duty manager was really apologetic and gave us a free drink. And a replacement meal which was ok. We ordered a couple of desserts after 1/2 hour we had to ask for them and again cleared our own table so they new we had finished. The manager again was apologetic and refunded the desserts but still the desserts were wrong. Over all very disappointed we the visit. Staff were clueless apart from duty manager who couldn't appologies enough hence the 3 stars not 1 star which I would of rated otherwise.

I've been here about 4 times but the last visit was just a little disappointing if I'm honest. The food was very good and I can recommend the haddock and chips which is massive. I'm a big eater and even I couldn't finish it off. There is no handheld menu (until desserts). All of the choices are on a large black board on the wall and to be fair there is a decent variety of options. I hate being negative but the service just wasn't up to standard. A waitress asked if we wanted the dessert menu which we said we did...only for her and a colleague to mess about with a computer for 15 minutes and completely forget about us! We had to ask another girl for the menu. Basically a lot of the pleasantries seemed forced. I can sympathise somewhat as I'm in a public facing job and it can be difficult to be nice all the time but I'm just being honest in that it took the shine off the evening a little. I'd still recommend it though as it's a nice pub suitable for couples or families though not particularly children. It has a nice warm and cosy feel to it and one day I'll give it another go.

The interior is qute nice, there are family tables with basic games for young children on the walls and the tables with blackboard inserts, where kids can draw with a chalk.The food was okayish. The soup was served with a slice of white bread, no roll, no butter which was a bit dissapointing. The main courses portions were smaller then normal pub portions. They did not have the wine I ordered and (paid for), so they came and asked if I can choose another one. I chose the one that was slightly cheaper. They brought the wine, but never brought the change. It's only 25p, but it was very unpleasant.They forgot to bring the juice and we were waiting for ages to get someone to ask for it. Same with desert.In general, quite an unpleasant visit, unfriendly staff, very average food. Not coming back.

Having heard so many good things about the Saracen's Head, we were expecting it to be good, really good. Good points were: the service, which was good, friendly and relaxed (although maybe a bit on the quick side - when you go out for a meal you want to take your time). The atmosphere was nice, friendly and cosy, and the look and feel of the place was lovely - it's a nice pub, with nice decor, tables etc. and not overdone as some foodie pubs can be.It would be nice if there was an area to relax after your meal, such as you can find in the Crown at Marston, but there a just a lot of tables, like a restaurant - but this is the case with most places now. The table we sat at (we had a choice of 3) was a bit close to the bar for comfort really, as we could hear the waitresses chatting a bit too clearly, and vice versa. The prices are high for the type of food, so we did hope this was a good sign (£11.75 for fish and chips, £16.75 for Duck). The menu had a lot of choice, and in particular there was a good vegetarian range which makes a nice change.The food was not bad, by any means, but it was a little disappointing to be completely honest. The fish and chips was just OK - it was massive, by anyone's standards (and I can eat a lot!) and it was not particularly well presented - it all seemed a bit 'dumped' on the plate. The chips tasted like oven chips (a pet hate!) and there was no finesse at all. The duck was ok, nicely presented, and the duck itself perfectly cooked. Although the potatoes were greasy, the vegetables oily too, and overall that brought that meal down to 'average'. The wine, again it was ok, but nothing special, for £5.75 a glass I would usually expect something a bit better.All in all, there is nothing really wrong with the place, the food or the service, but the expectations set by the high prices and the set up as a 'restaurant' as apposed to a pub lunch type of place made the experience underwhelming when we had hoped for something really special.

As always the food and service at this sister establishment to the one at Yeavley, left nothing to be desired. The service is excellent to match the beautiful menu. Even though we were on the first sitting, there was no rush. My wife's need to eat gluten free is always met by producing fresh sauces. I had Pate to start and Chicken and Bacon salad (mexican style) for a main. Just enough room for the Almond and Raspberry tart with ice cream. Our party had steaks, curry, and everything was fantastic. Couldn't rate this more highly. Ideal for Friends or couples.

Had a lovely meal with Hubby at lunchtime during the week. Very busy, but the food superb and served quickly too. It was so good we went back with the kids for Sunday lunch. We didn't book and quite frankly, were expecting to be turned away as I imagined they would be fully booked. I think we were lucky! We had decided to eat outside as the weather was stunning and thought on that basis it was worth chancing our arm. (we had 2 boys, straight from Rugby practice, so complete with muddy streaks on face and legs... Not a welcome site for proud publicans/restaurateurs' despite impeccable behaviour) food and service simply perfect.

Good menu choice,and the steaks were cooked as requested. They have a 2 for 1 on the main meals so with drinks the meal cost £20 per couple. Overall a pleasant evening out.we had been going to nearby Nandos,but they messed up the booking,and we were glad we came in here 4 a drink and decided to stay.