The Spotted Cow in Amber Valley

Popped in for a Sunday cob, which have always been superb, but today’s was just knock out! Food came within 15 minutes… well presented and piping hot. Really tasty side of roast potatoes and plenty of pink lamb hiding inside a quality brioche bun. They’ve started adding a delicious homemade Yorkshire pudding into the bun too which is a nice and unusual touch. The Yorkshire was light, fluffy and full of flavour! It all came with a small jug of flavoursome gravy which was just the ticket! Oh , and I got a seat by the log fire just for good measure! Happy Sunday at the Spotty :-)

Menu was not as advertised on the website ,we waited a long time for our food and overall it was very disappointing.The Sunday roast was only just warm ,Yorkshire pudding hard and overcooked .We had hoped for more with a new chef .

Again!!!!! What a fantastic place to eat. We came with the family this time. I had the lamb, boys had the penne pasta, and beef roast, mum had a vegan Gnocchi which looked and smelt incredible. The guys are doing a fantastic job. Beer tasted fantastic and the atmosphere was buzzing on a very busy easter Sunday. Well done guys and see you soon! The Archers.

pub smelled of dogs.madri lager disgusting.

Went here for the first time last week , for afternoon drinks with a friend. There was an overwhelming stench of dog that hit you as soon as you walked in and I wouldn't have wanted to eat there ,no matter how good the food is supposed to be. I have a dog ,so go to lots of dog friendly pubs and have never smelled anything like the Spotted Cow.Waited rather a long time to get served initially but service did improve over the time we were there. Husband had a pint of Madri which looked awful and he said it tasted as bad as it looked . Good choice of real ales and wines fortunately or we would have left . We won't be going back .

Good for food and not bad for drink; worthwhile Sunday dinner venue

Mother’s Day 2024. The food was delicious for two meat eaters and two vegans. We arrived to find a personalised card and gift set out on the table when we arrived, which made our visit extra special - a lovely touch. Service at the bar was excellent and though it took a while for the food to arrive it didn’t matter as we weren’t in a rush and they had fitted us in as a late booking. I would highly recommend The Spotted Cow to anyone - our two vegans were very impressed. Thank you guys xx

(March 2024) OMG we have just got back from our first meal out since before Covid, so it was a real treat for our grown-up kids. I cannot express how stunning the food and service is from the new owners. Ive only ever had food this good once in my life and that was in Paris. We had the beef roast and it truly was just a plate of delights, and the red cabbage...just wow...the desserts were huge, with stunning flavours that literally made us swoon with wide eyes. The owners and staff were a true delight and made it so special. Will make it a regular treat. Prices and drinks were incredibly reasonable for the experience. Thank you spotted cow. See you again soon!

A warm welcome, excellent food from the 2 meals for £15 menu, all freshly cooked. A choice of 8 real ales and good quality coffee, with oat milk an option. Will definitely be coming here again for lunch

Ate dinner here and were not particularly impressed, despite the big build up. It was OK and nothing really special. The quality of the food was good but it was missing something to make it really special. Good mid-week option but as a weekend special treat, look elsewhere until it improves.

I have eaten at the Spotted Cow several times in the last 12 months and the food has been average. However the pub is under NEW management and they have a NEW chef and the food is amazing. I have just eaten Hake with crushed new potatoes with chorizo with a seasoned samphire which was absolutely beautiful… would recommend to everybody in the local area this great food at a reasonable price!!

Needs to do better not been in a while went to see if it had improved from the poor management of previous. Now owned by a pub company. The staff where friendly and very good can't fault them. Much of the work that's needed has not been done, and the horrid dark dividers are still there. The drinks were good price probably about average, the food was 2 for £15 there were 3 in our party so the other was 8.50 the food was average at best and menu limited. Big improvement needed but hopefully it will come it's been a good pub in the past

Brilliant Friday night experiencing the new menu and new wine on offer. All with lovely, friendly and attentive service. My wife chose the pan fried hake from the specials board which the kitchen team were able to switch out the chorizo potatoes with an alternative. We both had starters, again from the specials board, which were beautifully presented and tasted superb. We shared a cheesecake dessert with raspberry and hints of ginger and amaretto - yum! We were so pleased to see the extended wine menu and after our starter drinks we enjoyed a lovely bottle of savvy b with our meal. To finish, a sneaky digestive each and overall a brilliant evening out at The Cow for less than £100 for two people. Well fed, well watered and very, very happy. Ok, I’ll admit it, tipsy. :)

We booked an evening meal for 3 people on Valentine’s Day. On booking this we were told there was a set menu alongside their usual evening menu. On arrival we were only given the set menu priced at £59.99 per couple. The young lad who served us informed us that it would not be a problem and would be pro rata for 3 people so we ordered our starters and mains. 15 minutes later we were told it wasn’t possible to order 3 meals from the set Valentines menu and that we would have to pay the cost of 4 meals or one of us would have to order from the specials menu. We offered to pay for 4 meals if they gave us a bottle of wine. This was rejected and the manager came to talk to us. Lucy was clearly not prepared to go out of her way to help us saying it was not possible because of the computer system. She left us no alternative but to cancel our order and leave 45 minutes after we arrived. Lucy then had the nerve to charge us for 3 drinks. This is extremely disappointing particularly as we have just moved into the area and were keen to try The Spotted Cow. Unfortunately you have NOT given a good impression and we will be telling our friends not to bother going here as well.

Sunday lunch at spotted cow today under the brilliant new chef... wow it was excellent couldn't fault it and homemade pudding was delicious! Pub was buzzing so great to see in our village! Absolutely well worth a visit 10/10

Often have had a lovely Sunday dinner here. This time seemed different. Change of chef and taste not of a traditional Sunday dinner. Chilli added to carrots and gravy tasted of artificial smoke essence. Wasn’t keen for the first time in years. What a shame.

Managed to fit us in on a really busy day, late on just before end of service. Thankfully because we had just been on a lovely walk around the area and the children were getting really tired. The staff were fantastic and very welcoming, pointing us in the direction of the board games for the boys too. Food turned up promptly and was very warm, tasty and certainly filled a hole. The braised cabbage was fantastic and the meat was so soft and flavoursome. We will certainly be heading back to see what else is on the menu. Thank you very much to The Spotted Cow Staff.

Absolutely loved this pub and staff. Found it by accident after a lovely river walk at Belper and called in for a quick drink. Liked the place so much we returned for Sunday roast with the in laws. Food was great and lovely to chat with staff and Rodney the sausage dog. Will definitely return when possible! Thanks guys.

We visited this pub for a drink, and was blown away by the giant home-made Yorkshire Puddings, we viewed the menu to see it was priced at £15.25. BUT based on the whoppas coming out the kitchen we booked a table. On 28/1/24@1.30 we attended, the car park was empty which should have been a red flag, nevertheless we were seated. Both ordered the Beef Dinner, we waited a good 45 mins, but knowing a good thing cannot be rushed we thought it would be well worth the wait. The young lad presented the dinner, with a lack of yorkshire my husband asked are they coming seperate. The young lad nervously said there to the right of your plate. We both looked, and noticed 2 uncooked round things which didnt resemble a yorkshire pudding. Even a Aunt Bessies would have been more superior. The lad said errr, we dont do the big ones anymore the chef has left. We started to eat the dinners, mine was stone cold, so sent it back my husband started on his, the roast potatoes were frozen ones and the mash was smash. Mine, was pinged and was very hot, so had to leave it to cool. I looked at the plate and thought, does this resemble value for ££, no, so asked to speak to the manager. We were told she couldnt come as she was busy cooking the dinners. I insisted, she finally came, I told her we had booked on the pretence of the yorkshires, she said sorry I sacked the chef. She then went onto complain she had been in the kitchen since 6.30am cooking on a erratic oven ??? Not my fault I replied, she then defended herself by sayin eat elsehere next time ?? A certain air of lack of customer service.. I said I would. She then told me she had a degree in marketing, and offered to charge me for one dinner, if she had a degree in marketing she would know the power of Facebook & TripAdvisor Reviews. I since learned the pub has been taken over by Pub People so will contact them direct. Look at the photoes would you pay that money for the standard of that sunday roast ???? You have been warned dont be fooled by old Facebook photos... AVOID...AVOID !!

Quick service and nice food. The poor waitress was running around to accommodate everyone and even found time to ask us if our meal is ok. Bless her. Nice atmosphere too. Dogs allowed.

I read the recent reviews and was expecting something exceptional. Unfortunately it was not.I wont be rushing back.

Welcoming pub with great atmosphere. Had the steak and others in our group had the tandoori chicken - it was all excellent! Feels like this pub has turned a corner under new management.

A once confused and poorly run pub has been revitalised as a warm and welcoming place to eat, drink, have fun. Friendly staff, great new leadership and a pub company that clearly understands how to let local pubs thrive. The food is great, beer is good and the whole atmosphere has changed, making for a great place to come and enjoy!

Wonderfully tasty home cooked food, the steak was cooked to perfection. Bar staff were incredibly attentive and exceptionally knowledgeable. The pub is going from strength to strength and it’s a gem of a place that I feel lucky to be able to have locally. The welcoming atmosphere is infectious and we have bought many a friend here from outside the area that wish to return whenever they are in the area. Top staff, great food, welcoming atmosphere. Give it a try, you won’t regret it!

Great pub, badly run. Used to be a vibrant local with great beer, excellent service and good food. None of those apply now. Poorly trained, inexperienced and unsupervised young staff doing their best. Beer could be better kept. Good varied food menu, unfortunately with several...

This pub has so much potential. I understand it has recently been taken over by a pub company who really need to up their game. Food very average and not reasonably priced, but the main disappointment was how cold it is. A couple of days...

Visited mid week for a drink to find a pub full of Xmas party diners & drinkers. Whilst it is pleasing to see the pub doing well on the run up the Xmas, it is also upsetting & stressful to see so much chaos! No...

Lovely cosy pub so a shame our experience wasn’t great. A limited Sunday menu, and to add to the limitations, half of the mains weren’t available. Limited wine and ale selection too. Our Sunday dinners were small and there wasn’t an option to add extras....

It was cold and after walking for an hour and a half it's not what you want

Disappointing. Hardly anything available on the menu, food cold, pub even colder. Don't bother, if you're looking for a cosy pub vibe!

Agree with another comment from this weekend- pub absolutely freezing. 230 /ish early November and no fire (and felt like no other heating either). Praise to the youngsters front of house who were keeping place going, but no obvious sign of management or direction from...

Awful Sunday lunch. Cold food served. Attitude of staff when we told them itcwas coldcwas beyond belief. So rude no apology. Offered to put it back in microwave to heat it! Microwaved food at £14.00 per person. Poorly trained, rude staff, very megre cold dinner....

A decent roast and excellent puddings, the cheesecake pies are great!

Popped in for tea,very charming pub, attentive bar staff, very friendly. Good atmosphere, highly recommend.

Food was good, real ales , and very clean and friendly

We’ve always looked forward to our visits to The Spotted Cow in the past, but this time we were very disappointed. There was only one vegetarian main course on the Sunday lunch menu – Bang Bang Cauliflower – which consisted mainly of somewhat lukewarm cauliflower...

Seemed like a nice place.. we were dancing Morris there so didn't stop too long but the welcome was pleasant, beer was good, nice range, & I liked the cosy sheepskins decor. Will be back to experience more. Many thanks

Fantastic service and food with the added bonus of watching the Morris dancers after our meal

Entertainment cancelled with less than 24 hours to go, apparently the committee divided the night before at 11pm to cancel the entertainment, they only want live music on certain days. Not professional behaviour. Would not recommend.

Very poor communication - they called to cancel our booking 90 minutes before we were due to eat. They knew the kitchen would be closed several days ago but didn't bother to inform the people that had booked. Some of our party were already travelling...

Love this pub, great food, great village location.

Went for Sunday lunch. I had the veggie roast and my husband had a burger. Food was delicious and staff were brilliant. We will be back.

Excellent beer served in a traditional British pub.

Whilst out walking, with the family. We called into this lovely pub. When asked if we could have drinks and lunch the lady serving looked a little shocked as there were 19 of us all together. Amazingly they were able to cater for us all...

Lovely staff,good service,great pub serving nice food in a beautiful location,1or 2 things they could do better,but bare with them they will get there, getting better and better every time we go,very enjoyable night,thank you.

A truly lovely and friendly cafe with well priced and scrummy food.

Really dog friendly pub and had some GF options as well as a great GF beer on tap. The woman who served me was great as she was a celiac and reassured me about the use of a separate fryer in the kitchen etc. the...

After visiting spontaneously for lunch on a walk a few weeks before I booked a few tables for a baby shower I was organising as the place had such a cosy feel to it. Brandon, the manager, couldn't do enough for us, from answering any...

Good community run local traditional pub. Good choice of beers.

Came here last minute and had absolutely lovely Sunday lunch from here. Reasonably priced and delicious food! Beef was lovely and tender!! Worth the visit and would highly recommend.

Lovely and friendly staff. Food was excellent 👌

Had lunch. Bit disappointed the pastry on the pie was undercooked especially on the bottom. The filling was nice.

Very friendly staff great service and fantastic lunch Dogs welcome Many thanks to all We’ll be back!!

Brilliant. Pub, Cafe and Post Office on the same site. Food and drinks at reasonable prices. Delightful country pub in a rural setting with outstanding views nearby. This pub was recently saved by the local people who new what they where fighting for. Excellent spot, nice setting and well done to the locals who fought for it's survival. Stop in you will not be disappointed. The scones are out of this world. The Spotted Calf Cafe next to the pub is open from 9am so pop in for a take away morning coffee

3 of us visited on boxing day. Pre ordered 3 x turkey roast dinners. They certainly ly seem tk have been plated up on Xmas day and re-heated. I asked for extra gravy, it came quickly and I poured it all over.... it was flat...

Amazing place! Always enjoy my experience, the cafe and pub have the most amazing staff & food always!! deffo recommend :)

I booked for a party of 10. Amazing service from start to finish. Food was brilliant ,good choice of beers. Definitely returning sometime in the future

Brandon and the amazing team at Spotted Cow helped us organise our dad’s wake and we couldn’t have asked for a friendlier, more professional team. From the moment we called, Brandon was on hand to curate the perfect send off for our dad. The buffet food was delicious, the staff were always on hand to help us and the cosines and intimacy of the pub made for the perfect setting. Thank you Brandon and the team, we look forward to coming back to try more food and enjoy more delicious drinks!

Nice atmosphere, clean tidy. Staff behind the bar great.

Great pub with a lot of character. All of the staff is wonderful and pleasant to chat to. New manager has been absolutely great and I recommend grabbing a bite too. There have been a lot of changes but all for positive. Food is very good, beef was on the top side of 5 star. This is a great pub and I would 100% recommend it for food or just a casual visit and a sausage roll.

Called in unexpectedly. Stayed for a most enjoyable, reasonable lunch & a drink. Lovely surroundings, nice people. Will be going again 👍🙂🐾🐾

We had a wonderful meal. Service was great. Food was amazing. Very accommodating. I would highly recommend.

Went into this pub Saturday night ( 29/10) absolutely wonderful welcome. The Owner took the time to take us to his cellar to show us how he kept the beer. Bass was beautiful. Will be back

Lovely Sunday lunch, great beer and well looked after by all the staff, even the chef!

We had a great meal me and my family enjoyed every bit in an old pub and clean modern toilets and the staff were allso very nice.Will go again.

Amazing pub with a great friendly atmosphere, has such character, fantastic beer and great food. A real locals pub. Well worth a visit. Great value for money

Stayed in the B&B. The room was very nice. Staff were very friendly. Thank you!

Nice friendly pub, good selection of ale and reasonable prices

Very friendly staff, lovely atmosphere, great selection of ales and other drinks, definitely going to go back to try the food...a great find 👍

Great pub in a picturesque village. Good beer garden on the front of the pub. Great, friendly service. Food is good, honest pub grub.

Got 1 meal wrong but we were given 10% off. The hand cut chips looked and tasted like yesterday's...and were as warm 🙄

Me and my family have been coming here for the past 2 year and it's always been exceptionally good. Great service and food however, on this occasion the food was poor. We waited a while (40 minutes) - even though we were the first in for food (12 mid-day) the food served was overcooked. I addressed this to the waiter and we were informed the head chef has recently left. I do hope this gets resolved quickly and standards return as its always been a great little spot for us but feel slightly disappointed on this occasion.

Did you William Hazlewood Snr one of the founder's of Hazlewood Foods Lived hear.

We went here for dinner last night & had the vegetable lasagne with salad & garlic bread - delicious quality, good value & nice atmosphere! Loved it! 😋

Excellent meal with friendly effecient service. Quaint surroundings.

Came here for evening dinner, which was very good. Great service with very friendly staff. Will come here again

Only dropped off some beers popular village pub

Sraff are very friendly and helpful. Food is Delicious 😋. Have had a Fantastic Jubilee Bank Holiday spending 4 evenings with yourselves. Will definitely be back soon for a visit. My sons both enjoyed the atmosphere in the pub especially the 2 live act's you had on the Thursday and Friday. Thanks again.

Great village pub with really good food and good beer. Has a good garden at the front. Takes American Express. Friendly staff.

Nice pub,good beer but food just average disappointed for the price they charge.

Lively pub. Nice outside when it's sunny too

Friendly atmosphere. Lots of different ciders to try

Lovely, cosy pub with friendly atmosphere. Really enjoyed the quiz night & will be going back.

A lovely proper pub, run by the community for the community. Good food and drink and friendly efficient staff......First class place.

I think I've found my new favourite place to come for Sunday dinner... Everything was done just so well...

Lovely pub,nice staff and very clean yet to have food but will deffo go one day to try it,

Great food with real home made touch. Really tasty!!! This place is popular and rightly so as it’s a warm welcome and great atmosphere. Even an act on Friday when we went. Guy singing with guitar. Staff and management really put loads of effort in. I’ll definitely be going again !

The food is beautiful here and the pub is lovely. Staff are really friendly and helpful. Food came quickly and we didn't feel rushed to leave.. There was also live music. Highly recommended..

Amazing pub, very well looked after, cafe & post office in the car park as well. Bowl of chips for lunch, proper chips. Returned for tea, had the hogboard, everything top notch. Oh and several pints as well. Will defo revisit if in the area again.

Loads of gluten free options, including this amazing fish and chips with real batter! This is a rare find for a coeliac like me. All the gf dishes are marked on the menu and some offer a gluten free option on request. They also had several gf choices for dessert but alas I was too full to try them! Thank you!

Brilliant food and good service lovely little pub and the portions are HUGE. Would eat and drink here again. Keep up the good work guys. 👏

when you deliberately detour on the way home, you pass by the nicest surprises, such as a Spotted Cow. Very nice ambiance in a community owned pub. And the surprise does not end there ; a pint of "The Panther Oatmeal Stout" was the cherry on top. Added to all this with some pleasant banter from the owner makes me wanting to do another detour.

This is now a thoroughly decent real ale pub with great seating outdoors and modernised furnishings inside. After a couple of years of being closed it has been taken over by over 200 members of the local community and is now a proper community pub, it sits snugly in the heart of the village and has something for everyone. Well worth dropping in. M

Beautifully cozy, and inviting pub with friendly staff always wearing welcoming smiles and extremely helpful. The food is superb beautifully presented and totally delicious 😋

Wonderful interiors and ambience in this community-owned pub. Selected beers should offer something for everybody. Friendly staff. Food is good, as I recall from an earlier visit. Highly recommended.

Nice food & drink but staff not friendly

Fantastic food!!! Have had one of the best vegetarian meals in a long time. Lots to choose from too. A great place to eat with a warm, welcoming atmosphere.

Delightful small village pub with excellent food and surroundings. Even has an outside cafe where you can sit and have a cuppa and a very tasty bacon butty.

Had a great meal, recommend the new menu.

Community owned pub serving a good selection of real ales and good pub grub.