The best restaurants in Aston South Derbyshire East Midlands

Ive visited this pub for over 15 years... never ever had a bad experience.. until saturday evening. I hadnt booked but that was ok they only had 1 table left so i just assumed it would be lovely as usual... So so wrong! Drinks and starters came fairly quickly and were basic simple dishes so ok.. After waiting nearly 30 mins for our mains.. i assume it was the land lady but apparently its just had new management so??? Anyway she came over and said your mains may take a while we have a big party in.... the place was nearly empty!!! No apology or can we get more drinks nothing .. just walked off! Mains came nearly an hour after we had finished our starters. 3 x steaks medium rare... pretty easy... no 2 medium to well done and one well knackered... hawiian chicken but without the bacon.. ( an eye roll from the waitress when ordered!) It was just a dry chicken breast so dry it took ages to chew and swallow it.. was impossible to do without a few gulps of drink. I left it as it was inedible... but when ordered i asked for no bacon... not no cheese or bbq sauce!! Chips were white and floppy... Not 1 person came to ask if our meals were ok and as we were shoved in an annex we didnt see any staff! My friend couldnt even cut her steak it was so tough.. When they collected the plates... nearly half an hour after putting my knife and fork down in disgust. Still did not ask even tho 2 of those plates were still almost full. So we told the waitress who shrugged her shoulders and said oh!! She did however come back and say my friends dessert would be free. Still hungry we ordered pudding... they were ok nothing special.. But we also ordered a pitcher of cocktail for myself and friend to share... He didnt know how to make it... and the only jug was full of vinegar!!!! So he made 3 glasses seperately.. 2 so much alcohol you got drunk on the fumes .. 1 nothing.. but we had to share a glass ... Absolute disaster of an evening... then landlady came up 15 minutes later and said drink up we are closing... id still got almost a full glass full... so had my friend and the men hadnt finished there pints either! Cost well over £100 for a shitty evening... so thanks dog and duck shardlow for ruining my friends birthday meal!!! Never will i return... new management have made this the place NOT to be!!!

Brilliant Sunday lunch .Thankyou ! Anne-Marie.

Nice friendly welcome, good service, good home cooked food and well kept beer in a warm and character full environment. Busy pub but able to fit us in and prompt service. Recommend if you are in the area.

Nice meal, great size portions. One main was salty. Had the fixed menu, staff would not change a main course unless we paid for the deluxe menus. First two courses very good, well cooked and presented. Main was good except for prawn in black bean, which was rather salty. Couple on the next table did not eat any of one of their beef mains, saying it was far too salty to eat, so do complain if you can't eat it. We managed ours but would have preferred less salt, rest of the mains were good in quality and presentation.

Absolutely gorgeous food served very hot and fresh probably the hottest and fresh meal I’ve eaten out in months friendly welcoming staff and great prices

The bouncer stoped my mum by the door when we was going into the pub and then chased my cousin into the pub cause I didn’t realise kids couldn’t go in past 8:30 and then grabbed her arm and dragged her out screaming at her and then when we got outside he was being all nice to my mum saying like ohh sorry kids aren’t allowed in past 8:30 and left marks on her arm and if he had grabbed her any harder he would of broke the skin . Terrible experience, a family pub shouldn’t have “bouncers” doing that to children disgraceful . This man was about 40-50 and was wearing a black and white striped shirt and jeans .

Please note that this cafe is no longer called Mad Hatters and is now the Waterside Cafe. The staff are friendlier and the food is lovely, they open at consistent times (handy as the toilets are only open when the cafe is). There was a lot of fuss when Mad Hatters lease was not renewed and the catering taken on by Derby City Council but it has in my opinion improved.

Great service at greggs by Thomas a recommended stop on your travels

The meal and location lived up to their reputation. This was a chance visit, but we were so glad to have made it. The service and everything else were smart and relaxed.

If I lived nearer, it would be my local.

Lovely setting for this country pub. Large car parking area. Lovely decor internally with a small kids area inside. Warmly greeted by Tracey who showed us to our table, asking us on the way if either of us had allergies! Great practice, I listened and all customers were asked the same on entry. Immediately asked us if we would like to order drinks. Very prompt service. Three choices of menu, the Easter lunch menu, three courses, the normal menu and a limited special meal of Tom Shepherd’s Best Ever Pub Pie! Well the special pie was my husband’s choice but I had the lamb rump, this came with a mini pie of its own. Both meals were complete coming with a mixed veg and potatoes, the pie with mash and the lamb with rosemary roasted and a gravy saucepan for each meal. I have to say this was the best “pub grub” we had eaten in a long time! Absolutely delicious, we both ate everything! The Tom Shepherd pie was full of meat, with a layer of potatoes, never seen a pie so full! Highly recommend this limited gastronomic delight! My husband ordered a dessert of apple and cherry crumble, which came with a jug of creamy custard. I had a taste of this and again delicious 😋 Not been to this pub in years but would highly recommend a visit and we will definitely go again to explore the menu further! Great dining experience !

Our first visit and it didn't disappoint,good food and great service , we will be back.

Go-to place for a quick cuppa or leisurely hours with mates

Came here two weeks ago after a gap of over ten years between visits, on our initial visit two weeks ago we were delighted with the revamped decor and layout of the pub, the attentive but not in your face staff and the food was delicious. We both had mixed grills and every single item was cooked to perfection. We were eager to return so we booked for this evening. We were a little disappointed to see the mixed grill had not only increased in price but was now missing the lamb chop 😞 but we remembered how much we enjoyed our previous meal so we decided to order the 'same' again. It couldn't have been more different. Every single piece of meat was overcooked, dry and bland to the point of tastelessness. Even the chips were bland, grilled tomatoes were hard. The only thing actually tasty was the side order of cheesy garlic mushrooms. I'm sure the duty manager knew the food was well below par as when we went to the bar to pay he didn't even bother to ask if we were happy with our meals. Shame as we really enjoyed it only two weeks ago.

Ww booked a table for a family of 11 for mother's day. We had 4 mother's and family in our booking. The food was awful and inedible, all over cooked, dry, luke warm and the chips were full of grease. Not one out of the 11 meals were of any standard that we could eat. We were left without any food, nowhere to book another table at short notice on what should have been a joyful day and had no choice but to return home hungry to make food. Very disappointed with the whole service, we waited a long time for the food to come out after we ordered and what we got was below any kind of standard, I'm not sure how the chef thought it was to a standard to serve paying guests as the only place it belonged was in the bin.