The Duke (used to be Page 2/Village inn)

[Sue]

:))

[The Duke]

Hi All,

Thanks to everyone that came down last Friday, hope you enjoyed!

Attached is our promotion we're running for parts of September and October. Just print out and bring along.

Hope to see you soon!

Nick

The Duke

[Marmora Man]

pubs don't get burgers right it seems

I've pondered this for a long time and discussed it with many pub chefs. The majority of pub burgers and high street chain burgers are bought in ready made, often frozen or very deep chilled. As a result they must cook them to death, at least medium and usually well done, to ensure that any lingering chance of bacteria is cooked out.

Result - a dry and tasteless burger.

If, on the other hand, you find the rare pub that really cares it will make its burgers on the premises from quality cuts of beef which can then be cooked rare to medium rare resulting in a juicy, unctuous burger. The accompaniments should be - some crisp hand cut chips (not french fries), a slice of tomato, a slice or two of pickled gerkin and a wide selection of ketchups & mustards.

The only burger joint I can truly recommend remains Joe Allens in Covent Garden - and there it's not listed on the menu.

[bignumber5]

Only just spotted this thread - when we were there for forum drinks last week i thought it was great, and was very impressed by the taster plates of the food that they did for us (particularly the fish pie... VERY good).

Agree on the pub-burger front in general so just don't order them in pubs anymore.

Above posts that criticise the "standard gastro-pub" menu seem to have missed the fairly obvious point that it is, in fact, a pub...

Next stop: sunday roast.

And tommy, the scotch eggs are DEFINITELY worth ?4 a pop!

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Went to The Duke for the first time last night, I was really looking forward to it after the positive reviews following the EDF drinks.

Boy, was I disappointed. The web site opens with the statement "Welcome to The Duke, a traditional pub and dining room". NO it's not.

Since when did a traditional pub have only one ale on tap? No choice, but I was happy to settle for a pint of Youngs but when it was pulled the barmaid declared the end of the barrel. Fine says I, I'll wait while you change the barrel. Oh no, the beer has to settle for 24 hours (true if it's real cask beer) but in a well managed pub this should be foreseen.

Okay, thinks I, I'll settle for bottled beer. I was offered a German beer or a bottle of cider.

Is it too much to ask for a pint of English beer in a traditional pub? It really upset my enjoyment of a night out and blew my budget out of the water. I don't like lager and ?3+ for a thimbleful of wine rankles.

If it wasn't for the fact that I was in a large party who arrived in dribs and drabs, I would have encouraged us to leave and go to a real pub. One miserable night on not much alcohol has left me feeling very pissed off when I'd rather be pissed.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Sounds like a job for Smokie Dave who takes over as manager there today

Sorry you had a poor night PGC

[smokiewoodlands]

Gate Crasher from Peckham, at the monent we have one real ale & it takes 48 hours to peg it, settle it then once we start using it we need to have sold it within 5 days, as we're not very busy about 95% of the time there are plenty of problems with real ale & staff morale & possibly when people are employed to serve the public, they don't take it seriously coz they are only here till a better job shows up or they can't be bothered to run down stairs to change the keg?

I'm here now & as much as I would love to have 3 or 4 casked ale available for our wonderful guests, we are throwing away more than we sell due to the poor turnout of our locals who love the pub but go to the Nun's Head or Lord Snooty Lane instead but I will try or die trying to make The Duke an Oasis in a desert of Themed Bars or Public Houses

The Duke should be mobbed every night, lunchtime & even breakfast as the food here is the best in the area bar none!

[smokiewoodlands]

The Duke is a new concept & the crown in the logo has forks & knives as we are trying to push quality food at reasonable prices, I don't think that The Chook of Embra was in mind when the owners re named it? The Duke Dining Room (& Cocktail Lounge from the 7th October 2008)

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Thanks for replying s.woodlands. Unfortunately, my instinct when there was no beer was to scoot up the roadto the Man of Kent - maybe that's why people are leaving? It doesn't stop you stocking some decent bottled ales as a second best.

I'm shy of going again, but if you sort this, I would love to return.

[smokiewoodlands]

As long as I'm in charge there will always be a cask conditioned ale available, it takes half an hour to an hour to set up the next keg so that would be the only delay with the ales, a bottle alternative will be sourced by myself next week!

I do apologise for the problem that you had the last time that you came & introduce yourself the next time please, I'm David by the way

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Cheers David - will pop in sometime.