Holly Bush Inn — Restaurant in Amber Valley

WOW WOW WOW! What more can we say about this out of the way Gem of a pub. Staff extremely helpful and the choice of Ales, Beers and Ciders is unbelievable for a small village pub. For people who don't drink Ale, Beer or Cider, then they have a good selection of gins and other spirits plus non alcohol drinks for the Drivers amongst us.

We can definitely recommend the cooked food. They might only have a small slot for having cooked meals between 12:00 and 15:00. Last food orders at 14:30. Also once ordered you wait for your food. However when you think it is cooked to order the food is well worth the wait. We both went for a small Roast Lamb dinner with Roast potatoes and seasonal veg. The Lamb was ultra soft and it was like cutting through butter it was that Tender. Roast potatoes and veg were spot on. Veg was not mush or rock hard and still had a bit of crunch. We followed the main off with a pudding of Fruit pavlova. The red fruits smacked you around the face with flavour and wasn't too sweet or too tart. It was tart enough to complement the sweetness of the pavlova that was a bit chewing in the middle. Demolished it really quickly. Hubby had the Cheeseboard. It came out on a wooden platter with 4 different cheeses. 3 of the cheeses he had never had before. The cheese came with celery, grapes, pickled onions, chutney and plain crackers so that you could actually taste the cheese your eating.

Hubby had 3 pints of different Porters, Stout, Craft Beers. Unfortunately I was the designated driver so soft drinks for myself.

As the food was that good and reasonably priced we decided to take a couple of the Baguettes home with us for our evening meal / supper.

You have one hell of a chef, Kitchen Staff. The food definitely does your Pub credit. Especially as you don't claim to be a gastro pub.

If you are thinking of eating a cooked meal it is definitely worth booking a table in advance so that your not disappointed by them saying no tables available. You can eat either inside or outside. The pub itself is very popular. Especially as they also do cold snacks of Pork Pies, Scotch eggs and Rolls.

A lot of walkers / cyclists desend on the pub. Our only complaint or crumble is trying to find parking as the car park has been turned into a drinking area. We can understand why and it is only a little grumble.

We will be going back with Friends a couple of times hopefully in the not so distant future.

So once again thank you for making our drive over to you worth it. Take care and hope the pub continues with it's success. You deserve it!

UPDATE If you manage to get to one of their organised Beer Fests, then it is definitely worth it. The Beers/Ales are served from a seperate bar. They also have a very good selection. Even though we came on the last day of...

Possibly the best pub in the whole of Derbyshire, maybe in existence. The setting is gorgeous, the building is traditional and quirky. Inside is a labyrinth of rooms running off each other with large and small fire lit rooms. There are two outdoor seating areas, one small and hidden the other is admittedly the car park but it's where everyone sits on a sunny evening. There's also a...grass roofed part that I would hesitate to call a conservatory because its not tacky in the way pub conservatories can be. The beer selection is fantastic, is always varied from around the country as well as good local pints with a few house staples. Lovely and cheap too, often around the £3 mark. I'm sure I've had pints there for less this year. In keeping with its traditional background it does banging old school home made snacks like scotch eggs, cobs, picked onions, cheese boards and a famous array of different giant pork pies. Honestly, if I'm away from the UK and I'm missing home, it's this...

The Holly Bush Inn is a rustic traditional pub in Makeney/Milford/Belper that is one of the mainstays of any pub crawl between Derby and Belper (Belper has an alarmingly high number of good and great pubs for such a small town). The fairly cluttered layout identifies it as a historic pub, there are several designated areas so it won't get too loud even when busy [which it mostly is in the evenings]. Good food, wide variety of real ales and ciders on tap (large rather than particularly distinguished on my visit), good atmosphere. It's a 10 minute walk from the nearest bus station in Milford, a little remote and easy to miss (God bless Google Maps!). Very popular with the locals. There are several good pubs within a short radius (this one, the Strutt-on-Arms & the King Williams IV). Get a zig-zag ticket on the Sixes buses from Derby so you can hop on and off at the various stops...