Peacock Inn — Restaurant in North East Derbyshire

We've been here a few times and generally it's an excellent example of contemporary British pub dining. You've got the local countryside for walking and that's great. Service is always very welcoming and the venue itself is very attractive and well maintained.

Today, between three of us, we ordered 3 starters and two mains. For starters we had: Battered monkfish Fried Chicken with katsu sauce Olives, oil, balsamic and bread

The monkfish was nice, but would have been rather nondescript without the tartar sauce side.

The chicken with katsu dipping sauce was disappointing - the chicken being mostly batter and the katsu sauce almost entirely indistinguishable from "chip shop" curry sauce. For pub grub that's fine, but when the starters are priced at £8-9 each you expect something a lot better.

The olives themselves were fat and flavoursome and generally felt of good quality. What was disappointing for me was the quality of the olive oil served with the balsamic. Not only was the ratio of oil to balsamic quite stingy (and the balsamic was a glaze, not good quality "Balsamico di Modena" as you'd expect) but the olive oil was without doubt not extra virgin olive oil - it's tone was pallid and the flavour very underwhelming.

I appreciate that extra virgin olive oil is an expensive ingredient, but again - that's what you'd expect when you're paying the price advertised on the menu.

Now for the mains. We ordered the following:

Burger and chips Chicken stir-fry

The burger was of nice quality and, whilst it might seem silly to mention, we always comment on how nice the fries are here! You can tell the burger was good quality and maybe hand even made.

The chicken stir-fry we had to send back to the kitchen. They were thick udon noodles served in a light broth in which the chicken and vegetables seemed to have been boiled. It was pretty unappealing to look at and the flavour was disappointing, but mostly it was simply not a stir-fry.

This issue was resolved quickly by the staff, and as always they were very considerate and had no problem offering a refund. In general we had a nice visit, but the food was definitely a...

We found the Peacock by accident about 12 months ago, we called for Sunday lunch and despite not booking they managed to fit us in. So not wanting to risk being disappointed my wife and I booked a table for the two of us for Sunday Lunch, today the 13th of August. The food again was first class. The restaurant was full of diners, so that in itself must say something of the reputation of the place. I had a salmon starter, whilst my wife had celeriac soup. Both starters were superb, my wife's soup was full of flavour with a thick creamy texture. I must admit she treated my to a taste and I almost wished I'd have had that, however, my salmon was cooked to a turn with various delicious accompanying vegetables and a tasty sauce, together with a crispy skin. Utterly delightful. Needless to say we returned totally empty plates. Next came the main meal, there were various choices but we both opted for the lamb. Which we asked for nice and pink. Those who like their meat cooked longer have the choice of having it well done. The dinner arrived with a generous portion of superbly cooked lamb, together with excellent vegetables Yorkshire Pudding and roasted potatoes. Every item on the plate was bursting with flavour plus the fact there was enough there to satisfy the heartiest of appetites. Perhaps we normally wouldn't have eaten as much but it was so tasty we couldn't waste a morsel of the beautiful dinners. The staff were courteous and attentive, but when they came and asked us for if we wished to have a sweet, we had to decline. Simply as much as we would have wished to, we would have been over faced with the delicious offerings. In summary my wife and I have eaten in many places throughout the World and tasted some exotic dishes. Also eaten in poor places and had meals to of varying standards. We would recommend the Peacock for anyone who wanted good quality British Food, prepared and cooked to the highest standards. With polite and effective staff. All at a reasonable price. Give it a try to if you enjoy good food I'm quite certain you won't be disappointed. At any rate my wife and I aren't and we consider ourselves quite...

Have to agree with Ann Todd. Cheery welcome from Bar person immediately cancelled out by grumpy person with booking diary. We had booked a Saturday before Christmas and so expected the place to be busy. Didn't seem to be but then we went straight to our table in bar area. Tucked into corner table but fine as we had dog with us. Grumpy waitress encouraged us to order quickly as they had a party coming in, so that we wouldn't have to wait unnecessarily long for our order. This was appreciated as about half way through our visit we were joined by a family party of approx 20. Menu was limited and uninspiring. Basic pub favourites at double figure prices but then to be expected these days. Ordered starters - monkfish scampi (recommended), bread and olives and prawn cocktail (good on prawns but tasteless pink sauce). Mains were all good and served with nicely cooked vegetables. Sausages and mash was really appetising as was burger. Drinks were surprisingly good value. Bakewell bitter worth waiting for barrel change. Overall enjoyed the meal. Pub is comfortable and nicely decorated. Just a shame about the things that make an experience. Grumpy waitress; no table check for food; unwashed glasses crowding bar; asking for bill but then having to go to bar to pay. It may be they were really busy but little sign around bar. Overall worth a visit but with low expectations. Visited again on weekday lunchtime. Car park was busy but little sign inside. However, had a little explore and found the place is larger than it appears on first entering. But still did not seem overly busy. What is apparent is they have too few staff for the size of the pub and number of customers as same issues - no table checks, slow service - but at least waitress was more friendly! We all had Fish Finger Sandwich - amazing value as basically fish & chips in a sandwich. No need to pay the £15 on main menu! Still recommend a visit. It will be interesting to see what happens when the other pub in the...