Old Duke — Restaurant in Sefton

Service with a smile? ...Nope & Nope. I tried to ring to book a table but the phone rang for many minutes without being answered, so I was forced to use the tedious online booking process. We arrived and checked-in with a staff member then sat at our table to browse the menu. I approached the bar to place our order with a different member of staff who was adorning a miserable face , she just stood glaring at me without any introduction or welcoming greeting. I placed my food order which she took without any enthusiasm whatsoever, clearly she despised her job, then informed me that there was a 30-minute wait for food despite booking a specific time on their website. I wasn't best pleased as there was no mention of this by the first staff member upon booking-in, had I been told of the delay we would have gone elsewhere.

My partner was driving so wanted a non-alcoholic drink, tomato juice. I requested this, to be told that they didn't have any, so a non-alcoholic Gin was requested as an alternative, Nope, didn't have that either, so I asked her what non-alcoholic drinks WERE available. She pointed to the cooler curtly snapping back " bottled cider or Beer". My partner had to reluctantly settle for tonic water which she really didn't want, but there was little alternative on offer. Our food eventually showed-up at our table 45 minutes later, abysmal service.

The food was presented OK, however, no plates were provided to dispense the food onto ( presumably you are expected to eat the sticky bbq sauce covered ribs and chicken with your bare hands, but no finger bowl was provided to clean sticky fingers. The bbq ribs were the smallest I have ever seen, they must have come from a guinea pig! The ribs & chicken wings were served up a piece of paper which disintegrated with the grease and bbq sauce causing bits of paper to become attached to the food....not nice. The food was quite bland and greasy, my partner remarked that the tastiest food item was the onion rings!

We both had a lingering greasy taste in our mouths all evening afterwards, my partner was feeling very nauseous at bedtime.

Im not a fan of cutlery being displayed at the table, who knows who has been previously touching them or if they have been coughed or sneezed upon, very unhygienic.

In summary: Staff requires public relations training, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, so welcoming, and friendly staff are an asset and are crucial to the success of a business, ( additional staff should be employed, particularly in the kitchen, as I suspect that they are understaffed).

The men's toilet wasn't the cleanest that I've seen, the sinks and urinals clearly hadnt been cleaned for some time, there was a strong smell of urine and a thick layer of dust along the top of the urinal and wood ledges, and the sinks and taps were grubby. The two dispensers of sanitising gel that I tried were both empty. If they can't be bothered to maintain public areas in a hygienically clean condition I have to wonder what state the kitchen might be in.

Our visit was not a particularly enjoyable experience, nor was it value for money, in my experience, Brewers fayre provide better quality food, better customer service and better value.

Come Old Duke, you need to...

So this was my first and last visit to this pub so upon arriving the car park looked busy entrance to the pub cigarette stumps everywhere rubbish on path snd bushes , went to the bar to order there was 13 people waiting to be served one person on the bar waited 25 mins before we got a drink so we ordered food and drinks customer service 0 staff member rolling eyes and snotty isn't a good impression .. so told smoking area by the front door took mum for a cigarette she Carrys her own ash tray in a bag ( age thing ) so stood talking to find an empty bag with white powder by the door told a Member of staff didn't seem bothered by it moved it in bin 😳😳.so waited 55 mins for food no apology just put plated down hunters chicken £12.95 absolutey shocking asked for a salad separate came with half a plate of dry old lettuce leaves no chips over cooked dry and hard chicken smidge of bbq sauce no cheese awful steak our hard watery gravy scampi tasteless tikka cold and hard Nan bread no staff around to ask had to eat due to diabetes so then we get a check back at end of meal tried telling young server walked off .. I decided get one more drink another Que at the bar 30 mins the guy is so rude who was on last night needs retraining defo we were just being ignored me and 6 other customers he was concentrating more on app orders made a comment these have been waiting 30 mins it's not fair well so have we love .. the pub is badly run not enough staff and no management direction at all it's a very busy pub and it's a shame there's no direction i will never come back this pub feel a waste of £77...

This has to be hands down the best pub in Southport, and if not already, they should have awards for it!

The food is always on point, I have had plenty of mixed grills in the last 20 years of my 43 years on this earth and none have ever come close to what Garry and the kitchen team knock out, that being said none of the food has ever been bad and the consistency of top quality dishes is always there, never faltering!

This afternoon we had Grazers to start (3 for £13, when each starter alone is £5.20), my wife & I shared brie dippers and jumbo battered king prawns, which were immense, and our daughter had the buttermilk chick goujons. For our mains my wife & daughter had the turkey roast dinner and I had the mixed grill (obviously haha), save a few greens on our daughters plate there wasn't any food left on the plates!

Nothing is ever too much trouble for Jess and all the other members of staff, I know this falls in to their job description but they all go above and beyond that job description, this is a testament to a well organised management team who should be proud of their staff.

We always go there on a Friday evening when our duaghter is at youth club, only for a couple of hours and a couple of drinks as the atmosphere is nice and relaxed, also in most pub restaurants you feel pushed out like they want the table, this definitely not the case at the Old Duke, it feels more like a family pub. It's the second Marstons to open in Southport, but definitely the top one!

Old duke keep...