Watts Russell Arms — Restaurant in Staffordshire Moorlands

How this place has got 4 stars is beyond me. Walked the extra mile from Milldale after walking from Dovedale so was looking forward to a nice cold cider and pub lunch. The reception was lukewarm as was the cider....when asking for ice was told it’s all melted lol. I ordered the plate of smoked fish which came with a bizarre mix of lumpy mashed pots, over-cooked re-heated roast potatoes and a mix of dubious tapas style sides. My friend who cannot eat meat chose the veggie option & ended up with a, burnt on the outside, (raw inside) Yorkshire pudding with, a whole tomato sprinkled with onion, the ubiquitous mashed (or not) potatoes and the same tapas salad sides. My son had the beef roast (same lumpymashed potatoes) old reheated roasts and tapas salad sides. Non of these lunches Would I recommend. Using the facilities you get a glimpse of the hygiene (or lack of) standards throughout the pub too - toilets were filthy and food was left on the floor in the kitchen. A guy came in asking for mayonnaise or ketchup and was given a like warm ‘sorry’ we don’t have any, we don’t do sauces as ‘he’ (the cook/husband) does his own on the food??! A family came in with children and were told it was a ‘child free zone’ and were refused service because there were too many of them! They were told they only take bookings for large parties- fair enough, but the total party was 8 and apart from us at this point I the pub was empty!...I could go on....all it needed was Julie Walters or John Cleese to appear! I should’ve listened to my instincts when I saw the beer ‘garden’ empty on a hot sunny day...such a shame as it looks lovely on the outside....if you’re walking do yourselves a favour and walk the extra 20mins to the next pub which looks a lot nicer food wise. The couple that ‘run’ this place clearly don’t have the heart for it anymore and should hand it over to someone who enjoys serving...

Outstanding.

It was very quiet. Empty actually. Ordered food from a fairly unimpressive looking menu on a sheet of A4. I think only about four options. Friend was a bit annoyed because she'd expected a roast dinner for some reason. While waiting, we noticed that a large proportion of the books on its many bookshelves, were either cookbooks or books about food... Then the food came out. It. Was. Incredible. Hands down the best chilli I've ever eaten. Tried to replicate it myself later that week, failing entirely. All I know is that their chilli used four types of chillies and dark chocolate. Borderline supernatural. My friend ordered the goulash. I've been living in Eastern Europe for the last year, so I've eaten a lot of good goulash lately. Again, it was by far the finest goulash I have ever tasted. This place should have 5 stars in the Michelin guide. I know it's out of three, but it was really exceptional. And was about £10 each. Beer...

This is a proper quirky pub where the landlords huge dog lies out in front of the wood stove, its not a pristine place and there are a few cobwebs about - just how I like them! There were 3 Thornbridge real ales on - 2 in superb condition, we had some wraps stuffed with pink roast beef and another with pork - they were really nice, with a selection of salad bits - all home made. This is not haute cuisine, this is real food (not out of a can as it says on the menu!) & the home-made sticky toffee pudding was nice - not too sweet like the bought versions.

The landlord is quite a quiet chap, the landlady more chatty. The loo's are a bit cold and could do with a lick of paint but there was soap, paper towels & hot water in the gents which is more than you can say about a lot of places! You don't go to a pub to sit in the loo's all day anyway ..

There aren't many pubs around like this now, it's a little gem - pop...