Dukes Coffee House — Restaurant in West Devon

I bought a coffee with oat milk yesterday late morning (22/06/24). 2 women were serving. While all smiles and giggles for the cyclists in front of me, their hospitality cooled when it came to my turn. Ok, I got initial smiles when first taking my order, but from then on it was sullen faces and general disinterest. When I was handed my coffee, it was so full to the brim that immediately as I started walking away it spilled onto my hand, and it was such a painful scald I'm amazed I was able to not drop it, perhaps knowing I wouldn't be offered a replacement by these two, even though it was filled ridiculously high with scalding coffee. No cardboard tray to carry it safely, or even a cardboard sleeve to provide a buffer against the heat. I brought it back to the table by the counter and said how it was so full it spilled and burnt my hand, no response. I popped the lid and said look how full it is. One of them cast half a glance then carried on ignoring me. I was shocked by the lack of consideration or any care to help me find a solution. So I asked if they had any serviettes to carry my cup with, she pointed and told me where to find the serviettes, I used them to soak some of the coffee out of the cup to make it possible to carry it, then left them on the table in a dirty protest, as I was so shocked at the lack of service at this cafe which I always see very busy, so thought it had a good reputation. OWNER!! If you ever read this - it wouldn't hurt to provide cardboard trays to carry hot drinks in, you can't be that much of a skinflint, can you? And try to employ staff that have enough common sense to know when a hot drink is filled too high to be carried without spilling, it's not rocket science. Never to return...

I was very disappointed with what I was served at Duke's and how it was served.

We, my two friends and I were seated in one of the extra seating areas which was well presented but lacked any atmosphere or personality being detatched from the kitchen.

Unsure of what to have I went for the Nacho's and spicy bean casserole. I asked the waitress if it was spicy. She hadn't a clue either way. I informed her that I was after spice hoping I'd get plenty of jalepenos and a good kick to the casserole.

What I got was some Nacho's that had only four jalepenos on them which had all the kick of a disabled mule. The Nachos we're luke warm and had very little cheese or salsa on them. The cheese was clearly the pre grated stuff which had my alarm bells ringing straight away. This was served with guacamole and sour cream in two little plastic containers, why anyone does that I'll never know. The guacamole tasted like it had been sat on the shelf for months and was totally lacking in body and flavour. But all this was a comparative triumph when came to the spicy bean casserole. Which essentially was hot water with slight vegetable flavouring and soft listless chunks floating in it. Clearly it had been standing a while and then zapped in the microwave.

To their credit I made my complaint and they did not charge me for it but the lady waitress created an atmosphere after that which made the rest of our stay uncomfortable.

I'm clearly in a minority having read other reviews and must say that the coffee was very nice but the rest was a huge...

The chilli at Dukes is the best chilli my partner and I have ever had the pleasure of devouring! Every mouthful is a joy, and accompanied with one of Dukes' scrumptious buttery, garlic and rosemary baguettes and fluffy rice, it really is a treat for the taste buds! It iis the perfect balance of flavours and heat.

The only anomaly was on one occasion, when we sampled the vegetarian option of the chilli. It was surprisingly disappointing! We were expecting all the same flavours of the meat version, just with beans and veg. There were lots of lovely beans and vegetables, but no flavour whatsoever. It was odd. There was no spice and seemingly no effort had been made to add any of the delicious flavours we enjoy so much in the meat option. We left on that occasion feeling sad that vegetarians will never be able to enjoy the delights that we usually do as meat eaters!

On the whole, it's always a lovely experience when visiting Dukes. It's not perfect, but it's quirky and it does what it needs to do to keep people wanting to come back - there is something for everyone on the menu, the staff are efficient and friendly, you have the option to sit inside or to dine al fresco and there is the sweet little touch of blankets on the seats when you sit outside.

We look forward to our next visit and the...