Dukes - Exeter

Dukes is a spacious restaurant that we stumbled upon during our long weekend in Sidmouth. We made a reservation for Sunday lunch (they also offer roasts), but opted for a couple of bowls of salt, chilli, and ginger squid instead. The squid, mostly whole baby squid, were delicious with the ginger and soy dipping sauce. It would have been nice to have a wedge of lemon and a sweet chilli dip as well. For our main courses, we had the traditional battered cod and chips and a fish pie. Both dishes were tasty, but I wish the fish pie had more variety of fish, as it only included salmon and white fish; some prawns and monkfish would have been a nice addition, especially considering the price of £19. We also enjoyed a non-alcoholic IPA and a cola, bringing our total bill to a somewhat expensive £66. The service was good, and we appreciated that automatic service charging is not customary in Sidmouth. We left a £7 cash tip for our efficient server. Sidmouth is a dog-friendly village, so be prepared to dine alongside well-behaved canine companions.

We had not dined at The Duke in quite some time, but decided to give it another try. Unfortunately, we regretted our decision as the roast beef lunch was not good. The only hot item on our plates were the potatoes, while the meat and vegetables were all cold.

The waitress was delightful and efficient, but unfortunately, that's where the positives ended. The food, a Hake for me and Plaice for my partner, was bland and barely edible. The portions were disappointingly small for the price. We have no plans to return after this experience. To top it off, they insisted on only accepting payment by card, but I stood my ground and paid in cash. Still hungry, we ended up going to a chip shop. I strongly recommend avoiding this place altogether.

My sister and I, with our friend meet every Friday and each chooses the venue. First time I’ve been to Dukes. My sister had the Hake which she enjoyed but at £17, was poor value. Our friend ordered chicken burger but asked for it without the bun. On arrival at the table the burger was in the bun. When mentioned to the waiter there was just a “whoops, I didn’t notice that in the kitchen”. No offer to take it away and remove the bun. However the chicken was over cooked and dry. She left 75% of it. My sister urged me not to complain. Me, I had the Mac/cheese and paid an extra £1 for bacon. On arrival the portion of Mac/cheese was insufficient to be regarded as a main course and I had to look hard to find specks of bacon. The garlic bread was cold, hard and should never have left the kitchen. Disgusting value at £14.50. They will be pleased to hear we won’t be supporting them again.

Parking a big problem, only a few parking places, so have to pay to park overnight, room very average, small bathroom, too hot towel rail made the room hot, uncomfortable bed, double, very basic furniture, curtains too short for windows so let light in, breakfast was ok but they bring cold toast out when breakfast arrives, no butter, no clean knife, no plate for your toast. Staff were polite, but the parking is a huge problem especially if you disabled, have stayed in better for less money, sorry, but wouldnt stay there again.