Queen Victoria, Tudor Street, Exeter, Devon EX4 3BR

The Queen Victoria, I am told, used to be a pub for local people that did quite well.  About 4 years ago it was taken over by someone who wanted to change the image of the pub.  She banned smoking before the legal smoking ban and got rid of quizzes,karaoke etc.  She did not introduce gastro pub food and the pub is a bit out of the way being down near the key.  Unsurprisingly the venture finally failed.

 

The Queen Victoria has recently reopened under new management and it seems they are trying to make it back into a pub again, designing it to meet the wants of local residents who's support  will always be required if this pub is to prosper.

 

I went to the Queen Victoria on Sunday with 2 friends.  There were 3 of us and we went to try the Sunday roast.  It cost £4.95 and includes a dessert.  This is great value for money so we wondered what we would get for that.

 

This pub is just opened and there only seemed to be 4 or 5 other people eating.  Not surprisingly therefore we got decent service with food arriving promptly.  The roast is available between 12 and 5 at the moment so you don't have to rush to be right there at lunch time.  I have to say that for the money the roast was excellent and could quite reasonably be served at this price without a dessert.  The choice of meats this week was Pork or Beef.  2 of us including myself had pork and one of us had beef.  Both the pork and the beef came in a generous  thick cut slab.  Both were well cooked and tender.  the meal came with roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding, carrots cauliflower and peas.  The pork also came with apple sauce and there was crackling.

 

The roast potatoes were crispy enough.  I have had better but I have had many worse.  They were real potatoes  rather than frozen ones.  the mash was also proper mashed potatoes and not instant mash.    It was a little lumpy perhaps but quite acceptable.  The vegetables were not overcooked.

 

This was a good big meal and well worth the price on its own.  When we had eaten the meal we were told that apple pie was available as a dessert for no extra price.  This was a bit of a disaster owing to a cooking error.  the pie was home made.  It had plenty of apple in it and the pastry was nice and light but the chef put far too much salt in the pastry  making it inedible.  I pointed this out. the chef tried it and the pie was taken off the menu and ice cream was offered instead.

 

This is a new pub and the error with the dessert was unfortunate but the chef took the right course of action once the error was pointed out.  The pie would have been very acceptable with less Sault so I suspect that in future weeks the dessert will be every bit as good as the roast.

 

This pub should also be commended on its policy on real ales.  Trade is relatively slow at the moment as the pub is newly reopened after closure and a period of what some would call misguided management.  Instead of trying to maintain draft cask ales, the Queen Victoria sells Speckled Hen and another ale, possibly London Pride, in bottles.  This is an good compromise and I wish more pubs could offer draft ales in bottles to give those of us who do not like lager something to drink.

 

I would strongly encourage anyone in the Exeter area to come and support this pub and give the roast a go on Sundays.  The roast is available at an amazingly good price and in my opinion far better than the roasts offered by large chains such as Whetherspoons.

 

I give this pub 8 out of 10 and say it is well worth a visit.  If trade gets better and draft real ale can be

viably sold then the mark could increase further.

Graham Page
Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
Mobile: 07753 607980
Fax:  0870 706 2773
Email: gpage@useit.plus.com
MSN: gabriel_mcbird@hotmail.com
Skype: gabriel_mcbird

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