The Dukes Head, Bishop's Stortford

An up market gastro pub with lots of old beams but a distinctly modern internal refurb that just about works,there are some nooks and crannies in part of the dining area and an airy extension.The food is very good and justifies the premium pricing.As Steve notes ,even the tables in the notional drinking area by the bar can be booked for diners,so this isnt really the place to go if your are intend on a long ale session.The four handpumps were drawing GK IPA,Doom Bar,TT Landlord and Purity Pure Gold (reasonable nick),but I cant imagine a lot of ale throughput so quality control needs to be good. I would most certainly return for the food and that's it's USP,and I suppose a one pint stop may be in order in good weather or before the diners arrive en masse.

This large picturesque village pub is now firmly in the Gastro pub restaurant category and the focus is clearly on food as the food award stickers in the entrance windows testify. Internally the décor is the usual modern clean gastro style that the “design by numbers” gastro pub decorators go for and although there are several distinct spaces, they are all reserved and set for dining with the exception of the small area right in front of the main serving bar serving. But even the tables in this area get utilised as an overspill for diners when the rest of the space is busy. Fortunately there are two very pleasant tabled outside areas with bench seating with umbrellas to the front of the pub and a nice courtyard area to the back which means if you are doing one of the many walks in the area it’s still a nice place for an alfresco pint. And in that respect the pub provides a choice of four real ales which, although being the fairly mainstream offerings of Doombar, Green King IPA, Adnams Ghostship, and TT Landlord, is still better than nothing. My Landlord was perfectly fine, but even the wife complained how thin her half of Doombar was so it must have been bad. We did choose to eat lunch here before setting off across the country side and I will say as Gastro pub experiences go this was one of the better ones and although the menu is very pretentious nosh instead of the usual pub fare, the Marco Pierre White trained chef the pub brags about in all their branding literature certainly can cook.. If you are looking for a place to eat this is a very good but not low cost option on the experience of our visit but as always better off checking trip advisor for people’s current feelings in this respect. And if you are just after a beer in a traditional pub, I would recommend it on a fine weather day when you can sit outside but at other times my preference would be for the more traditional Cock Inn at the other end of the village.

Large pub with several seating areas and a secluded beer garden.It was packed on my visit as there was a function going on.4 real ales on with the Tribute being very good and at £3 a pint fairly reasonable for the area.

Official site of the Dukes Head, with menu and wine list - www.thedukeshead.co.uk