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Pub Of The Month - 2024 with Mobyduck
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Detail Pages
Devonshire Arms, Cambridge
Cambridge
CB1 2BH
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Moby Duck left this review about Devonshire Arms
Nice traditional, fairly basic pub, owned by Milton Brewery with ten handpumps offering six of their beers on the day, my choice of Sparta was a decent drop and indeed the pub is well worth dropping in.
On 28th April 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1879 recommendations about 1852 pubs]
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Devonshire Arms
Side-street pub handily placed for the station. The slightly odd, low end-of-terrace building is bigger than it initially looks, not only from the street but also as you enter the bar, with a larger room at the back - both parts quite dark and traditionally furnished. As a Milton Brewery house, six of its cask ales were available from a total of ten handpumps, including the Minotaur dark mild (£4.60).
On 20th April 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Steve of N21 left this review about Devonshire Arms
A return visit as part of the recent PuG crawl of Cambridge and the first venue due to its proximity to Cambridge Train Station. Its now painted a dark terracotta red to distinguish itself from the adjoining houses, so you now get the true view of how small it looks from the outside.
Inside it fortunately is a lot bigger than it appears from the front, being two rooms with the smaller bar room as you enter and then a larger wooden floored lounge area with its log burning fire beyond.
Eight hand pumps on the long bar section and two additional ones on the short section which I believe are additional to my previous visit. However, these were unbadged and two were reverse clipped, leaving five Milton Ales and a cider on the other six. The breweries Marcus Aurelius, Pegasus, Justinian, Nero and Sparta were the available ales and the Stout I went for was a good ale to start the crawl. However, the ale pumps are now fronted by multiple clips and cards for the range of Ciders and Perrys (some 14 of them) that the Dev is now getting a reputation for. So much so that it had been awarded the local Cambridge and District CAMRA branch 2024 Cider POTY award a couple of weeks prior to our visit.
This is still a very good pub and should be included in any crawl of Cambridge, especially when disembarking from the nearby train station.
On 12th April 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2128 recommendations about 2003 pubs]
Will Larter left this review about Devonshire Arms
I somehow managed to visit this pub twice while I was in Cambridge recently without making any notes for a review. On the first occasion I photographed the pump clips (seven from Milton Brewery and one guest from Tydd Steam) and the plethora of cider equivalents displayed along the front in meticulous ascending order of abv%. I had a half of Justinian, which I had tasted for the first time in another pub the previous day and wanted to try again (it was NBSS 3.5, not quite as good as at the Haymakers in Chesterton). And then suddenly everyone was talking around the bar and I got sucked into a conversation among two or three other customers and the very friendly woman who runs the pub, and lost all sense of my purpose in life, which is of course to write reviews for Pubs Galore.
The next day I returned to this, my last pub in Cambridge on my way to the station. I had another Justinian (it was NBSS 4 today) and also Nike, another beer from Milton (NBSS 3.5), a 4.7% premium bitter which was very much to my taste but very different from the Justinian in style. I'm going to have to try some more of this brewery's beers (though I wasn't so keen on their Pegasus in the Queen Edith). Somewhere along the way I once again failed to make any notes for a review, concentrating instead on making sure I had my tickets for the return journey, perhaps. In lieu of a more informative description of the pub from me, I'm sure there will be several others within just a few days.
Date of visit: 29th February 2024
On 4th April 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3752 recommendations about 3487 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about Devonshire Arms
As mentioned it looks rather tiny on the outside, this is further confirmed by the front room, however looking beyond the counter reveals a large room at the back. Decorated in a Victorian beer house style with dark tongue and groove to shoulder height, white painted plastered walls to the picture rail then dark red above and on the ceiling relieved only by nice white and pink ceiling roses. The furnishings are extremely woody. The pub appears to be the tap for Milton Brewery, seven of their beers were on sale on the eight pulls on the front counter face, ciders were available on two other pulls and on a duo keg tap. All the beers are named after characters from classic mythology and history, the pump clips however don’t offer any clues as to style, I had a bitter and it was fine for the style and not too much crystal malt. One of half a dozen GBG 2022 listed pubs in this corner of Cambridge and the nearest to the railway station.
On 25th July 2022
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3276 recommendations about 2982 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about Devonshire Arms
A real tardis of a pub, which at first glance appears to be a tiny corner bar but which actually extends into a large house behind. The layout is well described by others, below. Ales on were Milton Dionysys, Pegasus, Nero and Minerva, plus Great Heck’s Mount Hood, Burton Bitter and Welbeck Cavendish as guests. All the beers we tried were in excellent condition and I’d be very happy indeed to come back here for an evening’s libation or as part of a crawl.
On 4th February 2020
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3290 recommendations about 3255 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Devonshire Arms
A nice little pub just off the Mill Road owned by Milton brewery and, contrary to Ray's previous review, offering an excellent selection of beers ranging from golden ale to stout with four from Milton and three guests. The interior is in plain wood, with a mixture of pews and settles in the front room and more tables in the larger area at the back. A stack of board games is available. One for some serious drinking. Note the opening hours on Facebook are garbled; it is actually open all day but the kitchen closes during the afternoon.
On 21st May 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3352 recommendations about 3289 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Devonshire Arms
If you like boring brown bitter, with a strong toffee taste thrown in, then I suggest you call here. Looking at the previous ratings, they were producing some good beers, maybe I called on the wrong day. It was only when I visited a nearby and better pub, that the hearsay from the locals cemented the fact that Milton brewery beer had changed drastically for the worse.
On 11th March 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Devonshire Arms
This is a Milton brewery pub and as such is a fair bit cheaper than some of the more central ones visited. I have to say that I also preferred it in general to the pubs before it. I counted eight hand pumps with two unused and the rest including four Milton beers and Crouch Vale Happy Santa. I went for the Milton Saturnalia (£3.60) which was so good I stopped for a second.
This was the best pub of the day for me.
On 23rd December 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Devonshire Arms
This is a strange looking pub on approach, tacked on to the end of a row of residential houses, at two thirds of the height of the rest of the terrace. But once inside, you find yourself in a lovely, cosy two room pub with a real traditional feel to it. The front room has scuffed floorboards, tongue and groove panelled walls and a very high red ceiling and has been furnished with some nice, but not entirely comfy, fixed bench seating. These benches have been formed into booths and are supplemented by a couple of pews with tapestry style backs and cushions, all of which allows for a degree of intimacy wherever you seat yourself. A fairly small, angular servery is tucked away in the rear corner and has a few pewter tankards hung on the bar back alongside some prominent jars of pickled eggs. The rest of the room is decorated with a large Milton Brewery mirror and some technical drawings of college porches and doorways. A drinking shelf opposite the bar was liberally lined with flyers and listing magazines for a whole range of events across the city. A door here leads you into the rear room where plenty of additional seating can be found, including a few tables that are partly screened by short sections of partitioning wall. The décor here is mostly breweriana plus a high shelf stacked with a large collection of books. The room has its own, ale-free, stretch of servery and doors to the rear lead out to a decent looking garden.
The pub is run by the local Milton Brewery and accordingly there were five of their beers on when I arrived - Nero, Pegasus, Lanterne Rouge, Sparta and a very nice drop of Jupiter which set me back a very reasonable £2.90. Portobello Market Porter and Milestone Sherwood were also on as guests. The bar staff seemed very friendly and a few punters were enjoying food from the decent looking menu.
The back streets of Cambridge between the station and city centre are full of interesting pubs and this place is up there with the best of them. I immediately felt at home in here and could've happily stayed much longer. Well worth including on any crawl of the area.
On 16th September 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]