The Open Guide to Cambridge - Differences between Version 19 and Version 15 of Devonshire Arms

The Devonshire Arms re-opened in January 2010 with a new landlord after a change of ownership and extensive refurbishment. It is now owned by Milton Brewery and is stocked with eight real ales (five Milton and three guest ales). There is no music.

Visited Sunday lunchtime, December 2010. The food had been disappointing on two previous visits, with the overly-descriptive menu doing the food no favours when it eventually appeared. On this visit, however, the food was good (if needing more salt). A large woodburning fire had been installed in the back, which added well to the ambience. This pub is notable for its eclectic collection of tables which are, on the whole, large, sturdy, and mismatched. It's the sort of pub where you could easily while away an afternoon with a group of people playing card and board games or discussing comics.

We visited at a Sunday lunchtime and I had the roast pork while my companion had the vegetable pie. Milton beers on sale, with Crazy Daze as the guest ale. The pub was strangely empty. The lack of a crowd perhaps added to my enjoyment, but this is a good pub with well kept beer (I particularly enjoyed the Pegasus) and it is puzzling that it was so sparsely populated while the similar but slightly over-rated and far more expensive Old Spring north of the river was reservation only on the same day. Now that it seems to have its food more sorted, the Devonshire has the potential to become one of Cambridge's 'must visit' pubs; it could certainly be added to The Blue and The Kingston for a quality beer-and-food pub crawl in the Mill Road area.

The young, pony-tailed barman was very helpful and phoned for a taxi when I discovered that the charge on my phone had run out.

It should also be noted that The Devonshire stocks an extensive selection of whiskies (see photo).

See also:

• Itchy Cambridge review
• Beer in the Evening comments
• Cambridge Evening News review