Duke Of York

Terrible service from the staff. Food takes forever. Shouldn’t take 45 minutes for a single plate of fish and chips. Walk 5 minutes further and go to Mcdonald’s instead; at least you’d get better service in a timely manner.
Also, they make you pay before your food arrives, advising that its because of how many people sneak out after eating and not paying, so you get stuck paying and waiting.

Six of us were were looking to eat at a pub for our last night in London. This pub was located right near our hotel which was next to Victoria Station. This ended up not being the best choice. It’s easy to say that the service is bad, but I don’t know if any serving staff could succeed within the system they’re using here…
You go into the restaurant and find your own table. Even though there’s bartenders and servers, no one tells you that drinks have to be ordered at the bar. Once you figure this out, you have to determine which member of your party has the best memory, because that person is going to be your waiter/​waitress for the night. In our case it was ME. I memorized our 6 drink orders, and then went up to the bar. Keep in mind that the bar wasn’t crowded at the time… I had to wait about 10 min to get a bartender to take my order. I brought the drinks back to the table. Now it’s time to order the food. The table only has two menus, but we manage. I memorize our 6 food orders, and double check with everyone to make sure I have the order right. I then go back up to the bar and it’s another 10 minute wait to place the order. By the time I finally get to place the order I’m questioning whether I still remember the food order correctly. At this point I go back to our table. My part-​time waiter shift is over, so I can finally relax. The waitress (the employee and not customer variety) brings the 5 dinners to the table. That’s right… 5 plates for 6 people. The waitress was able to quickly do the math, apologize, and get a rush on the missing meal.
Here’s the crazy part… the food was actually pretty good.
So if you think the Duke of York is named after the historical Duke, you’d be wrong. It’s actually named after the nursery rhyme (or the restaurant owner/​manager not sure which)…
The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up;
And when they were down, they were down.
But when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down !

This review is a composite of my experience dining here this evening. First, 5 * for having a children’s menu, high chair, and seating area away from the general pub area. The service was definitely a 2 at most. 15 minutes after we were seated we were given a menu. 15 minutes later we had our drink and dinner order taken. 15 minutes later we got drinks. 15 minutes later we got food. 15 minutes later we asked for the check. 15 minutes later we got the bill. Granted there was one waitress serving about 6 tables, but the 15 minute wait between each step was a little ridiculous. To end the review the food was tasty, hot, large portion and reasonably priced. Even a decent bottle of wine only runs ~15£. Good place to bring in friends from out of town who don’t have a huge thirst and who have plenty of time to catch up.

Like the others, we just wanted to grab a pint (and tea) before headed back to the hotel. Beer selection was fine, but 16 year old Ukranian girls spoke no English, so that did not go well. I asked for a beer and one girl shook her head. Then I asked for an ale. Didn’t understand. Can I have a pint and I pointed to the tap. Shook her head again. Finally the other one came over and was able to help. Do you have any tea? They did not understand. I pointed to the board and asked again. «No tea.» How about coffee. «No coffee.» Do you have anything on that board behind you? «No hot drinks.» My buddy asked for a pint as well and they got a bottle of gin. The best part of the evening? One of them dropped an entire rack of beers glasses behind the bar. Brought the whole place down to silence. Then they laughed it off. Not their bar of course. Walk an extra 10 minutes to find something better.

The beer selection is fine. The service leaves a lot to be desired. Also, would it hurt them to clean the tables and floors a bit?

A nice pub for a quick after-​work drink with colleagues or to meet up with a friend. It is located right across the street from the very busy Victoria Station and next to one of the major theatres.
I was here for one of those drinks this week and enjoyed a nice cold (slightly expensive) beer and got to shout loudly over the music to talk with my friend. There’s a menu with all the usual pub grub items you would expect — fish and chips, burgers, even nachos. A-​OK.

Prologue: This was the first pub we stumbled into after a full day of touring London and was right next to the Tube station on the way to our hotel. People were inside so it looked promising. Mind you, one of us declared soberly, «We will have an adventure tonight!» earlier in the day.
Duke of York. The setting for our night of infamy and disgrace.
Four American girls sauntered in to grab some pints of beer. There was no waiter service so we walked up to the bar and each ordered a different kind of beer. One of us got Hoegaarden, a Guinness, a Hefeweizen and another kind I can’t remember. Prices seemed standard and there didn’t seem to be much of service.
We plopped ourselves onto a booth afterwards and chattered away about our second day in London and how wonderful the city was… until a darker gentleman (not cute and not hot – I’m calling him a gentleman in the nicest way possible) approached us with a napkin with writing scrawled all over it, including a phone number.
Then he had the nerve to point and say,
«Not you.» (points to one friend)
«Not you.» (points to another friend)
«Not you.» (points to me)
«Just you.» (points to last friend)
Shot down. By a Brit. Bloody hell.
The napkin said: «You are very beautiful. I’m by the bar. Phone #.»
The darker gentleman was the wing man to an older white haired gentleman who probably was around in his 60’s. If we had known that yellow fever cradle robbers were going to be in the area, we might have gone somewhere else.
The older white gentleman smiled as we turned to the bar.
We cried and laughed. Laughed more. Obviously, my friend didn’t do anything, but we left the pub as soon as we finished our pints.
We decided that was enough adventure for one evening and the most action we got that night was with our Haribo Tangfastics.

The Duke of York is possibly the most under-​rated pub in Victoria.
The selection of drinks is wide ranging and there is a good choice of food on offer for those with hunger pangs.
The quaint interior is juxtaposed with modern (ie post 90’s) music and lends itself to the younger workers in the Victoria area.
Situated just next dor to the Apollo Theatre, there is a possible celeb spotting opportunity, though I am as yet to experience this for myself.
The staff can be, on occassion, slow to serve, but when they do, it is done with a minimum of fuss and on the whole it is a pleasant experience.
It can get quite tightly packed, so i’d advise either getting there early to beat the 5:30 rush, or waiting a while before entering to avoid having to stand for hours on end.
Lovely pub, cracking atmosphere in a decent spot, a stone’s throw from Victoria Station.

Had a good dinner at the Duke of York, Sausages and mash. And as a real treat apple pie and custard as dessert.
Unfortunately I somewhat blacked out and couldn’t remember my Credit card code to pay the bill and the helped me in a professional and kind way resolving this issue.

Weak. I was in the area and we didn’t see too many options so we jumped into the Duke of York for some grub.
Service was terrible – nearly needed to trip the waitress to get her attention and she just hates her job.
Food was mediocre. It is the standard pub menu but not executed well.

A bit pricey, but a very nice atmosphere and good food. Came here for dinner with a friend before seeing «Wicked.» I ordered the Salmon Wellington which was salmon inside a puff pastry with mushrooms and artichokes. It came with a really good side of potatoes and as my beverage I got some Bulmers cider – I made the mistake of asking for a bottle of Bulmers instead of a half-​pint of Strongbow because I wasn’t even going to drink the entire thing anyway; however, the Bulmers cider was still good.

The staff here (although cute, young and Italian) honestly didn’t seem to know anything about beer, and they were just about out of everything. A window seat was good for people watching the busy Victoria area, but the pints were cheaper and better (with more options) in just about every other pub I hit in London.

The Duke of York is a fine pub to have a drink in, mostly due to the fact that they have ‘Charles Wells Bombardier’ on tap, which is a traditioal
I have also eaten here once, but learnt from my mistake, as my meal The Duke of York is a fine pub to have a drink in, mostly due to the fact that they have ‘Charles Wells Bombardier’ on tap, which is a traditional English beer.
I have also eaten here once, but learnt from my mistake, as my meal was cold when it arrived, which is obviously the biggest mistake you can make, especially considering that it was a Jacket Potato with beans and cheese, it was horrible!
But that experience has not pushed me away from having a drink at the Dukes of York, it is friendly and has two beautiful bar ladies that I just can’t get enough of!
This is a cheap and cheerful pub. If you are travelling via Victoria and you are early for a train and fancy a drink, why not try the Duke of York. If you are hungry, stay well away!

The Duke of York is a nice English pub, situated next to the Apollo Theatre by Victoria Station, which is currently showing the musical Billy Elliott.
The live bands in the bar are great, as are the staff, and the atmosphere is warm and cosy. You can enjoy a good meal in the restaurant upstairs with the usual pub grub, but expect it to be a bit on the pricier side with an average price of £10 a meal.
Oh but don’t expect a pre-​show discount or faster meals, even though you are next door to a theatre!