Duke's Bar

After what seemed like the slowest working week this summer, we headed out to lunch at Duke's, on the corner of University Street and Botanic Avenue. It's slightly ahead of the game when it comes to outdoor seating with picnic benches hidden under awnings with heat bars attached to the wall above for colder evenings. We were here a few weeks ago for lunch and the food was reasonably priced and perfectly amiable for pub grub.

Our return visit, however, was not as successful. Just like before, there was no one at the bar and we had to wait five minutes before someone showed up. We asked for a menu and were told that it was being written up. This would have been understandable if it was an hour earlier but it was 12.45 and the menu should have been ready well before we arrived.

We ordered drinks and moved outside and chatted away and our drinks were nearly finished and there was still no sign of a waiter. The weather had turned somewhat windy and we moved inside to update ourselves on the menu's progress. Another five minutes passed before it arrived and it looked like it had been rushed and there was nothing on the menu that wasn't run of the mill: burger, lasagna, etc.

We ordered our food and another round of drinks. Fifteen minutes passed before it arrived but I don't mind this time frame because you suspect it is being made from scratch - at least you hope it is. Also worth noting that in all this time, not a single other person entered the bar for food or drink. Perhaps a sign that people don't like it or they think it's a student hang-out and avoid it even in the summer sojourns from University.

As a man of habit when it comes to bar food, I normally end up ordering the burger unless there is something on there that jumps out at me but this is certainly not the place. It was average on the whole and that was when the place was dead I'd hate to order food when it's busy.

This is a bar to have a few pints at under the eaves in the summer sun, not to eat at and that's a shame. As far as food, there's nothing special about this Duke.