The Bull's Head

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#1 of 1 Restaurant in Holymoorside££ - £££, Bar, British, Vegetarian friendly

+44 1246 569999+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

12:00 - 21:00

Wed

17:00 - 22:00

Thu

12:00 - 22:00

Fri

12:00 - 23:00

Sat

12:00 - 23:00

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MICHELIN

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Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.5

912 reviews

#1 of 1 Restaurant in Holymoorside

Travellers' Choice 2024

MICHELIN

View more on MICHELIN Guide

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Local cuisine, Bar, British, Pub, Gastropub, Contemporary

“Also met the lovely Mark in the bar afterwards, so nice to meet the man behin...”

“Two of the party had roast beef.”

Special Occasion Dining, Romantic, Groups, Bar Scene, Business meetings

“Breakfast at 9.30 - not for the business traveller.”

“I am sure your business will flourish if you keep doing what you are.”

Location and contact

New Road, Holymoorside, Chesterfield S42 7EW England

+44 1246 569999

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MICHELIN Guide's Point of View

The full car park of this village inn says it all. It's gained a strong following thanks to being gastronomically adventurous and having a passionate t...

Read more on MICHELIN Guide

Details

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About

The Bulls Head is the perfect place for a relaxing drink, meal or get away in the peak district. We pride ourselves on serving fresh homemade food sourced from local suppliers and outstanding service in beautiful surroundings. We offer a fantastic range of draught lagers, bottled ciders, real ales and a fine selection of wines and gins.

PRICE RANGE

£6.00 – £73.00

CUISINES

Bar, British, Contemporary, Pub, Gastropub

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Drinks

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Buffet, Seating, Parking Available, Street Parking, Free off-street parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Mastercard, Visa, Cash Only, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Dog Friendly, Family style, Non-smoking restaurants, Gift Cards Available

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4.5

912 reviews

Excellent

664

Very good

113

Average

Poor

Terrible

JensFoodBlog1

Sheffield239 contributions

Good breakfast - This is a gorgeous, smart country pub that also hosts tasting menu evenings and other events

Aug 2024 • couples

Did you know that this charming country Pub & Restaurant with rooms; Bulls Head in Holymoorside, is now serving breakfast Saturdays & Sundays 9:30-10:30?? Well now you do, so what are you waiting for?? Renowned for its 5 star accommodation & restaurant with 3 Rosette Award for culinary excellence AND NOW IN THE MICHELIN GUIDE, this Restaurant & Pub is nestled in the gorgeous Derbyshire countryside and promises to bring you the freshest, local produce all superbly cooked and presented by Chef Mark Aisthorpe (Great British Menu 2022 Finalist) As of very recently, their breakfast menu has now been opened to the public on weekends, and it’s not to be missed. We enjoyed; Fresh coffees (£3.80)- these went down a treat Freshly Baked Croissants served with butter & preserves (£3.25) – these were warm and crisp and a great start to our breakfast Full English (£15.00); free range scrambled eggs, prime pork Sausage, dry curry bacon, homemade black pudding, mushroom, tomatoes & baked beans with sourdough toast – the way the breakfast is presented is appealing & positively misleading, it looked a small portion but boy is it filling! The thickest cut bacon ever, lovely cubed black pudding, scrambled eggs made with cream. VERY good indeed. Eggs Benedict (£14.00); 2 poached free range eggs with smoked bacon and homemade Hollandaise sauce on toasted Brioche – the yolk pop says it all, the eggs were for me pure perfection. This is a gorgeous, smart country pub that also hosts tasting menu evenings and other events, and I hope to return again in the future. After our breakfast here, we visited Chatsworth Estate only 15 min drive away for a 6 mile walk. What a lovely day

Written 8 October 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

sarah_hawky

Edingale43 contributions

An excellent lunch

Sept 2024 • couples

My husband and I with our dog stopped here for lunch and we were not disappointed! We chose to sit in the bar area due to having the dog with us, but we were offered a seat in the ‘snug’ area. We had the 5 course taster menu - we thought this was excellent value at £45 for the quality of the food we had. The wine menu is extensive too. A nice little touch was a ‘canine menu’ where you could purchase healthy dog chew’s to keep the pooch entertained whilst we ate. Will we definitely be back!

Written 14 September 2024

Megan

Crich3 contributions

Good food & service but overpriced.

Jun 2024 • couples

My husband and I came here for our wedding anniversary very recently and we ate from the A la Carte menu. On reflection, we didn’t feel that the whole experience was worth the £200 that we paid. On arrival, we went to the bar to get drinks and I had a pink gin & lemonade and had to ask for a straw & ice- a little odd I thought, but okay. We then sat by the window with our drinks and canapés which the chef brought out and explained, before being shown to our table. Every course was brought out in a timely manner and explained thoroughly by either the chef or the waiting-on staff, I do really like this idea as we were able to really ‘taste’ our food. The food itself, personally for me I felt was mixed. The starter was finely grated potato in a watery sauce that had a very strong flavour. The main meal was under-seasoned but the beef was cooked beautifully. The dessert of vanilla & strawberry mousse was delicious and decorated with a shortbread biscuit. We were left feeling full & satisfied having enjoyed MOST of the food. When the bill came and we saw £200, we thought: “wow! Not sure that was worth that!” In my mind, I felt for £200 for two people you would expect the meal to be flawless. We have read previous reviews about the Bullshead being compared to restaurants such as Stones (in Matlock) for us, it didn’t even compete. After going to Stones you come away feeling full & satisfied having enjoyed ALL of the food and the experience, plus you don’t feel disgruntled by the price. I’m not saying for one second that The Bullshead wasn’t a pleasant experience because it was, but there are some much needed areas of improvement to make it worth the money.

Written 22 June 2024

Tim and Michele

Chesterfield13 contributions

Poor and disappointed. Avoid.

Nov 2024 • couples

We left before ordering. The service was that bad. Staff were poorly trained; Our table wobbled and even several well placed beer mats could not fix it. Service needs basic training in how to welcome and refer to customers. We had to ask for the a la carte menu and were told by staff “they were instructed not to offer this menu and only provide the taster menus.” Not sure why as the a la carte was more expensive than 5 course taster; maybe not as profitable?? The staff were unable to explain the taster menu - which is printed in font 6 or 8!! This is a high priced restaurant so with expectations crushed and ability to set new low standards we chose to leave. Interestingly, we were followed out by another highly disappointed couple. Seems this place can afford to lose many covers - food MAYBE good but the service is diabolical. Maybe view the 38 terrible reviews and take your chance. Lastly, the restaurant asks for feedback but you must agree to Terms and Conditions before posting but I was unable to view these T&C’s. Maybe a way to only hear the feedback you want?

Written 30 November 2024

Hannah

1 contribution

Totally unsuitable for vegetarians, despite what they say.

Oct 2024 • family

When we booked we told the restaurant that there were two vegetarians coming in a party of 6, and we were told that this wasn't a problem at all. As there are no vegetarian options on the menu, we were told the chef would have a chat with us and put something special and thoughtful together. The vegetarian dishes just arrived at our table, we weren't told at all what we would be getting, we had no choice. The starter was fine, but the main course consisted solely of bits of the vegetables that the other guests were served with their meat courses, and a side of mashed potatoes. So, the main was a few bits of carrot, turnips, onion, and potato. The dish was a total afterthought, and I can't believe it cost the same as the meat dishes (£60 for 3 courses!). It would have been so much better to be told that there isn't a vegetarian option, instead of being fobbed off that we would be looked after, and would have a special meal. Left very hungry and disappointed at how much money we spent on a small plate of leftover vegetables. No attempts were made by the restaurant to rectify it when we complained.

Written 7 October 2024

Mary N

1 contribution

Dilapidated little pub with no atmosphere

Jun 2024 • family

I don't offen write reviews, however after a very disappointing visit to the bulls head I feel it is my duty to do so. I've heard a few good things about the bulls head and after reading reviews we decided to have a meal there. However as soon as we pulled into the car park we started to have second thoughts. The exterior of the pub can only be described as dilapidated, half of the bulls head sign is missing the paint is peeling, the carpark full of litter, the hedge is over grown and the flowers dead and the windows dirty. The 'garden' was very scruffy and very dirty, there was not one clean table and the decking looked like it had never been swept and there was ashtrays over flowing with cigarette ends, although it was pleasant weather I could not bring myself to sit out side and enjoy a drink. The interior was not much better, it had a very cold atmosphere and a strange aroma, which was probably due to the broken toilet in the men's facilities. My husband informed me that the toilet was full of exrment. The foor inside was as bad a the floor outside, it was covered in food and spilt drink. We ordered our food, which despite the pub being practically empty took an exceptionally long time to arrive Whilst we were waiting all we could hear was someone in the kitchen coughing up god knows what very loudly. When it finally did come out if I'm being honest it wasn't terrible but it definitely wasn't worth the money and most definitely did not meet the 2 Rossett standard this pub claims to be!

Written 2 July 2024

JS_in_Bangkok

Cambridgeshire387 contributions

Wonderful gastro pub in a stunning part of the country

May 2024 • couples

A “one to watch” on the Estrella Gastro pub of the year list & absolutely well deserving of this accolade. A warm welcome was received, staff have a positive attitude and explained the menu options to perfection. A Friday lunch choice of a tasting menu, either 5 or7 flights and an A la carte too all at fixed prices, in my opinion very reasonable too. We chose the tasting menu and the chef accommodated a couple of switches, which was really appreciated. All courses were absolutely delicious and full of flavour and texture. Mark the Chef Patron is charismatic and engaging, with an exceptional eye for quality ingredients with a local or seasonal twist. We travelled over 2 hours to try this place and would definitely return, as. Few places offer such good value for exceptional food. Thanks Mark and your team.

Written 3 May 2024

Matt H

2 contributions

The Bull, Holymoorside

Sept 2023 • family

Turned up for a few drinks after being out walking all afternoon, made to feel unwelcome as we weren’t eating. The staff are all devoid of personality, the atmosphere is completely flat in this place apart from when the egotistical head chef needs to talk through with the diners what he’s pouring over their food. This is a village pub not a swanky inner city restaurant. Went to The Lamb down the road and some of the locals asked how we’d got on in The Bull, basically saying that if you’re not eating in The Bull then you’re not welcome. This is exactly how we were made to feel. Village pub is key to a small village this is why The Lamb wins hands down and the management at The Bull need to get their heads out of their backsides

Written 25 September 2023

Andy R

Holymoorside4 contributions

Multiple bad experiences

Mar 2023 • family

I'm quite local to the Bulls head and it makes me sad that everytime I have been in I've had a unsatisfactory experience to the extent that we will no longer go there. The last time we where there was with a group of 6 adults and 3 children, with an almost empty pub we waited 15mins to get a drink order taken, another 10 minutes to them take our main meals, we pretty much all ordered fish and chips. This took an hour and a half to arrive, at no point did any of the even come over to tell us what was going on or even take more drinks orders. ( we would have happily ordered more drinks but we couldn't make eye contract with any staff and it got to the point we didn't want to part with anymore of our cash at their establishment) The kids were getting a little hungry and grumpy at this point understandably. When one of our party asked for some mayonnaise the staff when to the kitchen but came back and told us that they didn't have any as they make it themselves and had not made any that day. This reflected the previously time we came in just as a family of two adults and one child and has a similar experience, I've been in twice before on a Friday and not been able to order a burger as they have not baked the burger baps. I think the Bulls head wants to be an upmarket tasting experience and a lot of the reviews on here seem to reflect that experience, whilst they offer normal pub food I'm not sure its a market they actually care about or perhaps they are trying too hard to make all components themselves and giving themselves too much work to do to achieve a satisfactory timely result? In summary: Not child friendly - I dont think they understand families with children need to be fed in a timely manor Not customer centric - At no point have I felt the staff have been attentive to ourselves as customer Long waiting times I wish the Bulls head the best of luck with whatever it wants to be but we do not want to go back to it in it's current form and will happily drive to one of the other nearby pubs in future.

Written 18 September 2023

Nico

15 contributions

Culinary phenomenon!

Dec 2024 • friends

Visited The Bullshead a number of times, would always recommend it to everyone I see. Last night like always the food was out of this world and service was brilliant. Very efficient and always with a smile. The friendliness off the full team, kitchen aswell, is always so welcoming and their manner and attentiveness is second to none. The menu even more this time was extremely tasty and popular with my friend. She actually has never experienced such a culinary phenomenon and the taster menu was a first for her. Definitely not disappointed. The wait times in between each course were cleverly spaced - it gave us time to take in each course and enjoy what we had been presented. Also helped with the lovely front of house being present for continuous drinks. All in all a fantastic experience and will always recommend. Best priced and tastiest food around! A big thank you to Mark and his team!

Written 5 December 2024

Wavey55

Grimsby74 contributions

Incohesive service and food below the standard you should expect

Oct 2024 • couples

We booked a room at the pub, and dinner to celebrate my birthday. Sadly it wasn’t up to scratch. We received a friendly welcome at check in. The room was small but cosy and well appointed, with a nice bathroom, and very comfortable bed. Upon arriving for our dinner booking we were asked to take a drink in the bar, until our table was ready. At almost 9pm I asked, and was told the table was ready. This is where it went downhill…. There were several tables, so we could’ve gone in earlier. We were left at the table for 20 mins with no drinks or menus. Eventually I chased and was asked which menu I’d like. I hoped the menu options might be explained but they weren’t. After I politely raised that we were not being looked after, I got an apology. Next, we were abruptly told we had to move table as they’d had a big booking. We moved our own drinks, menus etc to the new table, which disappointedly wasn’t as nice. After chasing again to ask if we could order, we did but it was very clunky and nobody seemed to know what was going on. Meanwhile the big table arrived, ordered and received their canapés before we ordered. The courses came out fairly swiftly after that. I had to chase up to get the wine. We didn’t have cutlery or serving spoons. It was chaotic and quite bizarre. The food on the whole was ok, but nothing special. The quality didn’t match the pretentious menu description or the price. We skipped desert as we’d experienced enough. I did speak to the manager afterwards about our experience, and I have to say there were very emphatic and friendly. They knocked one meal off the bill as a gesture of goodwill, but it was too little too late. It’s because of this I’ve given two stars rather than one. Maybe I’ve watched too much Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares but it all felt too familiar. We still enjoyed our evening but our experience at The Black Bull wasn’t special, as we’d hoped.

Written 27 October 2024

Gail F

Stanley5 contributions

Hassle over Breakfast

Nov 2023 • friends

Stayed for a night with my friend. Room amazing. Food amazing apart from my friend ordered beef which was overcooked, very chewy and had no flavour, brought this to the attention of the waiter, went into kitchen came back to table chef didn’t agree apparently it was the way my friend had asked for it to be cooked, after a lot of disagreement she was finally given a new piece of beef which as soon as it came looked totally different to the first piece, I said it looked like sirloin it was tastier and more tender, the waiter confirmed this!! We asked the waiter what time checkout and breakfast was, the reply being checkout is 11am breakfast is served between 9.30 & 11!!! Sunday morning we came downstairs 10.30 to be told breakfast finished at 9.30, explained we had a long drive, told we could have toast, we explained this is not acceptable we had paid for breakfast and expected breakfast! She disappeared into kitchen came back and said we’d have to wait until manager came in at 12pm! I asked if the chef in the kitchen was the owner of the property? Yes, so tell him to come out and we’ll speak to him, no he’s busy!! I could not believe the owner of a property would let his staff take responsibility for sorting conflict and not come out and sort it!!! I went to kitchen door and asked which was the owner he still wasn’t forthcoming, eventually when he had no choice he came out!! After a heated discussion he did agree to prepare a snack!! But for a Bed & Breakfast and restaurant of this quality you should not have the hassle we had and the owner should face up to his responsibilities!!!

Written 12 November 2023

Charlie59_11

Edinburgh310 contributions

Good food, poor service

Dec 2024 • friends

We had dinner at the Bulls Head with friends for festive celebrations. We had heard good things about the restaurant & Michelin recommended (2024). Not a great experience - especially as Michelin rated! Yes the good was tasty and well presented but not particularly high quality (beef was average at best). Nice wine list. The disappointment was the poor service - expect MUCH better. Young server team really do need some basic training on customer service - "did you enjoy your meal" might be a good start point! Service not great throughout the meal. Overpriced - a £6 supplement on one scallop as starter is ridiculous! Overall hugely disappointed & don't recommend.

Written 18 December 2024

F1Junkie

83 contributions

Disappointed

Feb 2023 • none

Having read the reviews, we were looking forward to our evening as a birthday meal for my husband.Sadly this did not match our expectations at all. We were seated straight and given our menus and asked if we wanted water. We were not asked if we wanted any drinks at this point whilst looking at the menu. 10/15 mins later we were asked if we were ready to order and we asked for a drink and then wine with the meal. No drink arrived, and we sat for another 20 mins or so before a canapé arrived at which point the drink I wanted when we arrived turned up. From ordering our food we waited over an hour for our actual starter to arrive, which having been charged an extra £6 on the menu price was disappointing that it was 1 1/2 scallops, not 2! We then waited about another 30 mins for our main with the wine arriving just before. No-one checked whilst we were eating if the food was ok. The main was nice if under seasoned and we don’t use much salt which says a lot. At no point were we asked if we wanted any more drinks, it felt like no-one cared about us, being more interested in the large party in the other room. Other people arrived after us who were served quicker than we were. We were asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu but after 25 mins and no one coming near we decided not to bother, it says allow 2 1/4 hours to enjoy the 3 course a la carte - we got our 2 courses in that time. I have seen other reviews raving about the food and mention of Michelin star. Unfortunately based in our experience that is a long way off. We’ve been lucky and eaten at a few Michelin starred restaurants and this doesn’t compare. To get a Michelin star you have to have perfect service and food. We also noted that the floor round our table was not particularly clean, nor was the seating area. Having decided to have a cappuccino they also need to learn how to make a proper one, it was literally milky coffee. To top it all off we were then charged for 3 courses not 2. It may be it was just an off night but we will not be returning.

Written 11 February 2023

Caroline W

3 contributions

Stay and dine, the best experience. A beautiful room, amazing food and wine, outstanding customer service. Perfect♥️

Jul 2024 • couples

We were shown to the most beautiful, spacious room with a large comfy bed and a huge copper bath in the bathroom. Back downstairs we started our tasting menu with canapés and a drink in the bar, then moved to the dining area. Every course was beautifully presented along with information about the ingredients. We were given excellent advice on wine choice and staff were very attentive, including some courses being served by the chefs Mark and Joel. After a good nights sleep breakfast was cooked for us from a great selection on the menu, along with good coffee. I can’t fault any part of our visit. We felt completely looked after and experienced the best food we have tasted. Thank you. We will definitely be back.

Written 22 July 2024