Inside the The Devon Doorway

This week we were given the great honour to be invited to the re-opening of The Devon Doorway, the gastropub in Heswall I wish I’d heard of sooner.

Coming from Liverpool and rarely venturing into the Wirral for pleasure (I’ve got a day-job over there) I wasn’t exactly acquainted with the place beforehand so in terms of perspective this grand re-opening meant next to nothing to me without any context of what the establishment used to be like.

So, I asked around to see what I was in store for. The responses I got were the usual platitudes about how it was ‘nice’.

The Devon Doorway: First Impressions

Let me tell you, walking up to the entrance of The Devon Doorway, you’re immediately struck by the aura of a place that’s a damn-sight more than ‘nice’.

As you venture up the path, your first impression is a great one. The exterior of the restaurant is gorgeous, the al-fresco setup bursting with lush greenery, cosy seating arrangements and even a firepit to top the whole thing off. The magnetism of the space made me desperate to sit outside in the middle of October. That’s no small feat.

Dragging myself away from the swanky firepit, I stepped inside. The management greeted us at the door and gave us a tour of the building with a run-down about exactly how much detail has went into the refurbishment.

There was a nervous buzz about the place. Not the bad kind of nervous energy, where you’re waiting to be found out, but the kind of buzz you get where you’ve spent considerable time and effort busting your balls on a project and you hope people love it half as much as you do.

After being shown a few pictures of the space before the renovation, I can categorically say it’s like night and day. The interior design was beautiful, with stylish lighting all round and verdant green to accent the feel of the outside. Not to mention a few fireplaces to make the space feel that little bit cosier.

After the history lesson about the place, we were offered ‘The Gin Experience’. Now, I’ve order gin many times but never have I had an ‘experience’ – that was all about to change. Imagine the subway experience, but for gin – pick your gin, tonic, botanical and garnish. To completely and shamelessly plagiarise the tagline of that famous sandwich chain, the gin tasted extra special now that I got to ‘have it my way’.

After the gin and canapes session – fancy livin’ for a Wednesday night – we were led to our tables to sample the new and improved menus. Absolutely spoiled for choice, we opted for the Deep-Fried Brie and Salt and Szechuan Pepper Squid for starters – both were delicious, but special mention goes out to the aioli sauce that came with the squid which I feverishly searched for the recipe of after I left the restaurant.

Food

Deep Fried Brie in panko breadcrumbs with chutney

Salt & Szechuan Pepper Squid with aioli  

Next up, came the mains. We went with the Seared Salmon Fillet and the Buttermilk Southern Fried Chicken – again, both outstanding. I have a semi-gripe with chips being served up in a mug rather than on my plate, but that’s a long-standing beef with the food industry itself rather than The Devon Doorway, so we’ll let that faff slide tonight.

Seared Salmon Fillet on chorizo mash, with tenderstem broccoli, and a bouillabaisse sauce

Buttermilk Southern-Fried Chicken stuffed with ‘nduja sausage, with sweet potato fries, apple salad and lemon aioli  

And just when we thought we could eat no more, then came the dessert menu. Without blinking an eye, I opted for the Sticky Toffee Pudding while the other half went with the Ice Cream with a Home-Baked Triple Chocolate Cookie.

Sticky Toffee Pudding with bourbon vanilla ice cream

Home-Baked Triple Chocolate Cookie with bourbon vanilla, praline and chocolate ice cream

The evening finished with us being offered a quick glance at their festive events menus for over the Christmas period – I think they know full-well we were hooked after that fabulous experience. With the atmosphere the building has, I would definitely book in a special event here just to share the experience with everyone!

The supposed origin-story of The Devon Doorway is that in 1930 a local man built the pub for his wife, so they could scrape together enough cash and move to Devon like his spouse always wanted. If they ever managed to make it to Devon and are still knocking about today, if they could see the pub in all its glory now, I guarantee they’d pack-up and book the first train back.