Duncombe Arms

A Michelin Bib Gourmand pub in the Staffordshire countryside; worth the detour?

At the ££ price point, Duncombe Arms is one of the more convincing arguments for driving out to rural Staffordshire. If you have already been once and enjoyed it, there is more to explore here; the kitchen's range is broader than a single visit reveals, the accommodation barn makes an overnight stay worth considering.

The Duncombe Arms has been open since 2012, when owners Johnny and Laura Greenall rescued a village pub that had closed its doors. Over the past thirteen years it has evolved from a local rescue project into a genuinely recognised dining destination, the kind of place that earns Michelin attention not through tasting-menu theatre but through consistent, technically grounded cooking at pub prices. That longevity matters. A venue that has held Bib Gourmand recognition across multiple consecutive years is not coasting on a one-off press run; the kitchen is delivering reliably.

The setting reinforces why this works as a return visit. The pub sits on Main Road in Ellastone, the visual draw is immediate: an attractive terrace out front and a red-brick barn adjacent to the main building that houses the guest bedrooms, all of which look out over open fields. The room itself reads as a smartened-up village pub rather than a restaurant that happens to have a bar, which is exactly the right register for what the Greenalls are doing here. You are not arriving for ceremony; you are arriving for cooking that punches well above the price.

What chef Oscar Amador Edo's kitchen does well

Chef Oscar Amador Edo leads a kitchen that Michelin's inspectors have cited for gutsy, keenly priced cooking that shows deft skills, a phrase that covers a lot of ground but points to technique applied without fussiness. The public record references subtle spicing in a café de Paris butter and a custard tart with a luscious filling as representative of what the kitchen produces: dishes that are recognisable in form but executed with precision. For a returning guest, this signals that the menu rewards attention to detail rather than just genre familiarity. Order things you might overlook on a first visit, the kitchen's skill tends to show most clearly in the dishes that sound direct.

The bar and counter experience

If you have previously gone straight to a table, the bar area at Duncombe Arms is worth considering on a return visit. A dining pub at this level, Bib Gourmand, chef-led, with a kitchen operating to consistent standards, typically runs a bar menu or shorter format options that give you access to the same cooking in a more informal register. Sitting at or near the bar also puts you closer to the rhythm of the pub rather than in the dining room, which reads differently depending on what you want from the evening. For a midweek meal for two without a long booking lead time, bar seating is the practical choice and often the more enjoyable one.

Staying over

The red-brick barn bedrooms are a legitimate reason to plan around Duncombe Arms rather than just stopping in. Rooms described as luxurious with field views position the accommodation above standard pub-with-rooms territory. For anyone coming from Birmingham, Manchester, or further afield, building an overnight stay around a dinner reservation turns a good meal into a full reason to make the trip. See our full Ellastone hotels guide for broader accommodation context in the area.

Practical details

Reservations: Booking is rated Easy, call ahead or book online, but this is not a venue where you need to plan months in advance. Dress: Smart casual fits the setting; the pub is well-presented but not formal. Budget: ££ pricing means a comfortable dinner for two with drinks should land well below what a comparable level of cooking would cost in a city setting. Getting there: Ellastone is a village in the Staffordshire/Derbyshire borderlands, a car is the practical option. The address is Main Road, Ellastone, Ashbourne DE6 2GZ. Overnight: The barn bedrooms make a Saturday dinner-to-Sunday-morning itinerary direct to plan.

How Duncombe Arms compares to other UK dining pubs

The obvious peer comparison in the Bib Gourmand pub category is Hand and Flowers in Marlow, which holds two Michelin stars and commands significantly higher prices. Duncombe Arms operates at a different price tier and without the same booking difficulty, if you want Michelin-recognised pub cooking without the three-month wait or the premium bill, Ellastone is the stronger practical choice. For Modern British cooking at higher ambition and price, L'Enclume in Cartmel and Moor Hall in Aughton represent the ceiling of the Northern England dining destination category, but neither operates at a pub price point. Closer in spirit and price is hide and fox in Saltwood. For dining in the wider region, Opheem in Birmingham offers Michelin-starred Modern Indian cooking if you want a city alternative on the same trip.

See our full Ellastone restaurants guide for additional options in the area, our Ellastone experiences guide if you are planning a longer visit to the Peak District fringe.

The verdict for returning guests

If you have been once and left satisfied, the case for coming back is clear: the cooking is consistent enough to justify repeat visits, the barn bedrooms make an overnight feasible, the price point means you are not committing to a significant outlay to test whether a second visit holds up. Book a bar seat for a midweek dinner, or commit to a weekend overnight stay. Either way, thirteen years and two consecutive Bib Gourmands suggest the kitchen is not going to disappoint you.