Drake Devonshire Inn

Brunch food was mediocre really, but you don’t exactly come here for the food anyway. The place has the same funky, eclectic and colourful vibes as The Drake Hotel in downtown Toronto. In the summer, make sure to sit on the beautiful porch onlooking the lake.

Pretence comes to the county. Oh great, now we can suffer the same indignities as in the city. The host asks you if you have a reservation when, behind her, half the tables are empty. This has happened at least six times and on different occasions. If you mention the obvious surplus of empty seats, a haughty waiter will go to ‘check’ with the manager. If you’re lucky enough to be seated, a younger than 40 y/​o patron will likely be stationed out of sight (presumably to maintain snobbish appearances).
By the way, 18 dollars for a passable burger! ?
Bottom line: overpriced and pretentious. Since they so ostentatiously advertise their locally sourced products, I suggest to deal with the county directly and cook for yourself at home. At least you’ll find a table.

There is not one wrong thing here. Not one. Food, delicious. Service, wonderful. Setting, stunning. Rooms, beautiful. The feeling… priceless.

Great atmosphere, role-​model service (Kerri), solid food. Overall, a great experience.

I have waiting for this for a long time. It was booked so we couldn’t stay. We drove down from Ottawa on a road trip arriving just after 2p. They quit serving lunch at 2p so we ordered from the afternoon menus. We had the ceviche and burger w/​o the bun. The burger was good but the ceviche was fabulous with big chunks of tuna! The service was also attentive. Overall we loved it. We will be back when we can get a room.

Not the easiest to get to but worth it when you arrive. Over the decades (since 1860), the building had changed several owners and in 2012, it was sold to The Drake Hotel. The restaurant/​Inn is right at the waterfront.
When visiting Price Edward County (PEC), The Drake Devonshire is a must visit restaurant and Inn inside a historical building overseeing the lake front. The restaurants sources as much of their ingredients locally and makes many items such as the burgers, buns, sauces and ice-​cream from scratch which lends to the quality and taste of the food. Do try to make reservations well in advanced.
For dinner, I ordered the Devonshire Burger with 6 oz Prinzen beef, with Black River cheddar, shredded lettuce, onion, crispy bacon, and Russian dressing on a house-​made milk bun with hand cut fries ($ 18). I requested the burger to be done medium rare, and it was cooked to perfection. The burger was juicy, well seasoned with thick slices of bacon.
My husband ordered the Roast Suckling Pig with slow roasted milk-​fed pork with house-​made milk buns, turmeric fermented cabbage and beet mustard ($ 24). My husband made little sandwiches and enjoyed every bite.
As for suggestions, I would lower the price of the children’s menu (it was around $ 18) and I would offer a complimentary slice of cake for special occasions.
Great first impressions.

I first was hesitant to go here from the mixed reviews (as well as some rumours from the locals) but thought why not go and find out ourselves?
So then we went… and actually LOVED it!
We made a reservation in advance as it was a long weekend. We requested the patio and the view was breathtaking… the breeze was so nice and we were able to see a glimpse of the sunset.
Now, as for the food, yes it tasted great but yes compared to other nice restaurants nearby the price was a bit steep.
The drink menu was quite interesting and was pleasant to see some fancy virgin cocktail menu for non-​drinkers (though I ordered a sangria for myself).
The server was pretty quiet but friendly…
I almost wish there was more of a «conversation» about the area or travel plans and such as we were tourists but from what I’ve heard they hire staffs from Toronto, not local…
The service I would say was generally on the slow side as we waited for the main dish (we shared a delicious home made shrimp pasta) for quite a bit (like 30 min?).
We weren’t in a rush or anything and the view was nice so didn’t really complain.
While we waited for the dessert we stepped out of our seats and walked down to the shore where you can sit on chairs facing the beautiful lake.
Overall the food and drink was delicious!
But I would say they should go easy on the price and try hiring locals because when I was eating there I almost forgot where I was geographically, and based on my experience travelling there I think that one of the greatest things about Prince Edward County, aside from the beautiful nature, fresh produce and endless vineyards, were the «people.» So ya… hire locals!
Had a wonderful time here and would love to bring my girlfriends here next time :)

I’ll start by saying I’m only just rating the restaurant and not the inn itself. Perhaps 2 stars is a bit harsh, but I expected much more given the hype.
My friend and I sat outside on the patio, which had a nice view on the lake, however the atmosphere still couldn’t keep us long enough to finish a sangria pitcher. The food was mediocre, and I was sorely disappointed that after the server told us they were out of mussels, a table that arrived after us was somehow able to order that very dish.
Almost everything we’d eaten in the County was delicious and had a warm ambience, but the Drake just didn’t hit the spot.

For those visiting Drake Devonshire expecting a little bit of the same service and food you come to get at the Drake in Toronto, think again. The property itself is beautiful, the décor — interesting but the restaurant will leave you wanting plenty.
We didn’t have any of the issues with the parking as indicated by some Unilocalers but that’s where the positive points end.
At the time of our visit, the website indicated that brunch would be served until 4pm. We were in for a dismal surprise, as they stopped serving meals by 1pm and restart again for dinner service later at night. Even now the website lacks firm meal hours.
The menu we did get was some lame version of a snack menu, where they are pushing for libations and overpriced fries and snack-​sized salads instead. We could have had a much better meal pretty much anywhere in PEC had we known of the scheduling gaffe in advance.
To top it off service was slow and horrendous, missing water refills, being inattentive and then messing up the billing when concluding our visit.
Never again!

Let me start with a disclaimer. I will admit that I’m tough but fair though out my general demeanor. I feel that businesses should run well, efficiently and with great customer service, as well as products of course. On the flip side I feel that customers should take in the environment and understand what the staff are going through during their visit and assess whether they should be understanding or critical. Disclaimer done.
The above all said, I am not a fan of the Drake Devonshire. The location is great, the layout is wonderful and you can have a bite and pint basically on the water. All wins in my book. Here is where we come off the rails. We waited 15 mins for a table when there were many tables to be seen. If a restaurant is flipping the tables, offer a drink at the bar while customers wait, promotes sales and gives a feeling of progress. Second point, was the burger. OOOHHHH the burger! Our server who was very pleasant, sweet and professional told us the burger was ground top sirloin. All I know is that every bite I took it had large grisly bits that you may encounter in street meat (hot dog cart sausages) but in every single bite!!!
The burger was greasy, under cooked and overall (insert drama) hands down the worst burger I’ve had.
I may return to give it another shot next time I’m in Prince Edward County, but I will likely just grab a drink! No burger pour moi!

This is where those who are afraid to take a real vacation go.
Beautiful building, very nice in the typical Drake way but very Sterile.
I went for the brunch, I had the eggs and bacon with home potatoes.
The potatoes where bland and lacked flavour, the bacon was whatever, the eggs where cooked perfectly.
The Staff was typical Toronto staff, I’ve read reviews where people complain about the snobbishness of the staff, I can see why they would say that but I had no problem, I live in Toronto so maybe I am used to that type of delivery.
The Brunch specialty meals where overly priced and when I saw my patron neighbor get something I would have ordered I was very glad that I did not as the portions or freakishly small.
There is the Pomodoro and East and Maine across the road, go there, the food was cooked to perfection.
I would not stay at the drake either, the beach was made with small concrete builders pebbles, you think you could have laid some sand.
Not worth it at all, unless your afraid to take a vacation. Got to be there to see the crowd to understand it.

Staff are snobby and judgemental. Will not be returning.
Rooms and view are excellent but the vibe the restaurant staff give is not very welcoming.

We stopped in for brunch and were seated in a lovely sunny room with a view of the lake. Service was very prompt, but a couple drink orders were missed (some of our group ordered mimosas that were never delivered, though they showed up on the cheque). Our server explained that they had limits on the times that they could start serving drinks, which is understandable, but they shouldn’t have taken the order if they couldn’t fill it. The food was great and more than made up for the inconvenience – the menu has a great selection of sweet and savoury breakfast items, plus they’ve a special Fish Camp menu right now that emphasizes local seafood. The space is beautiful – a true gem.

First things first, I want to say the food and view was excellent; but the other factors that often play into any of my reviews are the main culprit for the low rating.
The Devonshire has a lot of things going for it; a great location, the name associated with the popular and hip boutique hotel «The Drake» in Toronto; plus a great vibe to go along with it.
Honestly, it is too bad that staff and prices don’t really live up to all the other factors.
Quick note — their brunch (at least on Sunday) doesn’t go until 4 pm as advertised on the website — so if you want the brunch variety, I would strongly suggest that you get there before 2pm.
This was the tail end of our overnight in Prince Edward County and since we arrived at the midway point between lunch and dinner, we had arrived at a quiet hour.
First snag — was that brunch wasn’t being served, despite being advertised otherwise on the website.
Second Snag — an extremely limited bar menu was being served during that service bridge period between brunch and dinner.
Third Snag — some serious inattentive attitude from our server, left me more than a little less than impressed to the point. Case in point — water, almost, never refilled to the point, that when the server decided to grace us with their presence — we just asked them to leave the water pitcher at our table and we’ll help ourselves. Also, we got some serious attitude, we asked for our separate bills, and tried to tell them how to split it out — the response was «Oh I know what you ordered» only to have the bills come and we had to send them back to get corrected.
and last, but not least — the food was good but the portion sizes were smallish and totally not worth the price of admission. I most likely will not visit this place again, unless some serious improvements are made to the menu and service.
It’s really too bad — since I enjoy lakeside dining.

Going to Prince Edward County, this place is like THE place that put the county on the map. It’s tucked away off a side street that has this hipster controlling who can park in the lot and who cannot. Basically if you are staying the night, I think they’ll let you in. Otherwise, street or in the closeby church parking lot.
You walk in and it looks beautiful. You got your Drake store, someone at front desk that almost looks like they don’t care (typical) but is probably really helpful when asked.
The restaurant, is just beautiful. Has three walls of windows, one faces the lake. One side faces this really cool river that they put some great decorations over. And then there are these light fixtures outside the window that look like they came off a ship, really cool.
The food, suckling pig ain’t like your Chinese suckling pig. This summer the Fish camp offers fish fry which has delicious arrangement of fried seafood. The tostados are a bit small and the mussels and clams are deliciously good!
They are reasonably attentive and come to pour water and make sure you’re good. Definitely would come back!

We visited x[oh!] while staying in Prince Edward County. It was recommended by a couple we ran into at the County Cider (another awesome place!)
The location is amazing, the view breathtaking and the food delicious. While we had a bit if a mishap with one of the dishes, they were quick to rectify and to our pleasant surprise, discretely took it off our bill. That’s what I call a wow moment! Highly recommend visiting the Drake Devonshire Inn and x[oh!] on your next visit to the County!

Well, the county is abuzz about the Drake Devonshire, and for good reason. After hearing great things from many different friends, we dropped in for Sunday brunch, without reservations a few weeks ago. They were happy to accommodate us, and we passed our brief wait for a table in the living room, which is a very cool front room that is adjacent to a glass cube room that houses a ping pong table.
After were were seated for brunch, I ordered the Farmer’s Brunch Platter and my BF ordered french toast. Coffee here is fantastic, and the food is really amazing. I would highly recommend opting for the Farmer’s Brunch Platter if you are there for brunch. It’s a little bit of everything, and the real highlight among the plate was a bit of pickled fennel. Woah. So good.
Overall, a great experience, amazing atmosphere and the service really does give you a feel for the city but with the relaxed county atmosphere you expect out here.

This is a review of BRUNCH at the Drake:
There was some controversy in Wellington when the Drake opened an outpost here, but I am happy to say that «Drake on the Lake» tries to stay true to the county vibe and is a great spot to relax before/​after wine tasting at the nearby wineries. Don’t expect it to be a duplicate of the original Queen West location, although there are some familiar elements like a B&W photo booth ($ 5) and a mini Drake General Store in the lobby.
The space itself is beautiful. The dining room has huge windows so everyone has a good view of the lake. The design is modern yet cozy. Service was friendly and unpretentious. As for the food, you can expect their signature blueberry scones with clotted cream (I definitely recommend getting an order for the table to share). I had the bagel and lox, which came with a small salad and was a nice, light breakfast. My DC had the chicken and waffles, which looked really hearty and delicious with chilli peppers for some kick! Another DC had the drake breakfast (eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, hash browns).
They take reservations, and I would recommend them for a bigger group or during summer weekends when it’s really busy. After your meal, you can check out the hotel itself including an outdoor area with a fire pit and an indoors game room with ping pong!

Great upscale country atmosphere. I had half a chicken and it was so juicy. Somehow I finished it along with the greens — fava beans, fiddleheads, asparagus, ramps, snow pea shoots and spinach. There was nothing left on my plate except the bones.
We didn’t order drinks as we spent the day wine tasting. But the drink menu looked tempting. That will be for our next visit.
Friendly service adds to an enjoyable evening.

The restaurant and bar space is lovely. We had dinner and brunch during our stay.
Japanese fish app salmon poke was out of this world. Burger and fries brilliant too. Portions good sized and friendly service with a local feel.