I've been to The Mucky Duck enough times to know exactly what to expect. If you're looking for a British themed establishment, this is the place for you. I don't think I know of another place quite like it in the 515 area code. Everything from the decor to the food is mostly British. You may even see a MINI Cooper or two in the parking lot. The Mucky Duck is also the place to find all of that hard to find British memorabilia you've always wanted. Behind the bar, there are shelves stocked with food brands that remind me of home and my melancholy, rainy and overcast youth back in London. The food that mum used to make! Ok, I've never even been there but I've heard it rains a lot and Pink Floyd is my leading source of childhood recollections of the U.K. but if you want imported British foods that you can't find at your local grocery store, this is a great place to look. Let's move on to the dining.
If you want a burger, you can get a burger but why waste the visit on something you can get anywhere? Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash and a few other dishes come to mind. On this visit I went with the Chicken Curry since I hadn't had that before and the menu called Curry the national food of Britain. It seemed like a fair and fitting dish for my first review of The Mucky Duck.
As I do more reviews, you may notice that I put quite a bit of value on timing and promptness during the dining experience. I do not like having birthdays pass me by while waiting for service and I don't like being rushed. Luckily for all of us, that doesn't happen at The Mucky Duck. We were seated right away. Our server was attentive enough from a distance to be able to tell when we had decided on our order and she was prompt enough to be with us shortly thereafter. The order took approximately 17 minutes to get to the table. Very acceptable. I must admit that I was keeping track because I wanted to see just how much faster they were than a different place that I've dined at recently.
The menu describes the Chicken Curry as "Juicy meat and potatoes in a rich sauce, served over Basmati rice with a poppadom on the side." The only somewhat negative thing I can say about this dish was that instead of it being served over rice, it was served next to rice and that rice was a little dry and clumpy. Once I mixed the rice in with the sauce, it was perfect. I think had the dish been served as described, I never would have noticed. It was absolutely delicious. It had a bit of a spicy zing to it and in the center of the dish was an unexpected half of a hard boiled egg which fit right in. I'm disappointed that I waited until now to try it. I'll be ordering it again in the future. Others in our party had the Fish and Chips which I also recommend but don't feel the need to describe.
The Mucky Duck has a very respectable selection of beer on tap and by the bottle but the only other thing that was not superb about this experience was.....they brought the wrong beer to the table. Oh no, Mucky Duck!! On this day, of all days, the dark day of reckoning? That has never happened to me there. It was just a mistake though. An unforced error. The good news was that they fixed the problem in no time but I'm pretty sure there is a commandment that says "Thou shalt not serve thy wrong ale or wine to thy parched patron." Maybe that isn't a real commandment but it should be. For this offense, Mucky Duck, I must dock a half a pint from your rating and issue a stern finger wagging. I still love you but I have to rate the experience on just that day.
So The Mucky Duck Pub gets a solid 4.5 pints (out of 5). I don't expect to give a lot of 4.5 or 5 ratings so well done, as usual. I highly recommend this establishment. You may want to follow them online to keep up with events that they hold throughout the year such as the British Motorbike Festival and their outdoor celebration of and participation in the annual Maximum Ames Music Festival.
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