Personal Recommendations
Places where we have had something to eat and that we can recommend............
 6 Jan 2012 The Tradesman's Arms, Stokenham - One of the ultimate thatched traditional pubs. the flowers outside have been fantastic. Small outside garden overlooking village green. Dog friendly! A new chef here - the presentation & meals were excellent - fish & chips for some while I had the Creedy Duck ( main course) - very fresh and well presented - served with lots of fresh veg. And it was not expensive which makes it even more worthwhile......... . AG |
Dec 2011 - Carluccio's, Exeter If you are looking for good food and a pleasant restaurant this is well worth a try - Italian food and a glass of Pino at lunch time - a treat!! |
Dec 2011 - Do you drive up and down the A303? then we can recommend two havens: Number one - try Wayne's Bar & Bistro at Hawk House, Camel Cross, West Camel, Somerset BA22 7RA This is near RNAS Yeovilton, on the right hand side as you travel North East - about 90 miles from Kingsbridge. A brand new conversion of an old garage & cafe. Absolutely spotless with some of the best coffee around - sadly we were not up for eating but the menu was a good one and food also looked good. We will definitely make a point of stopping here again. Number two: The Hilton Inn, Solstice Park - a little further on towards London. Solstice Park service station and restaurants are not appealing BUT the good news is The Hilton - drive past the petrol station and into the hotel parking. facilities are spotless - there is the restaurant with a long menu or there is the lounge/bar area where they serve drinks and snacks. |
Dec 2011 - Taylors, Dartmouth Good food and lovely view out over the Boatfloat & the river - the dining room is nicer than Sails and quieter! We will be going back!. |
Dec 2011 - Seabreeze, Torcross Right by the sea - you can sit inside or outside Lovely tearooms with good menu , very welcoming. |
Dec 2011 - Winking Prawn, Salcombe Cosy restaurant, welcoming atmosphere, good service - first time we have eaten inside - we all enjoyed it and will be back. (casual - so no need to dress up) |
Dec 2011 - Salcombe Coffee House Serves good coffee and the best bacon sandwich. Enjoy Salcombe out of season |
Places featured in the November 2011 Devon Life Awards:
Best Dining Pub of the Year - The Turtley Corn Mill, Avonwick and The Ship Inn, Ugborough and Calafornia Country Inn, Modbury
Oct 2011 - Greys Tea rooms, Totnes - walk up the High Street towards the top of the hill and on the left you will find Greys - it looks like an antique shop - don't be fooled they serve mean helpings of cream teas and cakes along with speiality teas. Worth taking the time to climb the hill and find it. |
Oct 2011 - Brill Plaice Restaurant, Stoke Fleming Richard was the chef from the Church House Inn, Stokenham - he has opened up The Brill Plaice on his own - his menus have always been good in the past so we were were not disappointed As the name suggests there is lots of fish on the menu - the fish is fresh and local. Meat eaters will find plenty of choice. We will be be back! They also sell takeaway fish and chips. AG |
Sep 2011 - The Oyster Shack Milburn Orchard Farm, Stakes Hill, Bigbury, Devon, TQ7 4BE - Tel:01548 810876
We went here for lunch - the menu is long and basically all fish - the only meat offering was a steak. Having said that the menu offers a large variety. The service was very attentive and very friendly. Help was at hand when we needed to know what parts of the shellfish could be eaten and when someone had difficulty opening the crab legs again help was at hand. The food was lovely, tasty and well presented. Portions were sensible and most of our party ate two courses. Having said that two of the party shared the seafood platter (£55 for two) there was enough for three people with modest appetites. We all came away saying we would go back BUT be warned this was not cheap - £35 per person - one bottle of wine shared between 5 people, two courses and coffee. Look out in October for a special offer for lunch £12 for three courses which would be very attractive and we may well be back. We can definitely recommend this place..... AG |
Sep 2011 - The Church House Inn, Stokenham - consistently good food
Jazz night (every Wednesday 8-10pm) with some great music.
Portions are quite generous but we had room for dessert, well worth it.
House wines served at the bar are okay but it is worth ordering from the wine list with a meal.
We can definitely recommend this place..... AG |
27 June 2011 Number Eight, Foss Street, Dartmouth - a great place to enjoy a cup of tea and a cream tea. Good attentive service. We shared a cream tea - check the sizes of the scones - the ones we had were huge. |
Friends ate at the Live and Let Live at Landscove, Ashburton, Newton Abbot TQ13 7LZ near the A38 and Riverford - they said they had an excellent meal.
| 17 April 2011 - Wildfire Bistro, Dartmouth a return visit, this time for a Sunday evening meal when the restaurant was quiet- no noisy music this time. Pleasant restaurant, good food, attentive and pleasant waitress,can get busy so suggest booking - I would not sit at the round table at the far right in the back - it is next to the loos and is subject to all the associated traffic. Everyone's food was excellent. portions are on the large side so we ended up only having main courses. Check what comes with the meal because you may have to order side dishes - they were very open to peolpe sharing items. If you are into cocktails they have employed a professional shaker! AG |
15 Apr 2011 - South Sands Hotel, Salcombe this was our second visit and we remain fans, a delightful dining room overlooking the estuary with outdoor seating, family friendly, friendly attentive staff, take a look at the menu online before going - it is expensive - watchout what comes with each dish - you may have to order sidedishes. Scallops were delicious and beautifully presented, a good brownie and coffee to finish off. We had a glass of wine each - £5.50-£8.00 a glass! The wine was good quality and therefore not bad value especially taking into account the whole experience. A delightful experience. AG |
March 2011 - The Old Bakery, Kingsbridge (not far from the Tourist Information Centre - next to the newsagents) We regularly use here for coffee and great brownies, excellent home made soup and bread followed by apple pie and cream! Very friendly casual place, child friendly. Good seating upstairs with at least one great sofa! WiFi. We keep on meaning to have lunch here - the dishes look great and everyone eating them says how good they are. Costa Coffee has opened nearby - give it a miss AG |
24 Mar 2011 - Sails Restaurant, Dartmouth - (above the Yacht Club near the lower ferry) - The restaurant is located on the first floor overlooking the river - try and get a window table. They usually only do one sitting in the evening meaning that there is no rush to leave. Service and food are excellent. Portions are on the slightly generous side. I had the lamb and it just fell off the bone and for starters I had the venison terrine - all really tasty. They have introduced a taster plate of desserts - I had to share mine with the boss and we both had sufficient and enjoyed the variety. We do enjoy eating here - but there are a couple of drawbacks - it gets very hot and if there are any groups in and it is noisy....... AG |
Feb 2011 - The Royal Castle Hotel, Dartmouth - I can recommend the upstairs restaurant, we ate there twice - First time was a carvery lunch - generous and tasty - Second time a la carte lunch Silver service at a good standard - (not top London restaurant standards)....... AG |
23 Oct 2010 The Laughing Monk, Strete Four of us shared dinner here, we skipped the starters so can't comment other than to say that they looked good. The menu is mainly fish. Presentation is lovely, service is friendly, quantities sensible and the food is really tastey. I had pork belly - the meat was outstanding with a fine layer of crackling. All the others had various fish dishes and without exception everyone enjoyed their food. We finished off with sharing chocolate tart and coffee. We discussed our meal and all agreed we could not fault the whole evening. Yes we can thoroughly recommend The Laughing Monk. AG |
9 Oct 2010 The Turtley Corn Mill, Avonwick A nice surprise for a place to have lunch. Very comfortable and attractive with a varied menu. It also looks like a lovely place to eat outdoors in the summer, plenty of benches in a spacious garden. AG |
16 Sep 2010 Alf Resco, Dartmouth AlfResco is my favourite breakfast joint, and it's all about atmosphere. They do great breakfasts, traditional and hearty, service is lively and friendly and you aren't kept waiting for your food or drinks. The cafe has open, semi open and completely closed areas but I prefer the closed, cosy inside where the action is and where I can top up on coffee whenever I'm dry. They have a regular and longlasting menu which has been there all the time I've been going, for me it's either scrambled eggs with smoked salmon or the trad breakfast. Coffee is good too. Again it's all about ingredients. TT |
16 Sep 2010 Res Nova, Dartmouth Res Nova, the floating restaurant in Dartmouth was a very pleasant surprise. I kept hearing comments about it, for the food, the service and the tolerance of some of my more inebirated friends so I had to try it. It was during our now distant sunny period and we sat on the deck having our pre-prandials, about eight of us, what a lovely location, watching the sun lower on another glorious day. sun-sparkling water, slightly distant traffic sounds and that lovely feeling of being on and surrounded by water, then as it chilled we went in for our meal. the food was good (although my sense were becoming cloudy) the service was delightful and the bill was astonishing. at the end of a very enjoyable eating and drinking evening, there can't be much more pleasurable than thinking it cost only two thirds of what we were expecting. TT |
8 May 2010 - The Station Restaurant, Dartmouth - special offer two carvery meals £7.50 each - this is not silver service but good value for money basic menu, tasty. Chocolate dessert also very good if you have room! Good view of the river. Afternoon tea and Cream Tea good value |
30 Apr 2010 - The Seahorse, Dartmouth - An exceptional place to eat especially for fish but they definitely know how to cook meat. Portions are not too big except the meat and fish - I suggest you ask how big they are. We had a beef rib between two - it would have easily fed three. Scallops, asparagus, sole, rib all lovely. Then finish off with a "Chocolate Necessity" which looks like a piece of chocolate cake but which is fab-u-lous! Don't go here if you are going to worry about the bill! Dinner £50+ per person Also recommended in The Times 50 best places to eat near the sea |
We have not been recently but othese are places we have never been disappointed by: The Dartmoor Union Inn-Holbeton, The Rose and Crown-Yealmpton, The Ship-Noss Mayo, The New Inn - Morleigh, The Wardroom, Salcombe, Woodlands, The House of Marbles, Bovey Tracey, Kings Arms Inn, Strete, |
We have no affiliation with any of the places listed. We have been to each one and none of the places paid us for these entries or gave us free meals. We just want to share our experiences - we hope it will help you enjoy your leisure time even more. We will not be held responsible for the accuracy of the entries - they are merely our personal observations.
