Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Maidencombe
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Maidencombe restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 19 restaurants in Maidencombe and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Maidencombe restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Maidencombe Restaurants
2. Lympstone Manor
British, Modern restaurant in Exmouth
Courtlands Lane - EX8
“Michael Caines continues to deliver an exquisite dining experience, wherein locally sourced produce is transformed into joy on a plate in a gloriously beautiful location”, according to practically all feedback on this Georgian mansion, set amidst its own vineyards and overlooking the Exe estuary. “The dining space is split across three rooms” (Berry Head has the best views) and the cuisine is “outstanding: in particular the Estuary Tasting menu is a triumph of fish cooking”. “Also his own wines are very good”. Minority concerns include the odd incident of “disengaged service” or a “slightly sterile” atmosphere. More common though is applause for the “stunning setting and views”, “efficient” approach and “exceptional” overall standards. “Why only 1 star? It’s right up there with the big guns!”
3. Crab Shack
Fish & seafood restaurant in Teignmouth
3 Queen St - TQ14
“Simple and small, sited right on back beach” this popular shack is “heaven for seafood lovers!” according to its fans. Too limited feedback for a rating this year, but there were none of last year’s gripes about rising prices: “all you need is a whole crab, truffle fries, some hardware, glass of something cold and an hour, then you forget about the cost!”
4. Elephant Restaurant & Brasserie
British, Modern restaurant in Torquay
3-4 Beacon Ter, Harbourside - TQ1
Decorated TV chef Simon Hulstone’s longstanding home base on the harbour was the first restaurant in Torquay to gain a Michelin star – an honour it has retained ever since; produce is largely sourced from Hulstone’s 100-acre Brixham farm, feeding into a brilliant value set-lunch (it’s thus tipped as a “superb lunchtime meeting place”) and more elaborate tasting menu.
5. No 7 Fish Bistro & Wine Bar
Fish & seafood restaurant in Torquay
7 Beacon Terrace - TQ1
“Divine fish and seafood” from Brixham is the mainstay of the blackboard menu at the Stacey family’s “small, intimate” and “good-value” spot, now in its fourth decade. “Have been going for years and the fantastic fresh fish never disappoints – have taken American friends who vow it’s the best they have ever had!”. There’s also a wine bar upstairs.
6. Rockfish Exmouth
Fish & seafood restaurant in Exmouth
Pier Head - EX8
2023 Review: “We love the Rockfish chain” – and “Exmouth is our favourite”, say fans of Mitch Tonks’s West Country seafood group, which had eight branches as we went to press, with two more (Salcombe and Topsham) about to open, along with an online seafood market and a pioneering canned-fish operation. Despite being a multiple, it offers “top seafood, and the staff seem really passionate about the subject”.
7. The Bull Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Totnes
Rotherfold Square, Little Totnes - TQ9
This “amazing organic pub-with-rooms, serving great food with a conscience and really lovely wine list” is “different from the usual”. It’s owned and run by Geetie Singh-Watson, a self-proclaimed feminist and ethical publican who moved to Devon after meeting her husband, Riverford founder Guy Watson, on Soil Association business. She sold her London flat to finance the rescue of the run-down pub, which is “becoming an established favourite for Totnes residents and visitors, so it’s wise to book”.
8. Riverford Field Kitchen
British, Traditional restaurant in Buckfastleigh
Wash Barn - TQ11
The “really imaginative, fresh and creative food served by engaged and enthusiastic staff” in the canteen at this organic veg box company’s HQ is “top, top grub – enough to turn the staunchest of meat-eaters into a temporary veggie!” – although some meat is served, albeit in a supporting role. Long-term admirers, though, regret that “the buffet of puds is no more, so you have to choose just one pud off the menu. I understand why COVID had this impact, but I do hope it isn’t permanent”.
9. The Rock Inn
restaurant in Newton Abbot
Haytor Vale, Dartmoor National Pk - TQ13
2023 Review: Beautifully situated on Dartmoor, this rural pub was consistently well-reviewed this year for its hearty and enjoyable bistro-style menu (it’s not a pub grub kind of place). There are nine bedrooms, too, and – if you stay – there’s the additional option of a lighter early bird supper.
10. The Seahorse
Fish & seafood restaurant in Dartmouth
5 South Embankment - TQ6
The harbourside flagship of Mitch Tonks’s West Country group is a “great all-rounder”, majoring in “superb fish and seafood”. The Italian-influenced cooking is “delicious and unfussy”, the wine list “interesting at all price points” – “and to cap it all, diners are made to feel really welcome. It’s hard to find this level of hospitality nowadays”. Top Menu Tip – “the focaccia and anchoiade is legendary”.
11. Rockfish
Fish & chips restaurant in Dartmouth
8 South Embankment - TQ6
The original and “still the best of the Rockfish chain”, founded by Mitch Tonks in 2010 and now with 10 satellite venues around the southwest coast, as well as its own boat and supply chain in Brixham. It’s an “upmarket fish ’n’ chip restaurant” with prices to match – and the “daily choice is always worth having”.
12. The Angel, Angelique Hotel
French restaurant in Dartmouth
2 South Embankment - TQ6
2022 Review: On the River Dart, this location has a fine culinary history, having been run by figures as diverse as Joyce Molyneux (one of the first women in the UK to receive a Michelin star) and TV chef John Burton-Race. It’s now under former MasterChef: The Professionals finalist Elly Wentworth, and fans “think it will settle down into a very good restaurant” indeed, with reports of some “very memorable” food (running from “stunning” Sunday roasts to a six-course tasting menu).
13. The Galley
Fish & seafood restaurant in Topsham
41 Fore Street - EX3
“Fresh fish is the attraction at this small bistro in Topsham village”, situated near the historic quay; the “first-class” cooking from chef Jack Harvey. He trained in London under Marcus Waring for 2 years, is well “deserving of its recent Bib Gourmand”, with particular praise directed at the “good-value” midweek lunch.
14. The Salutation Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Topsham
68 Fore Street - EX3
“Beautifully presented, interesting modern cuisine” is on the menu at this “Georgian coaching inn, centrally located in a lovely unspoilt historic port in the Exe estuary”, with “a conservatory-style dining room created by an intriguing glass roof over the former carriage yard”. “Seafood and fish is a speciality”, and post-pandemic they also operate a fishmonger’s.
15. Rendezvous Wine Bar
British, Modern restaurant in Exeter
38-40 Southernhay East - EX1
A “lovely” Southernhay restaurant plus basement wine bar that’s handy for Cathedral Yard. The “excellent wine list and menu showcase local producers”, contributing to what is an invariably “reliable” spot.
16. Shoals
Fish & seafood restaurant in Brixham
10 South West Coast Path - TQ5
“The menu has become a little more sophisticated with the new chef, and prices have increased” accordingly, say fans of this much-loved joint above the lido. Given that “this tiny restaurant is best at simply prepared fish fresh from that morning’s auction at Brixham” (where owners the Perkes are wholesalers), the changes are not always supported, but even the odd critic “would still return for the freshest fish and that view to die for across the bay” to Torquay. In 2022, that view got even better, with a new rooftop terrace area where they grill the catch outdoors and bring it directly to table.
17. The Pool House, Lympstone Manor
restaurant in Exmouth
Courtlands Lane - EX8
“An impressive new building (albeit noisy when full due to hard surfaces)” and “incredibly professional service” help win praise for this newish addition to Michael Caines’s luxurious HQ, overlooking the hotel’s recently added outdoor heated pool. The culinary aims here are more straightforward than in the main building with burgers and pasta dishes alongside more substantial brasserie fare, but even so dishes are not priced individually: you need to choose either a two-course (£48 per person) or three-course (£60 per person) meal.
18. Emilia
Italian restaurant in Ashburton
2 East Street - TQ13
“This really was a very pleasant surprise” – a “small but very lively” osteria, set in a former Lloyds bank, that draws its name and inspiration from the Emilia-Romagna region; the “interesting, daily changing menu” is chalked up on the old vault door, and revolves around a “selection of delicious small plates” (including a particularly “stunning” ‘offal of the day’ option).
19. Goto
Japanese restaurant in Exeter
38 New Bridge Street - EX4
“When it opened, it was pretty straightforward snagging a table – good luck right now!”. Dan & Katie Goto moved their Plymouth business to Exeter a couple of years ago after their lease expired, and its “really good” sushi, sashimi and other traditional Japanese dishes have won it quick popularity locally: “it could thrive in bigger premises”.
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