Maidencombe Restaurant Guide

“Right by the beach with lovely sunset views across to Dartmoor” (particularly from the terrace), this is the place to “indulge yourself with a huge seafood platter of fresh crab and oysters”; these days it’s “no longer just a ‘shack’” as of yore (reflected in the prices, a perennial quibble), but is “now serving up a more sophisticated menu” spanning cocktails and roast lobster.

“This reliably consistent beacon of Michelin star excellence handily placed by the yacht club and marina is an absolute stalwart”, having held the accolade since 2006. “Both the kitchen and front of house continue to deliver”, with much of the produce for the restaurant grown on owner Simon Hulstone’s 100-acre Brixham farm. Occupying an elegant Georgian townhouse, it’s relatively informal by the standards of foodie temples, and there’s a sensibly priced à la carte alongside the fancier tasting options.

A chalkboard menu lists the day’s “fresh fish”, sourced from nearby Brixham, at the Stacey family’s straightforward harbourside haunt, a fixture of more than 30 years’ standing. There’s an upstairs wine bar open in the evening, with panoramic views over Torbay.

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”.

“Very relaxed but with always interesting food” – this organic and ethical pub-with-rooms won the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s coveted Sustainability Award last year – recognition of the efforts made by the team led by founder Geetie Singh-Watson, a self-styled ethical publican who sold her flat in London to rescue what had been a run-down local boozer. The locally sourced food does not just tick the sustainability box: “the local ingredients are varied and excellent, in intriguing combinations. eg. beetroot and sheep’s curd starter is simple, yet tasty and on a recent visit a cod’s head was on the menu”.

“Just wow! This is vegetables supreme” – eating in the canteen at the organic veg box operation’s farm guarantees a “variety and intensity of flavours that’s a feast for both the eyes and palate”. “The last time I came to Riverford I thought it had lost its mojo – but on this occasion its mojo has returned!” – “Covid means you no longer share large bowls of food on long tables and the dessert buffet is no more, so it’s more like a traditional restaurant – but you’re here for the interesting salads and veg, freshly harvested from the farm”. Top Tip – “in the summer, eating on the terrace with the smells from the surrounding hen garden is a delight”.

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.

“Mitch Tonks can do no wrong!” according to fans of this well-known west country chef’s harbourside flagship – an understated, Italian-influenced “seafood brasserie” where you “watch the freshest of local catches cooked in front of you on an open grill”. These days it is run by his son Ben, who oversees twice-daily deliveries from nearby Brixham harbour, “all correctly prepared and served with a Devon smile”.

The flagship of a “small chain with great food”, founded in 2010 by Mitch Tonks – “it’s difficult to know whether it’s a restaurant or an upmarket fish ’n’ chips place (although the food is still good either way)”. The brand now comprises eight restaurants, three takeaways and one café dotted around the southwest, along with a fishmonger and a tinned fish business – but plans to expand via three new branches in 2024 were scuppered by delays: Salcombe and Sidmouth venues should open in summer ’25, but Topsham has been abandoned.

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).

Near the quayside of this beautiful Devon estuary town, a rustic bistro (“small, but that only adds to its charm”) which makes a “great place for a celebration dinner” based around “wonderful” locally sourced fish and shellfish. As of 2023, Jack Harvey, who learnt his craft alongside Marcus Wareing, is at the pass, having stepped in for former MasterChef: The Professionals finalist James Checkley.

“Good-quality food at reasonable prices”, including “brilliant local seafood”, is the attraction at this restored Georgian inn from locally born chef-patron Tom Williams-Hawkes (ex-Gordon Ramsay and Gidleigh Park) and his wife Amelia. In summer 2024 they rejigged the venue to operate as a café by day and a restaurant by night, with a new bar area.

“There‘s a dearth of good restaurants in Exeter, so Rendezvous stands out” – a “lovely little place tucked away downstairs” and fusing a “charming” and “calm” restaurant and wine bar. “High-quality locally sourced ingredients are cooked carefully and imaginatively” and abetted by an “interesting wine list with a good selection by the glass”.

“After a swim in the Shoalstone Lido, it’s a delight to eat at this seafood café on the coastal path looking out over the seawater pool” (with further views to the Bay of Torquay) and – as of 2022 – an even more dramatic rooftop terrace where they grill catch and bring it to the table. One regular fan feels it’s “got its mojo back of late”, saying “the menu had veered towards more ambitious dishes the tiny kitchen struggled to deliver, but it’s back doing what it does best – simple cooking of the freshest fish delivered straight from the Brixham Fish Auction (where the owner is a wholesaler)”.

“High levels are set in this restaurant in the grounds of Lympstone Manor” – Michael Caines’s sleek venue overlooks the outdoor heated pool of his glamorous hotel and provides a contemporary and laid-back alternative to the more formal style of the main property. Given the fixed-price nature of the menu, there are cheaper places for a burger, pasta or Caesar salad, but overall feedback suggests that it stacks up for a taste of affordable luxury.

“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).

Dan & Katie Goto’s “small” Japanese has “become an absolute must in a slowly improving Exeter scene” [or, a ‘go-to’ one might struggle not to say: Ed] since upping sticks from its former home in Plymouth three years ago. It’s still “unusual to have a small independent restaurant” in these parts, let alone one turning out top-quality sushi, sashimi, ramen and rice bowls in a room featuring Dan’s own anime-style paintings. Top Tip – it is “very popular with local residents and therefore booking is essential!”.