Devon, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Wow, what a treat… old world style and service… food all locally supplied, including from the hotel’s own kitchen garden… thoroughly deserving their new Michelin star!” – chef Chris Eden has delivered the goods at Andrew Brownsword’s stalwart destination, which lost its long-held accolade from the tyre men in 2019 and finally won it back in spring 2023. There’s nowhere else quite like this large, comfortable property, whose “lovely country house vibe” isn’t completely of a piece with its Tudorbethan styling, which would not be out of place in Surrey – yet here it is down a winding lane, beautifully situated in gardens on the fringes of Dartmoor. It became famous over 40 years ago under the Hendersons who were pioneers of the boutique hotel format, and has been owned by Brownsword since 2005.

“Such a good spot, always developing and always aware of customers’ needs and likes”, say fans of this thatched country pub, which landlady Binka Caven has restored in stages since bringing it back to life 10 years ago. The building was originally five Tudor-era cottages, knocked together into a pub during the 1800s.

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.

“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.

2021 Review: One of the better pubs in the Exeter area – this well-known gastropub near J29 of the M5 has been in the same hands for over 25 years, and wins praise for its “very reliable cooking” and “a great choice of local beers and ciders”.

“Located in a charming chocolate box north Devon village”, this “quintessential country pub” in a thirteenth-century cottage is “well worth the outing” by all accounts. Chef Mark Dodson, formerly of the famed Waterside Inn, is in charge of the seasonal food, which a couple of reports note is still “worthy of its Michelin star”. “If the cuisine isn’t wow wow in its originality, the whole package is what you want from a place like this”: an “all-round special experience” that spans everything from the “warm welcome” to the “fabric of the building itself” to “a great selection of dishes, all lovely”.

2023 Review: Landlord James Garnham took over this lovely thatched pub in his boyhood village with his wife Charlie five years ago, building an excellent reputation for its food and hospitality. “We have now visited 3 times in as many weeks – which says it all!”.

John Hooker and wife Emma’s “lovely pub” en route to Cornwall was praised this year for some “really clever cooking without being fussy or complicated” (including “good venison from local stalkers”). Despite the “exciting things happening in the kitchen” of late, it has reassuringly “not lost its ‘pubbiness’”.

2022 Review: “Good all round” – the consistent ratings at this famous sporting hotel on the edge of Dartmoor have not been ruffled by its 2020 sale by the Fox-Edwards family that owned and ran it for 60 years to new custodians and former guests Simon Village & Arabella Monro. The 300-year-old former coaching inn has 20 miles of private riverbank and a fly-fishing school established in the 1930, and also caters for game shooting and deer-stalking parties. Meals are served in the dining room and bar, and there is a new deli providing picnic hampers.

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”.

Expanded over its 50 years in operation – now to 16 rooms – this converted mansion on the Devon/Cornwall border enjoys good views of the Tamar Valley from its dining room. Dinner is a three-course table d’hôte or you can opt for the (only somewhat more expensive) six-course tasting menu for £85 per person. It was well-rated all round this year.

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.

2023 Review: The “stunning” combination of “really good, classic food” and the “lovely setting” of “Humphry Repton’s last garden, overlooking the Tamar”, makes a meal in the original wood-panelled dining room here a real pleasure. There’s also a notable cream tea in the afternoon. Sibling to Hotel Tresanton in the Polizzi Collection, Endsleigh was originally the Duke of Bedford’s private lodge for hunting and fishing.

A “great location” – an “interesting renovation” of an Elizabethan mansion – contributes to the atmosphere of this Otter Valley outpost of the trendy Pig empire. Increased reports this year of rather “average” cooking (“unmemorable apart from the price”, ouch), though fans insist that, albeit “slightly hit-and-miss”, it’s “generally hit”.

2021 Review: “A friendly, well-run pub” that's “owned by the Otter brewery, so the beer is always well kept”. On the food front, it “maintains a steady standard” (“tapas in the downstairs bar are always interesting and the full menu is served upstairs in a non-fancy environment”).

2022 Review: “A lovely estuary view” accompanies a visit to this 400-year-old pub right on the water at this scenic fishing village – “a great find” to the uninitiated with a “very good” traditional pub menu.

“Without a doubt this was well and away my best meal of the year!” – “Dan Cox’s delightful, new regenerative farm-to-fork project” opened in February 2023 and is destined for great things, inspiring rapturous early reports. “You can instantly tell that he owes a lot to his long tenure under Simon Rogan at L’Enclume and then Fera”. He took over this former sawmill and organic farm on the Devon/Cornwall border in 2018 and spent five years planning and planting and raising rare-breed livestock in order to open this 25-cover ultra-sustainable restaurant with an open kitchen which occupies an old barn on the farm. The result is a “a wonderfully sparse, yet cosy and warm place” whose cuisine inspires a full-on rave: “we had the 13-course tasting menu, which was innovative and totally delicious, with everything sourced from the farm or like-minded local producers with the menu dependent on availability. The matching wines were also excellent. Well worth a journey!” – “The Lion’s Mane steak was powerful and full of umami notes, so much so that even our diehard carnivore of a daughter enjoyed it. The pork belly and leg dish was exquisite. Hit all the right notes in this unstuffy dining experience where the chef serves your food. After only three months open it thoroughly deserves its Michelin Green Star and is destined to go far”. (In his August 2023 review, The Telegraph’s William Sitwell also pronounced himself a fan: “I can honestly say this was a collection of magnificent, original and quite breathtaking food”.)

2022 Review: “This pub with a relaxed bar as well as a formal dining room AND a fish ’n’ chip shop” is just the first part of a massive restoration project in the village of Woolfardisworthy (pronounced and written as Woolsery) embarked upon in 2015 by San Francisco-based internet millionaires Michael and Xochi Birch, honouring his ancestral ties. “The atmosphere is fabulous and they manage to provide food that appeals to all budgets and palates” – including beef, lamb and pork from the village’s Birch Farm. Top Tip: “excellent local hogget made into great shepherd’s pie”.