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This friendly bistro with wooden floors and simple tables has been at the heart of Exeter's vegetarian and vegan scene for more than 30 years. It's an ideal spot for unwinding over leisurely conversation and enjoying such dishes as spinach and mushroom lasagna; a jackfruit, beet, and bean burger; kari sayur (a Malaysian-style curry with split peas, butternut squash, peppers, and sugar snaps); or carrot and cashew nutloaf with a wild mushroom sauce. Leave room for such scrumptious desserts as "Heaven in Devon" (fudge ice cream with chocolate brownie and a vanilla sauce). All the wines are organic, too.
15 North St., Exeter, Devon, EX4 3QS, England
Known For
- Tasty and inventive vegetarian and vegan food
- Mellow atmosphere
- Organic wines
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon.
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Overlooking Swanpool Beach a mile south of Falmouth, this popular eatery has a lively buzz and a menu that showcases the best seafood to be found in Cornish waters. Plump and juicy scallops from Falmouth Bay, mussels served with baked focaccia, wild prawns in 'nduja sauce, lobster with garlic and herb butter, crab risotto, and plain old fish-and-chips are among the favorite items on the family-friendly menu, while cocktails and mocktails can be ordered at the table or in the adjoining alfresco bar. Staff are young and enthusiastic, and the ambience is relaxed. Book a table on the outdoor terrace for the best experience—Pendennis Castle is visible just across the bay. Swanpool Beach is a stop on the Falmouth Coaster bus route.
Swanpool, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 5BG, England
Known For
- Buzzy beach restaurant
- Relaxing sea views
- Fresh, local seafood
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed 2 wks in Jan. and Mon.–Wed. in Nov.–mid-Feb.
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Exeter-born master chef Michael Caines has breathed new life into this elegant Georgian mansion overlooking the Exe estuary 5 miles south of Exeter, where he has installed three separate dining rooms to showcase his highly original recipes. The wow-factor starts the moment you arrive, with unforgettable estuary views forming a fitting prelude to the gastronomic feast to follow. The seasonal four-course lunch menu (£95), à la carte fixed-price menu (£155), and multicourse tasting menus (£180 and £195) might include such dishes as shellfish ravioli with langoustine bisque, salted Newlyn cod with lemon purée, Lyme Bay crab, samphire, and chorizo, and poached chicken with Wye Valley asparagus and wild garlic. There is a separate vegetarian and vegan menu that has choices like herb and nettle risotto with aged Parmesan cheese, while typical desserts include apple mousse with green apple jelly, apple sorbet, and vanilla foam, and mango and lime soufflé. Luxurious accommodations are also available on site.
Courtlands La., Exeter, Devon, EX8 3NZ, England
Known For
- Fabulous location
- Stylishly presented and eclectic gourmet cuisine
- Frequently changing fixed-price menus and tasting menus
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch Mon. and Tues.
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Intimate and elegant, this restaurant located within a luxury guesthouse is an ideal hideaway if you want some respite from the crowds swirling around St. Ives. Everything on the seven-course tasting menu (£49 or £69) is locally sourced and seasonal, and the chef will take the time to talk you through each dish; the menu's highlights might include lobster bolognese cannelloni with a caramelly lobster sauce, duck with Puy lentils and smoked carrot, or guinea fowl terrine with celeriac and pickled mushroom. With its boldly patterned wallpaper, the restaurant enlivens its classic style with modern decor, and there are superb views over Porthminster beach and the sea.
27 The Terrace, St. Ives, Cornwall, TR26 2BP, England
Known For
- Fine dining away from the crowds
- Inventive tasting menus
- Wonderful sea views
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. in Jun.–Sept. and Sun.–Wed. in Oct.–May. No lunch
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Bristol's former stock exchange has found a new role as an atmospheric Indian eatery. It's the perfect setting for classic and innovative Indian dishes such as nilgiri korma (chicken or lamb in a creamy almond sauce with rose petals) and machi mazadaar (salmon with mustard seeds and tamarind water). All the opulent trimmings have been restored, including the mahogany paneling, rich drapes, tiled staircase, and elegant statuary.
34 St. Nicholas St., Bristol, Bristol, BS1 1TG, England
Known For
- Evocative, historic surroundings
- Tasty Indian cuisine
- Wide-ranging menu
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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One of the country's foremost chefs, Nathan Outlaw, has established a base in Port Isaac, where he has two top-notch seafood restaurants. The Fish Kitchen, right on the quay, is the more casual of the two, occupying a 15th-century fisherman’s cottage with just eight tables and the three-course fixed-price menu (£88 per person) features the freshest seafood available, all creatively prepared and sustainably sourced. Your meal might include monkfish satay with peanuts and lime or cured gurnard with sweet potato, chili, and coriander. The smarter, roomier, and pricier Outlaw's New Road at the top of the village also serves a set seafood menu for lunch and dinner at £105 per person (Tuesday through Saturday). No children under 10 are allowed in either restaurant.
1 Middle St., Port Isaac, Cornwall, PL29 3RH, England
Known For
- Sophisticated preparations of fresh local seafood
- Cozy but cramped ambience
- Friendly, informative staff
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and mid-Dec.–Jan.
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This thatched pub on a creek 4 miles north of Falmouth is a great retreat, with both a patio and a moored pontoon for summer dining. The menu features standard pub grub—for example, a half-pint of prawns with lemon mayonnaise and pork and leek sausages—but you may be satisfied with just a local ale or a West Country organic wine by the waterside. Maritime memorabilia and fresh flowers provide decoration, and there's a blazing fire in winter. You can sit in the bar, in the oak-beamed room upstairs, or outside.
Restronguet Creek, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 5ST, England
Known For
- Serene riverside setting
- Great local ales and wines
- Mellow atmosphere
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Unbeatable for its location alone—on the broad, golden sands of Porthminster Beach—this sleek, modern eatery prepares imaginative lunches and evening meals that you can savor while you take in the marvelous vista across the bay. The accent is on Mediterranean and Asian seafood dishes, and typical choices include sea bass fillet with local asparagus and a sauce vierge, Indonesian monkfish curry, and roasted duck breast with baked beetroot, burnt orange, and gin sauce. There's a gin bar and outdoor kitchen too—a tempting stop on a sunny day for breakfast, a snack, or just a drink—and two sister restaurants (Porthminster Kitchen on the harborside and Porthgwidden Beach Restaurant, in the Downalong neighborhood) have smaller and cheaper menus that are equally strong on seafood.
Porthminster Beach, St. Ives, Cornwall, TR26 2EB, England
Known For
- Beachside location
- Consistently high quality of food
- Famous seafood curry
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Nov. No dinner Sun. in Oct., Jan., and Feb.
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Fresh seafood landed at the nearby quays, such as sea bass and hake, features high on the menu at this Barbican eatery, but you will also find pastas, risottos, steaks, and slow-cooked duck-leg confit. Cornish mussels or grilled scallops make an ideal light lunch, while desserts include crème brûlée served with salted caramel ice cream or raspberry and Champagne sorbet. The modern decor in the two dining areas—upstairs and downstairs—is crisply white, the service is enthusiastic, and the atmosphere is warm and friendly.
33 Southside St., Plymouth, Plymouth, PL1 2LE, England
Known For
- First-class service
- Creative and delicious food
- Tasty desserts
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A 14th-century inn and a row of thatched cottages make up this pub-restaurant with great views over the Bristol Channel. The kitchen mixes local cuisine with European influences, so expect dishes like Exmoor rib-eye steak and roasted artichoke, tomato, and black olive Provençal tart. There's fresh seafood year-round, and a superb game menu in winter. Booking ahead is advisable for the restaurant; otherwise, just show up for the bar menu, which features such snacks as soused mackerel fillet and crab sandwiches. In the attached hotel, corridors and creaking staircases lead to cozy guest rooms decorated in stylish print or solid fabrics.
Riverside Rd., Lynmouth, Devon, EX35 6EG, England
Known For
- Traditional pub decor and ambience
- Good range of local ales
- Delicious seafood and local meat dishes
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This small and buzzing bistro has a rock-and-roll flavor, thanks to the walls adorned with posters of music icons. Diners squeeze onto benches and into booths to savor dishes made with local seafood, including a majestic bouillabaisse, or just a simple "Samburger." Steaks and "super salads" are also on the menu. You may have to wait for a table, but there's a slinky lounge-bar upstairs for a preprandial drink.
20 Fore St., Fowey, Cornwall, PL23 1AQ, England
Known For
- Best burgers in Cornwall
- Large portions
- Friendly service
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations not accepted
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Around the corner from the cathedral, you can lift a tankard of bitter in the very rooms where Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh enjoyed their ale. The pub dishes out casual bar fare, from sandwiches and grills to steaks and ale pies, either in the bar or in the beamed and paneled upstairs restaurant. Drake, in fact, once wrote, "Next to mine own shippe, I do most love that old ‘Shippe' in Exon."
1–3 St. Martin's La., Exeter, Devon, EX1 1EY, England
Known For
- Famous former patrons
- Traditional English pub fare
- Lively and welcoming environment
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One of Cornwall's oldest pubs, the 1312 Sloop Inn serves simple lunches as well as evening meals in wood-beam rooms that display the work of local artists. The traditional menu includes fish pie, salads, and burgers as well as Cornish seafood paella. There's also a separate restaurant upstairs, and if the weather's good, you can eat at the tables outside at the front or on a rooftop terrace for excellent harbor views.
The Wharf, St. Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1LP, England
Known For
- Lively harborside atmosphere
- Traditional pub kitchen
- Cornish beers
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Part of chef Rick Stein's empire, this French-leaning bistro with contemporary art adorning its walls has a secluded feel. The menu is strong on seafood but also offers succulent steaks and tasty vegetarian choices, featuring dishes like whole grilled lobster, a warm salad of monkfish, prawns and fennel butter, and ravioli with porcini mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and hazelnuts. Look out for the set-price menus that are sometimes available. When the weather's nice, you can dine in the sunny walled garden, and Ruby's Bar next door offers a cozy nook for gins and cocktails. Upstairs are 10 spacious bedrooms individually decorated with stylish modern pieces.
4 New St., Padstow, Cornwall, PL28 8EA, England
Known For
- Unpretentious fine dining
- Smart but lively ambience
- Walled garden for eating outside
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Housed within the historic Plymouth Gin Distillery in the heart of the Barbican, this restaurant owned by a distinguished local culinary duo is a cheerful spot for a quick lunch or a more leisurely evening meal. The menu might include locally caught hake with Shetland Isle mussels and potato gnocchi; pea and mascarpone risotto with goat's cheese; or a steak from the charcoal grill. To finish, try one of the toothsome desserts, perhaps the whipped vanilla cheesecake with strawberries. There are good set-price menus at lunchtime and early evening, and you can sample gin cocktails in the Refectory Bar on the same premises, made with the Plymouth Gin distilled on site.
60 Southside St., Plymouth, Plymouth, PL1 2LQ, England
Known For
- Buzzy atmosphere
- Cool distillery location (with plenty of house-made gin on the menu)
- Friendly staff
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon. No lunch Tues.
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$ | Clifton |
As the name implies, this casual eatery in the heart of Clifton village specializes in pork products, with special attention given to the humble British "banger." Sausages range from the traditional Gloucester Old Spot to Cotswold lamb, mint, and apricot; pork, leek, and stilton; and beef and ale, and all come with plain mashed potato or "champ" (mashed potato with spring onions). The menu also includes a tender slow-roast pork belly with plenty of crackling and gravy, mushroom, and spinach risotto, and a fish special featuring whatever seafood has been brought in from Cornish ports. The bright, modern restaurant is furnished with solid wooden benches and tables, and has outdoor seating, too. Local beers are served, and dishes are also available as take-outs.
7–9 Portland St., Bristol, Bristol, BS8 4JA, England
Known For
- Range of sausage dishes
- Local beers
- Snacks to go
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Set back from Torquay's harbor, this elegant eatery offers sophisticated but relaxed dining, with views over Torbay from its Georgian windows. The innovative menus offer such starters as Brixham crab with sour apple jelly or hand-dived scallops with whey-butter sauce and pickled grapes, and, among the mains, you might find rump of lamb with Provençal-style vegetables or roasted monkfish with ravioli of salsify and fennel. The highly skilled kitchen is matched by the pleasant and attentive wait staff. At lunch, you can choose between the set menu (£28–£32) or a set-price à la carte menu (£53 or £68), which is also available in the evening alongside a multicourse tasting menu (£90).
3-4 Beacon Terr., Torquay, Torbay, TQ1 2BH, England
Known For
- First-class service
- Delectable dishes
- Fixed-price menus
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed late Dec.–mid-Jan. and Sun.–Tues. in early Sept.–early Apr.
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Slightly off the tourist track but only a few minutes from the cathedral, this classic gastro-pub offers a winning combination of traditional decor lightened with tasteful modern touches and great, locally sourced food. The eclectic menu includes such standout dishes as Madras chicken curry, confit of duck, and beer-battered haddock. It may appear small at first sight, but there's a second dining area with a similarly cozy feel upstairs. Good local ales are served at the bar.
1 St. Thomas St., Wells, Somerset, BA5 2UU, England
Known For
- Warm, intimate atmosphere
- Extensive menu with some great English classics
- Good range of beers, including local ales
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No dinner Sun.
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This vegetarian café and restaurant is perfect for breakfast, coffee, or a light lunch. Order at the counter and find a space in one of the three rooms—all simply furnished with rustic-style benches and tables and local art on the pastel-colored walls—or in the walled garden. Apart from pizzas, quiches, jacket potatoes, and house-baked rolls and cakes, the chalkboard might include such dishes as cauliflower cheese with roast potatoes and red wine gravy or mixed grain salad with roasted carrot and fennel. The whole food shop next door offers a range of picnic ingredients, too.
4–6 Priory Rd., Wells, Somerset, BA5 1SY, England
Known For
- Wholesome vegetarian food
- Great cakes
- Local community vibe
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No dinner
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This is the real deal, perfect for a light lunch or, even better, a cream tea served on bone china. Warm scones come in baskets, with black currant and other homemade jams and plenty of clotted cream. It's closed every afternoon and all day Sunday.
20 Fore St., Bovey Tracey, Devon, TQ13 9AD, England
Known For
- Perfect English cream tea
- Charming ambience
- Homemade cakes and desserts
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No dinner
