The Clinton Arms, Maer Lane,Littleham Village, Exmouth, Devon EX8 2RL

This is a medium sized pub not far from the Sandy Village holiday complex
where many holiday makers visiting Exmouth stay.

While the Clinton does advertise locally to attract these people, it also
has a strong local trade and identity which is a combination rarely achieved
in seaside pubs. This is made possible in part by a number of separate
rooms. There is a restaurant where families can dine as well as a family
room and play area for children out the back and a more traditional bar area
where you get few if any young children.

This pub sold real ale in the form of Otter Ale and Courage Directors. I'm
not a great fan of Directors but the Otter was pleasant enough though
perhaps served 2 cold.
Myself and 2 friends ate at the Clinton last week. I had Garlic Mushrooms
in White Wine Sauce for starter which was very plentiful and it came with a
nice newly warmed crusty roll with plenty of butter. I would have liked the
sauce to be a bit more garlicky perhaps but that's just personal taste. My
friends did not have starters and judging by the size of the portions I
can't blame them. I had Swordfish in Cajun Butter as a main which came with
a choice of salad or veg and a choice of potatoes. My 2 friends had Gammon
and chips (known as hammy) and Liver and Bacon.

Again the portions were generous. my fish was well cooked with enough of
the Cajun butter to help enhance the flavour of the fish without ruining it.
The salad was quite varied. It contained Coleslaw, Raw cabbage, lettuce,
tomato, cucumber and peppers. I would have liked a little onion too. The
hammy came with peas and the liver with carrots, peas and cauliflower as
well as mash.

The only real complaint I have about my meal was the roast potatoes which
were a bit soggy and had a slightly burned taste as though they had been
cooked on an old grill with lots of stuff charred to it. they were nearly
inedible. The chips that came with the gammon were frozen rather than fresh
but of decent quality. The mash was good though perhaps a little
flavourless. My friend liked the liver but thought it was a bit dry as
their was not enough gravy.

The food at the Clinton is not bad but when you pay 8 or 9 pounds for a main
you should expect the quality of the food to be high and consistent. These
are after all heading towards restaurant prices and this is well outside
London so food should be cheaper. while portion sizes are good, I am a
little concerned about overall consistency.

Staff were generally quite helpful and over all I give the Clinton Arms a
mark of 6 out of 10.