and a changing range of local cask ales too. Myself and 2 friends went
there yesterday for lunch. The beer seemed to be generally kept well so no
complaints there!
This pub was recommended by a number of people but over all I was not that
impressed though I would not object strongly if I had to go there for a work
do or something similar.
The only starters were a soup of the day and a bread selection to share.
This seemed ridiculously limited to me. My friends had a roast turkey and a
roast beef dinner and I had a Guineafowl schnitzel which consisted of
guineafowl marinated in lemon and time then cooked in breadcrumbs. It was
served with sweet potato wedges and a salad garnish.
The schnitzel was well cooked and fresh. I got less than a handful of
sweet potato wedges. The wedges were well cooked and using sweet potatoes
was a nice twist but I would have liked more for what I paid. The salad
garnish of a small sprig of parsley, a few shredded leaves one segment of
tomato and a couple of small slivers of cucumber in a mustard dressing was
acceptable but uninspiring. I feel a more varied salad might have been
more appropriate.
One of my friends left some of her roast so I got a chance to try it. The
potatoes were quite well cooked. they were reasonably crispy and nice and
soft in the middle. The vegetables were a real highlight and they were
gorgeous. There were leaks, Carrots and red cabbage in a slightly tangy
white sauce and the vegetables were not too over cooked. The turkey also
came with home made stuffing which tasted as though it had sausage meat in
it. This was also very pleasant and went well with the meat.
The meat itself was a real disappointment. The turkey was cut very thin and
I am told the beef was little better. We got in the pub for half 1 and had
booked our table for 2. we actually ordered slightly earlier than this and
people who got served 5 minutes after us were told there were no roasts
left. I don't know if they sliced the meat very thin because of this or if
they always slice the meat that thin but I don't care. for the price we
paid, £8.95 this practice is unacceptable. If there was not enough meat
left we should have been told when we ordered and offered an alternative.
I have rarely had meat this wafer thin since I was at school!
Two of us had the cheese selection for pudding. Again, this was slightly
disappointing. We got some stilton, some mature cheddar and some Brie
cheese with a pile of water biscuits, celery and grapes with real ale
chutney. This sounds quite a feast and there was indeed about quarter of a
pound of cheese. this was almost bigger than the main meal and it should
have been listed in the platters section of the menu rather than the dessert
section as 2 people could have easily shared it. There was the choice of
buying a dessert for a pound if you chose to eat the roast but the cheese
selection was not included so I don't believe it belonged in the dessert
section at all.
The cheese selection should have come with butter for the biscuits. There
should have been a range of biscuits included, not just one variety of water
biscuits and though there was a lot of cheese it was unadventurous and it
was all cut into similar sized triangles suggesting that perhaps it came in
a preprepared pack.
It took us 3 quarters of an our to get our meals and we were not warned of
the delay. I know it was Easter and I know it was busy but surely this is
to be expected. I will probably give this pub the benefit of the doubt and
try it again on a quieter Sunday but in a seaside town like Exmouth any
Sunday can be busy if the weather is good.
In short, the vegetables that came with the roast and the stuffing were real
highlights of the food we ate. Main courses were small for what we paid and
the portions of the meat served with the roast dinners were miserly. The
cheese selection was uninspiring and in the wrong part of the menu.
Staff were courteous but the food was a little over priced and the service
was slow. The Guineafowl cost £11.50. the roast dinners were £8.95 and the
cheese selection cost £5.95
I therefore give this pub 6 out of 10. I paid London gastro pub prices but
the food was not good value for money though everything was quite edible.
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