EXPERIENCE A TRUE TASTE SENSATION IN SOUTH DEVON

THIS REGION IS A FOODIE’S PARADISE WITH A HOST OF FANTASTIC RESTAURANTS, CAFÉS AND PUBS – SO MAKE SURE YOU BRING A HEALTHY APPETITE

Wherever you are in South Devon, you’re unlikely to go hungry. This fertile region is rich in farmland and the proximity of the sea means fabulously fresh fish. Look out for the region’s pasture-reared lamb, cider, real ales and fish and chips, as well as delicate crab and lobster. Then dig in and enjoy!

Devon excels in traditional fodder, but the modern food revolution has also arrived! Local upscale producers range from winemakers and chilli farmers to coffee roasters, microbrewers and soft-fruit farmers.

You won’t be short of food markets to browse in South Devon, especially during the summer season. You’ll find quality eats across the region at weekends, while in Exeter the Street Food Market kicks off a couple of times a month from May to September.

In early May, Plymouth Street Food Festival brings three days of culinary fun to the city, as food trucks selling everything from Tibetan to Moroccan eats set up in Central Park. Late May sees the brand-new English Riviera Food & Music Festival kick off in Torbay, featuring cooking demonstrations, celebrity chefs, plenty of delicious local produce and top music acts such as DJ Yoda and The Feeling. Late May/early June is Flavour Fest in Plymouth, the region’s biggest food fair where attractions include temporary allotments.

Bovey Tracey hosts the one-day Nourish Festival in September, which combines music, food and crafts, while in October there’s the Dartmouth Food Festival, a lively three-day celebration of local seasonal produce from sea salt to wine to fabulous seafood. Head here to enjoy street food stalls, produce tastings and demonstrations by celebrity chefs.

Many of the region’s farmers are upping their ecofriendly game and turning to organic and environmentally responsible techniques. Red Devon Cattle graze the lush grassland, providing milk for clotted cream, ice cream and hand-made cheeses.

If you’re after something more unusual, deer and ostrich are also farmed here. Even better? The relatively balmy climate has allowed wine production to flourish, so you can enjoy a glass of cool white wine alongside local meats and cheeses. As well as more traditional cider, scrumpy and ales, of course!

Meander up the River Dart towards Totnes and you’ll discover Sandridge Barton – The home of Sharpham Wines, based on a thousand-year-old farm. You can avoid drink-driving difficulties by arriving in leisurely fashion on the riverboat! The café (closed in winter) provides the perfect setting to sample Sharpham’s vintages whilst looking out over the water and the Capability Browndesigned landscape.

The wine itself is created through a fusion of New World and traditional techniques, and the dairy turns out cheeses using rich milk from a Jersey herd. Book yourself onto a tour to experience the grounds and delve deeper into wine and cheese making.

You can’t leave the area without sampling a legendary Devon cream tea, which comes complete with fresh scones, home-made jam and a generous side order of clotted cream.

You can also join in the essential debate about whether to smother your scone with jam or cream first. The consensus in these parts, by the way, is cream first, then jam...

If you’re after a sit-down meal you’ll have plenty of options to choose from, whether you want to sample award-winning cuisine in swish surroundings or relax at a simple seafood shack on the beach.

On the coast at Teignmouth, the hugely popular Blue Hut at Point River Beach is – yes! – a blue hut, dishing up excellent coffees and wonderfully-fresh seafood including Devon crab sandwiches and mussels. Carnivores can get their chops around meaty treats such as venison burgers and Cajun chicken wraps.

Nearby Torquay is more famous for bucket-and-spade summer fun than fine food. But it’s the home of Michelinstarred restaurant The Elephant. Overlooking the

VEGAN BRUNCH CAFE

OPEN EVERYDAY tripadvisor sacredgrounds.co @exetersacredgrounds

McCoy’s Arcade, Fore St, Exeter EX4 3AN

Located in the award-winning Connaught Gardens overlooking the stunning Jacob’s Ladder Beach, the Clock Tower Café is focused on providing all guests with amazing coffee, freshly cooked dishes and a cake cabinet the Bake Off tent would be jealous of!

Whether you are into paddle boarding or swimming, walking the South Coast path or simply taking the dog for a walk, Lewis and the Clock Tower team look forward to welcoming you to our cosy corner of Sidmouth with what we believe is simply the best view in Devon

01395 515319clocktowercafesidmouth@gmail.com

Connaught Gardens, Peak Hill Road, Sidmouth EX10 8RZ www.clocktowersidmouth.com harbour, this gorgeous terraced Georgian house has a casual brasserie downstairs, while upstairs is the award-winning dining room.

This is some of the prettiest food you’re likely to see anywhere, with dainty floral garnishes and unexpected flavours – try the smoked Devon eel with ricotta or the plum, white chocolate and camomile millefeuille. All this, plus one of the best sea views in town.

Elsewhere in Torquay you’ll find plenty of affordable eats, including Number 7 Fish Bistro, which also sits right on the harbour and serves simple and delicious seafood, from oysters in the half shell to fresh lobster and crab.

Nearby Ephesus Torquay specialises in Greek and Turkish food such as Greek beef stifado, slow cooked in red wine, and klefticos – knuckle of lamb on the bone, baked with herbs and vegetables.

The Old Vienna Restaurant on Lisburne Square in the centre of town delivers Austrian classics, including wiener and kohlrabi schnitzels.

While you’re on the English Riviera you’re in a prime position for hunting down a traditional tea. The Guardhouse Cafe in the idyllic pastel-painted fishing town of Brixham has been awarded the title of Devon’s Best Tea Room. The location couldn’t be more dramatic – it’s housed in an 1802 Napoleonic fortress on the cliffs at Berry Head National Nature Reserve.

Enjoy a classic cream tea or one of their sumptuous cakes, brownies or flapjacks – they also serve big breakfasts, sandwiches, toasties and salads. You’re then ideally placed for a sea stroll to walk off the calories; the headland has a huge guillemot colony, and you should keep your eyes peeled for dolphins and porpoises.

For more fabulous Brixham eats get down to hip beach shack Rockfish. It’s set in the town’s fish market, ensuring the freshest possible catch, and the terrace looks right down onto the fishing fleet.

Their menu features locally-landed scallops and oysters, along with classics such as jellied eels, cockles, cracked crab and potted shrimp, which you can wash down with local ale. Get your takeaway fish and chips here too, at the downstairs café where fishermen and buyers mingle with the customers.

If you find yourself in Totnes, Seeds 2 Totnes dishes up wonderful salads, veggie dishes and home-made ginger beer, while Zappa’s offers a fully plant-based menu including salads, all-day breakfasts and delicious cakes.

>> p48

Dartmouth is home to the pleasingly named Cafe Alf Resco, where you can sip fresh orange juice and coffee and eat locally smoked fish. Alternatively, head to The Crab Shell for an utterly delicious locally-sourced crab sandwich on the go.

For something more glamourous, make sure to book a table at Seahorse, where you can eat Josper-grilled whole fish or scallops roasted with white port while looking out over the estuary.

Continue your culinary explorations around the coast at Salcombe, which is renowned for brown crab and blue lobster. But there’s more to this lovely hillside resort than seafood: the Salcombe Distilling Co., a modern distillery, bar and gin school brings wonderful gin to eager visitors. It’s set on the first floor of a boathouse with impressive harbour views. You’ll be able to mix your own gin, sample it and enjoy a tutored gin tasting.

Hungry walkers can hike west of town to the adorable East Soar Walker’s Hut, a little barn which stocks exceptional cakes and scones. You’ll have to make your own tea and coffee and deposit your cash in an honesty box.

Moving west to South Milton Sands, Beachhouse is a seafront café with a fabulous view of the Thurlestone sea arch. An ideal stop on a coastal walk, this unpretentious little place serves cracked crab, moules marinière, grilled lobster, burgers and warming soup in winter. You can also take away a crab sandwich or Salcombe Dairy ice cream to enjoy on the beach.

For an injection of seaside character, the weatherbeaten Pilchard Inn on Burgh Island off Bigbury-on-Sea is hard to beat. It dates to 1336 and is said to conceal a pirate escape tunnel. The island is cut off by the tide twice a day, when access is by hydraulic sea tractor with an elevated platform for travellers – you can’t get more eccentric than that! The inn is part of the Art Deco Burgh Island Hotel. Book in for the night to enjoy the roaring log fires and flagstone interior to the max.

Heading west to Plymouth, Jacka Bakery has won plaudits for its high-quality artisan baking including sourdough bread and cinnamon swirls, but it’s been famous for a lot longer than you’d think. This historic place claims to have made the ship’s biscuits for the Mayflower!

For a fancy night out, The Artillery Tower, a Grade 1-listed building set into the seawall, is a gloriously atmospheric spot where you can dine on pigeon, venison or scallops and take in the sweeping sea views.

For something more casual, head to The Boathouse for freshly-caught crab sandwiches, lobster mac and cheese or hot or cold seafood platters. You should grab a seat on their harbourside terrace if you can.

Run by Holly and Ali, Knead Pizza is set in Plymouth’s oldest building, the Grade-1 listed Prysten House, which dates to 1487. Based in the ancient well room and wraparound courtyard, the restaurant serves up tasty Neapolitan-style pizzas, with vegan options.

If you’re visiting Plymouth Gin Distillery and need to soak up all that booze, bag a table at the hugely popular Barbican Kitchen, run by well-known chef brothers Chris and James Tanner who specialise in working with local ingredients.

Set in the Elizabethan Boringdon Hall Hotel in Plympton, Àclèaf celebrates traditional British cuisine, created from the best of local ingredients. Their seasonal, four-course menu is served in an atmospheric space overlooking the Great Hall and is impeccable from start to finish. The critics agree – the restaurant has been awarded four AA Rosettes and – most recently – a Michelin star.

Start your culinary tour of the region in Exeter, where you’ll restaurants serving food from around the globe. Vegans are well catered for here, and light-filled Sacred Grounds is a popular plant-based brunch café. The menu is organic and changes with the seasons, offering excellent smoothies, coffee and waffles.

In the nearby village of Rockbeare you’ll find top-notch cuisine at The Jack in the Green. A country pub with a boutique vibe, it serves traditional pub grub with a twist. Try pan-fried cod loin with brown butter and shrimps or thick-cut West Country rump steak. Or, for a proper celebration of local produce, get stuck into the five-course tasting menu, which costs a bargainous £65. There’s also an appealing menu for kids.

Gidleigh Park, a luxurious half-timbered country pile in Chagford on Dartmoor, is the region’s big foodie star. The renowned Michelin-starred restaurant delivers decadent menus using as much local produce as possible. Think partridge with pickled blackberry and girolles or lamb loin with grilled cucumber and feta. Vegetables and herbs come from Gidleigh’s own kitchen garden, and the wine list is one of the most impressive in the UK.

The restaurant also serves up a Champagne afternoon tea that’s the ultimate in Devonshire decadence. You can even have it packed up in a hamper for a picnic in the bucolic grounds.

From fish fresh off the boat to moreish ice cream made from homegrown produce, South Devon makes the most of its fabulous local ingredients. Best of all, you can sample the region’s incredible offerings at restaurants, pubs and cafés to suit all tastes.