The Masons Arms
South Molton, Devon
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* Mark and Sarah Dodson have announced that they are retiring and putting the pub up for sale. However, it will continue trading as normal until a buyer is found.*
Snuggled away in a slip of a village on the southern edge of Exmoor, this thatched 13th-century inn is comfortingly remote. Inside, the low-ceilinged rooms emphasise the feeling of being enveloped, while the dining room (housed in an extension) offers views of the surrounding farmland. Mark Dodson's menus deal in local materials treated sensitively, presented with more than a little contemporary dash. A combination of cured salmon, Devon crab and pink grapefruit in a shellfish dressing belies the landlocked location, before we return to it in the form of Exmoor beef fillet with crumbed brisket and garlic mash in a hearty red wine jus. If you're sticking with the seagoing theme, sea bass may well arrive in a crowd of brown shrimps, alongside saffron potatoes and tapenade. Farmhouse cheeses constitute a tour of the West Country's finest, or there might be something sweet such as pistachio soufflé with chocolate and amaretto sauce; otherwise, spoon your way through the four-strong 'taste of British desserts'. A fairly priced wine list opens with bottles from £20 and standard glasses from £5.
