Dog friendly restaurants in Devon Published 16 June 2024
Devon is a haven for dog lovers looking to dine out with their furry friends. Whether you're exploring the scenic coastline or the charming countryside, you'll find a variety of dog-friendly restaurants that welcome both you and your canine companions.
Make the most of your Good Food GuideMember Perks at The Bull Inn, Totnes. Enjoy exclusive room rates and a warm, welcoming atmosphere for both you and your dog.
There are few better places to enjoy fresh fish in the South Hams than at this blue beach hut on the shingle seafront at Beesands. The Hutchings family have been running their fishing enterprise here for more than 40 years, and ar… Read more
There are few better places to enjoy fresh fish in the South Hams than at this blue beach hut on the shingle seafront at Beesands. The Hutchings family have been running their fishing enterprise here for more than 40 years, and are now in the business of serving up their catch to customers. Their weather-beaten shack is now a robust, rustic café/restaurant, which doles out whole Start Bay crabs and lobsters alongside specials such as scallop and monkfish Thai red curry. Book ahead – and BYOB. Those walking the South West Coast Path can stop for a stellar crab sandwich or fish and chips from the takeaway hatch.
Tim Bouget continues to expand the definition of what a modern-day eatery might be at his eco-friendly venue at Ness Cove, overlooking Lyme Bay near Teignmouth. If it takes some finding, persistence is rewarded by a menu of all-da… Read more
Tim Bouget continues to expand the definition of what a modern-day eatery might be at his eco-friendly venue at Ness Cove, overlooking Lyme Bay near Teignmouth. If it takes some finding, persistence is rewarded by a menu of all-day contemporary café food, with electronic pre-ordering a neat way of ensuring a smooth passage through – whether you're at a table or sitting in a waiting car.
In the summer months, the outdoor pizza oven is fired up for terrace feasting. Otherwise, the world is your oyster, kicking off with breakfast (perhaps a house-baked croissant, organic porridge or the ‘best bacon and egg roll ever’). Lunch and all-day menus run from fish-finger wraps to dukkah-spiced roast pumpkin and red onion broth, grilled Haldon fallow deer burgers and panko-crumbed Brixham plaice fillets with tartare sauce and salad in a soft tortilla. Alternatively, warm yourself up with a mug of curried English lentil dhal with kale, coconut milk and spices.
The sweet-treat brigade is also well served with carb fests including fruity flapjacks, sticky ginger cake, choc-chip cookies and the like. Drinking is usually interesting too: boozy hot chocolate, dirty chai, lavender lemonade, mocha milkshakes and so on.
One of those perfect, no-frills seafood spots you dream of finding in every fishing village but rarely do. Despite the name, this is a proper restaurant rather than a shed, while its haul of crabs is landed and boiled a stone's th… Read more
One of those perfect, no-frills seafood spots you dream of finding in every fishing village but rarely do. Despite the name, this is a proper restaurant rather than a shed, while its haul of crabs is landed and boiled a stone's throw from the quay. Other plus points include a good wine and beer list, local spirits, waterside terrace seating and far more variety than just whole crabs cracked and served cold or warm with garlic butter. Expect anything from fish and chips to bouillabaisse; crabs are also available ready-dressed for those who don't fancy getting messy.
Clare Lattin and Tom Hill, once of Ducksoup in Soho, have migrated to the sub-Dartmoor stretches of south Devon and pitched camp on the T-junction that more or less is Ashburton. It's a small room with an agreeable buzz and square… Read more
Clare Lattin and Tom Hill, once of Ducksoup in Soho, have migrated to the sub-Dartmoor stretches of south Devon and pitched camp on the T-junction that more or less is Ashburton. It's a small room with an agreeable buzz and square tables (some for sharing) supplemented by wicker stools at the counter and window that are probably best reserved for younger, more resilient backsides. Just add a thrifty, serenely industrious kitchen, plus a wine-store (for retail) half-hidden behind a curtain, and a frequently changing menu that works within its own modest capacities to produce contemporary, Italian-inflected small plates and mains. The special of the day on our lunch visit in the long linger of late winter involved chunks of sublime red-rare hanger steak in a mound of roasted Tropea onion with salted ricotta, capers and oregano. Others were scarfing up the broad-ribboned pappardelle with a ragù of ox cheek and black olives, as well as marinated gurnard in an aromatic livery of golden raisins, almonds and saffron. Appetisers are a little more prosaic (a couple of splots of white Gorgonzola with lightly pickled pear; shaved pickled fennel in oregano and chilli) but there is good charcuterie, and even the minimal choice of two desserts will provoke agonies of indecision. The dark chocolate mousse with ginger and oat crumb looked the business, but altogether flawless was our blood-orange and pistachio tart with crème fraîche. Only a select few of the wines emerge from behind the curtain onto the list, but they are enterprising and interesting Italian regional stars: a tobaccoey, Merlot-based Gambellara, perhaps, or a skin-contact Sicilian from Grecanico-Inzolia. Aperitifs run to a take on the Bellini earthed up with rhubarb juice.
A little out of Plymouth city centre, along the route to the international ferry terminals, this is the latest venture from David Jenkins and the team behind Rock Salt (now closed). It's a place that's determined to demonstrate it… Read more
A little out of Plymouth city centre, along the route to the international ferry terminals, this is the latest venture from David Jenkins and the team behind Rock Salt (now closed). It's a place that's determined to demonstrate its versatility, with an outdoor area as well as a warren of indoor spaces on different levels – plus regular music nights to add to the gaiety. Jake Hardington cooks a fairly mainstream brasserie menu, with filled bagels (a speciality), a good-value fixed-price lunch and a roster of pedigree Devon suppliers proudly credited on a wall-board. Presentations aim to be eye-catching – witness a broad earthenware dish of gently flavoured smoked mackerel pâté (looking like a bowl of creamy soup), dotted with diced pickled veg, hazelnuts and dill, accompanied by seeded stout and treacle bread. For main course, there could be duck confit with a pork and shrimp 'baozi' or Thai pork curry, but also appealingly tender Dartmoor lamb rump with pommes Anna, roasted asparagus and black garlic purée. Desserts will push most buttons with cheesecake, toffee pudding and the like: our hefty sundae-glass serving of raspberry trifle came topped with chunks of honeycomb, alongside a beautifully intense raspberry sorbet. The flair and finish of the cooking deserves much better wines than the short, perfunctory selection, but there are tempting cocktails too.
It's a restaurant that feels like a permanent pop-up, tucked into a parade of shops in an unsuspecting residential part of Exeter. The Taco Boys, as were, built the place from scratch, negotiated the COVID restrictions with admira… Read more
It's a restaurant that feels like a permanent pop-up, tucked into a parade of shops in an unsuspecting residential part of Exeter. The Taco Boys, as were, built the place from scratch, negotiated the COVID restrictions with admirable ingenuity, and still manage to put on a show that impresses readers for its innovative energy and labour-intensive commitment to the locavore ideal. Home-grown vegetables, home-cured meats and butter churned in-house form the backbone of the operation, and if the place exudes a feeling of impetuous youth only befitting a university city, who's complaining? The high stools took 10 years off us. The drill is four courses at lunch, six at dinner, and from the first offering of torn-up bread with pickles and sriracha, the engine shifts straight into gear. Your five-a-day is pure pleasure when it produces carrot mousse with kimchi and soy-blitzed seeds to start. Whipped dressings are favoured, such as the ricotta version that accompanies salmon tartare in smoked maple syrup, while mains tend to be meaty and substantial – perhaps a duo of seared chop and braised shoulder of Cornish lamb with salsa verde and puréed cauliflower. An insistent savoury edge stops the desserts from being all dairy indulgence, so expect foraged sumac in the white chocolate soufflé or puffed rice and whisky caramel offsetting the ice cream made from koji berries. Perhaps pop an elderberry wine-gum to see you on your way. The drinks flights (£25 at lunch, £45 evenings) are definitely worth signing up for: kombuchas, pét-nats and fortified oddballs are merely the half of it.
Along the narrows at the top end of Totnes, the Bull Inn is a flesh-coloured pub that has had the kind of makeover that makes over a million pounds look artfully like ten grand. Foliage entwines the rafters, potted plants loom in … Read more
Along the narrows at the top end of Totnes, the Bull Inn is a flesh-coloured pub that has had the kind of makeover that makes over a million pounds look artfully like ten grand. Foliage entwines the rafters, potted plants loom in the corners, the bar frontage is done in jade-green, and an air of dynamic, but not oppressive, hubbub prevails. Organic and ethical credentials pour forth from both the portable chalkboard menus and the drinks list, where cask ales, cloudy shrubs and ingenious cocktails are the main lures. An extensive roll call of substantial starters is cause for celebration, with both roasted late Jerusalem artichokes in green sauce, and grilled early asparagus spattered with garlic and hazelnuts, on offer at our spring visit. A trio of venison koftas in thin cumin-laced yoghurt, sumac onions and honey proved to be a delightful way in. Mains bring a shorter choice of enterprising veggie dishes, an old-school bistro bavette in creamy mushroom sauce, or a hunk of (very slightly overdone) monkfish in the kind of buttery curry sauce that could have seen service on a bag of chips. For dessert, a complicated cake of chocolate and olive-oil mousse on pistachio sponge, dressed with Cognac-poached pear, coffee syrup and mascarpone filled to capacity the tiny tea-plate it was served on. Otherwise, resist if you can the Basque cheesecake with Earl Grey prunes. Wines are a little less than thrilling, but there is a reasonable selection in three glass sizes.
Family-run inn with a decent line in locally sourced food
The smartly renovated, bright-white exterior ensures you won’t miss this 16th-century hostelry as you head along the Okehampton to Tavistock road. Jay and Tess Barker-Jones revamped the oak-beamed and slate-floored property … Read more
The smartly renovated, bright-white exterior ensures you won’t miss this 16th-century hostelry as you head along the Okehampton to Tavistock road. Jay and Tess Barker-Jones revamped the oak-beamed and slate-floored property back in 2019, creating a homely vibe with eclectic furniture and natural tones throughout the warren of dining rooms – as well as the three spacious, shabby-chic bedrooms. As you would expect from a family-run, dog-friendly inn, service is warm and friendly – yet surprisingly polished.
Chef/co-owner Jay works hand in glove with local suppliers to create a daily menu of tried-and-tested ideas and flavoursome, crowd-pleasing dishes. Starters include rich, creamy whipped goat's cheese dotted between heritage beetroot, gingerbread and hazelnuts, and a delicate, fresh hand-picked Brixham crab salad with avocado and citrus fruits, decorated with substantial Parmesan crisps and pea shoots for a shot of colour. Generous main courses could feature flavour-packed spring lamb loin and braised shoulder with broad beans, feta and wild garlic, while local 'red' venison loin is paired with an intense haunch ragoût, kale, celeriac and red wine – a glorious plateful on a cold, winter's night.
The theme of classic food pairings continues with desserts such as a pitch-perfect warm chocolate brownie with orange caramel and honeycomb, complemented beautifully by a salted-caramel ice cream. Sunday lunch is a terrific tonic after a brisk walk on Dartmoor, whether you fancy dry-aged beef sirloin, a slab of pork belly or the pub's exemplary nut roast. An extensive drinks selection covers everything from local ales to classic cocktails, while the small but varied (and mostly Old World) wine list is both affordable and accessible.
The Tytherleigh could be another whitewashed roadside inn, briefly glimpsed along the A358 as you hurtle towards the Dorset border. But halt. Within its 16th-century walls, there is plenty more going on than pub grub. In the kitch… Read more
The Tytherleigh could be another whitewashed roadside inn, briefly glimpsed along the A358 as you hurtle towards the Dorset border. But halt. Within its 16th-century walls, there is plenty more going on than pub grub. In the kitchen, there's a firm commitment to West Country supply lines, and the menus speak a language that big-city escapees would recognise. Start with miso-glazed king oyster mushroom with kohlrabi rémoulade, mushroom ketchup and cep soil, a fungal exploration full of umami wallop, or consider grilled and tartared mackerel with compressed apple and beer-vinegared beetroot. Dishes have the sturdiness of flavour to back up their smart looks: cod is rolled up and set beside roasted and puréed cauliflower with a bit of burnt lemon in cockle velouté. A daring ingenuity for combining sees crispy pork belly appear with smoked eel, along with caramelised onion and hispi cabbage. Those in the market for fish and chips or a steak will find themselves rather more royally served than they were expecting. Chips with the latter are, in the modern manner, truffle-oiled and tweaked with Parmesan. Finish with matcha and pistachio cake garnished with white chocolate Chantilly. Wines start at £22 for Italian house selections.
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