Buckfastleigh, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

This “amazing organic pub-with-rooms, serving great food with a conscience and really lovely wine list” is “different from the usual”. It’s owned and run by Geetie Singh-Watson, a self-proclaimed feminist and ethical publican who moved to Devon after meeting her husband, Riverford founder Guy Watson, on Soil Association business. She sold her London flat to finance the rescue of the run-down pub, which is “becoming an established favourite for Totnes residents and visitors, so it’s wise to book”.

Decorated TV chef Simon Hulstone’s longstanding home base on the harbour was the first restaurant in Torquay to gain a Michelin star – an honour it has retained ever since; produce is largely sourced from Hulstone’s 100-acre Brixham farm, feeding into a brilliant value set-lunch (it’s thus tipped as a “superb lunchtime meeting place”) and more elaborate tasting menu.

“Wow, what a treat… old world style and service… food all locally supplied, including from the hotel’s own kitchen garden… thoroughly deserving their new Michelin star!” – chef Chris Eden has delivered the goods at Andrew Brownsword’s stalwart destination, which lost its long-held accolade from the tyre men in 2019 and finally won it back in spring 2023. There’s nowhere else quite like this large, comfortable property, whose “lovely country house vibe” isn’t completely of a piece with its Tudorbethan styling, which would not be out of place in Surrey – yet here it is down a winding lane, beautifully situated in gardens on the fringes of Dartmoor. It became famous over 40 years ago under the Hendersons who were pioneers of the boutique hotel format, and has been owned by Brownsword since 2005.