Holbeton Restaurant Guide

“What could be more romantic than an excursion to this tiny island housing a glamorous hotel, brimful of atmosphere?” The hotel, restored to its Art Deco glory, is “a venue to die for” with two main dining options, the Nettlefold restaurant and the black-tie-only Grand Ballroom, where “good food, rather better service and live music top off the experience”. Our feedback from our annual diners’ poll is uniformly upbeat this year… in contrast to the autumn 2025 review from the FT’s Jay Rayner, who arrived at the Nettlefold full of anticipation for its evocation of the 1930s, but found instead an “unwitting reminder of the 1970s, overpriced, poorly executed food‚ delivered with ludicrously performative service”. (Maybe his visit was too soon after the appointment of new head chef Charlotte Vincent).

You need to plan your route according to the tide if you visit this thirty-year-old venture on a site that used to host an oyster farm. Nowadays you dine either indoors or at plastic tables below an awning. Oysters are of course at the heart of the menu, but there’s also locally sourced crab and lobster as well as a BBQ catch of the day. (In fact there are also burgers, hot dogs, BBQ tofu, you name it).