Ivybridge Restaurant Guide

Having been born on the same site that hosted an oyster farm over three decades ago, molluscs (with hot or cold toppings) remain central to the joys of this shack – no exaggeration – where you can dine indoors by the fire or at plastic tables and chairs below a makeshift awning. Also on the menu: quality fish, ranging from monkfish to hake and sole.

2022 Review: This “lovely beach hut” (park up at Milton or Thurlestone Sands) with a blackboard menu offers “atmospheric outdoor dining with a good range of fresh seafood”, and “the views are beautiful too”. Top Tip: “dirty chips were so good we had to order extra portions”.

“Just wow! This is vegetables supreme” – eating in the canteen at the organic veg box operation’s farm guarantees a “variety and intensity of flavours that’s a feast for both the eyes and palate”. “The last time I came to Riverford I thought it had lost its mojo – but on this occasion its mojo has returned!” – “Covid means you no longer share large bowls of food on long tables and the dessert buffet is no more, so it’s more like a traditional restaurant – but you’re here for the interesting salads and veg, freshly harvested from the farm”. Top Tip – “in the summer, eating on the terrace with the smells from the surrounding hen garden is a delight”.

“Very relaxed but with always interesting food” – this organic and ethical pub-with-rooms won the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s coveted Sustainability Award last year – recognition of the efforts made by the team led by founder Geetie Singh-Watson, a self-styled ethical publican who sold her flat in London to rescue what had been a run-down local boozer. The locally sourced food does not just tick the sustainability box: “the local ingredients are varied and excellent, in intriguing combinations. eg. beetroot and sheep’s curd starter is simple, yet tasty and on a recent visit a cod’s head was on the menu”.

2021 Review: A “perennial favourite local relaxed foodie joint”, this ex-pub turned “bistro-cum-cafe-cum-restaurant” goes from strength to strength as a showcase for the “inventive food” of chef-owner Dave Jenkins, whose dishes “always delight, with lovely little touches and innovations that make total sense once you’ve tasted them”. They serve “great breakfasts, good-value lunches”, and “the best Sunday roast in town”.

“A lovely spot by the waterfront for super-fresh seafood” – this wood-built café perched on the harbour is celebrating its tenth year in 2024. It serves a variety of uncomplicated fish and seafood dishes, with the headline event being Whole Salcombe Cracked Crab.

A couple of miles from the entrance to Dartmoor National Park, John & Emma Hooker’s attractive coaching inn is no stranger to awards lists, currently ranking at number two on Estrella Damm’s Top 50 Gastropubs list. You’re “always guaranteed an absolute corker of a meal” (British, unpretentious, but “lavished with care”), and a “fab atmosphere” too – no wonder reporters just “love it here”.

“A wine bar with amazing character and great food” – Zoe Brodie & Fitz Spencer’s wine shop/deli overlooking Sutton Harbour offers some “fantastic small plates and sharing boards” – including ‘Fitzy’s Fat Boy Board’, which comprises pretty well the whole menu for £130.

2023 Review: “Worth a detour. Have been coming since they opened under new ownership in 2019 and it’s only grown in strength despite the pandemic. Absolute gem!” – limited but very enthusiastic feedback on this 14-bedroom hotel on the South West Coast path, with commanding views of the sea and looking over Hope Cove beach (which is yards away). The food is brasserie-style fare (sirloin, red mullet, confit duck…) and good value.

“What a fantastic new restaurant in Plymouth!” Chef Lee Calver made his November 2023 debut as patron alongside partner Chloe Lillicrap in the venue formerly occupied by well-known Rock Salt Cafe and Brasserie (RIP). The former Navy chef is aiming to provide ‘relaxed fine dining’ with an affordable brasserie-style menu. Fans say they “should be very proud of what they’re doing: the food is excellent, obviously a lot of thought goes into their menu and attention to detail is wonderful”. Top Tip – “Sunday lunches are outstanding value and delicious”.

“This really was a very pleasant surprise” – a “small but very lively” osteria, set in a former Lloyds bank, that draws its name and inspiration from the Emilia-Romagna region; the “interesting, daily changing menu” is chalked up on the old vault door, and revolves around a “selection of delicious small plates” (including a particularly “stunning” ‘offal of the day’ option).