Totnes Restaurant Guide

“Fabulous and tasty sustainable local food” takes centre stage at this revamped boozer from ‘ethical publican’ Geetie Singh-Watson, one half of an organic food power-couple (husband Guy Singh-Watson founded veg box outfit Riverford). The “delicious and interesting dishes” on the menu follow her ‘Nine No-Bull Rules To Dine By’, focusing on supplier-led seasonal and organic ingredients. Top Menu Tip – “the no-waste cod’s head and cheeks”.

“What a remarkable find!” – “the freshest produce served in the most delicious and inventive ways” makes any meal at this canteen on the veg box operation’s south Devon farm “a very special occasion”. Established by Guy Singh-Watson 21 years ago, “the emphasis is on the fresh organic produce picked in the surrounding fields, possibly that same morning” – “every time you go there are more surprises, there’s more flavour, and more dishes that amaze meat-eaters and veggies alike”. (“I still miss the pre-Covid long tables with sharing bowls, and especially the pudding buffet” – but it’s “still very reasonably priced”).

“Such a great find on the embankment at Dartmouth”: Mitch Tonks’s “elegant”, Italian-inspired bistro flagship, latterly under head chef son Ben — and replete with new roof terrace for cocktails. “Just the sort of restaurant you want to find while on holiday but rarely do”, it attracts reams of praise for its “fantastic fish”, sourced from Brixham market a few miles away, while the attractive room exudes “a real buzz”.

Founded here in 2010, this is the original branch of Mitch Tonks’ burgeoning South West chain which is now up to eleven branches along the coast. It sits overlooking the River Dart and in summer there is seating outside on the South Embankment. The menu is led by the catch that morning in Brixham – your fish is cooked to order and served with new potatoes, a green salad or unlimited chips.

2022 Review: On the River Dart, this location has a fine culinary history, having been run by figures as diverse as Joyce Molyneux (one of the first women in the UK to receive a Michelin star) and TV chef John Burton-Race. It’s now under former MasterChef: The Professionals finalist Elly Wentworth, and fans “think it will settle down into a very good restaurant” indeed, with reports of some “very memorable” food (running from “stunning” Sunday roasts to a six-course tasting menu).

“A totally dependable Torquay fine dining stalwart, located within English Sparkling wine cork’s popping distance from the marina and practically next door to the very smart yacht club”. “It has held a Michelin Star for years, and deservedly so” say fans thanks to the “sophisticated and imaginative cooking beautifully served in a fine dining room”. “Suits both a special occasion dinner or a nice, and extremely good value, lunch be it for business or pleasure”.

“Quality fresh fish served beautifully and Champagne to chase it down is always a winner” at the Stacey family’s “quiet spot by the harbour”, whose “basic decor makes it even better” – it’s “a favourite in Torquay”, and many regulars agree it’s “better than many more well-known places in Cornwall”. There’s an equally unpretentious wine bar upstairs, with great views over Torbay.

2023 Review: Beautifully situated on Dartmoor, this rural pub was consistently well-reviewed this year for its hearty and enjoyable bistro-style menu (it’s not a pub grub kind of place). There are nine bedrooms, too, and – if you stay – there’s the additional option of a lighter early bird supper.

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).

“Right by the beach with lovely sunset views across to Dartmoor” (particularly from the terrace), this is the place to “indulge yourself with a huge seafood platter of fresh crab and oysters”; these days it’s “no longer just a ‘shack’” as of yore (reflected in the prices, a perennial quibble), but is “now serving up a more sophisticated menu” spanning cocktails and roast lobster.

Specialising as the name suggests in local crab (even the chips can be upgraded to ‘crabby fries’ with a sprinkle of crabmeat and parmesan), this wooden café has perched on the harbour for eleven years now “next to where the fishing boats land their catch, so everything’s as fresh as it gets”. Daily Mail critic Tom Parker Bowles gobbled ‘crab and more crab’ in his rave June 2025 review.

“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).

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”.

A former MasterChef: The Professionals contestant, and winner of the ‘South-West Chef of the Year’ competition in 2024, overachieving head chef Harrison Brockington was just 20 when he helped to open this venture in 2019. “Independent, innovative and brilliant”, according to a visiting Londoner, it showcases dishes sourced or foraged from the fields, shoreline, rivers and hedgerows of Devon, and then played out via a £90 tasting menu (or ‘Half Tasting’ version at £60), as well as a two- or three-course set menu.

On Sandridge Barton wine estate overlooking the River Dart in the South Hams, taking over the venue that was Circa, this new restaurant from an experienced team promises bold European and Basque-style bistro cooking. Open only for lunch, with Friday and Saturday dinner following later in 2025.

2024 Review: “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).

“After a swim in the Shoalstone Lido, it’s a delight to eat at this seafood café on the coastal path looking out over the seawater pool” (with further views to the Bay of Torquay) and – as of 2022 – an even more dramatic rooftop terrace where they grill catch and bring it to the table. One regular fan feels it’s “got its mojo back of late”, saying “the menu had veered towards more ambitious dishes the tiny kitchen struggled to deliver, but it’s back doing what it does best – simple cooking of the freshest fish delivered straight from the Brixham Fish Auction (where the owner is a wholesaler)”.

“Moved from a nearby location into the cliff-top space formerly occupied by Hamilton’s” – this relaunched venue “is a new ‘Top Gun for the retirees of Babbacombe”. Too few ratings so far for a rating, but such feedback as we have is promising, regarding its conventional but well-prepared cuisine which can be enjoyed up till Thursday with a prix-fixe deal (two courses for £30, three courses for £34 – at weekends the same dishes are ordered à la carte). Top Menu Tips – “Creedy Carver duck breast, and the accompanying blackberry purée and duck jus was enriching and affirming. Creamy, rich and heart-warming gratin potatoes, with assertive nutmeg. Beef cheek braised in Guinness, with bubble and squeak, topped with beef fat crumb was submissive, crumbly meat with intense umami flavors embracing the starch and vegetable crack-house addictiveness of bubble ’n’ squeak”.

“Stunning little local pub with gorgeous food” in the South Hams, using produce from the owner’s nearby organic farm, Fowlescombe. Chef Elly Wentworth joined in July 2025 from the Angel in Dartmouth, where she had been head chef.