Category Archives: Torquay

The Room – The Elephant Restaurant – Torquay – Restaurant Review

Posted on May 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

I try and get down to The Elephant at least once a year as it’s the closest Michelin starred restaurant to my home (approx. 2miles), I like to go down around May as “The Room” the fine dining area of the restaurant re-opens from its winter shut down. Due to the re-opening “Simon Hulstone” (Chef) makes a new and exciting menu, including a new tasting menu.

The tasting menu for this evening would be:

Amuse Bouche

Brixham Crab

Sweet pea panna cotta with crab and cicely,

mango and dashi sorbet, brown crab toast

Scallops

Roasted scallop on crown prince purée, caramelised seeds

Brill

Fillet of brill with lardo Iberico, fennel pollen,

parsnip purée, verjus and spring onion butter

Lamb

Lamb and chicken roulade, smoked garlic,

new season asparagus, pea mousse, shallot and thyme purée

Cheese

Choice of artisan Westcountry cheeses from the trolley

(Also available as an extra course £12 per person)

Strawberry

Sphere of strawberry and lemon mascarpone,

elderflower crème and jus de fraise

Coffee

Coffee or tea with petit fours

Tasting Menu £69.50 per person

Optional Matching Wine £29.50 per person

The server was very polite and showed us to our table right in front of the main window, with an absolute gorgeous view over Torbay, if only the weather was as fabulous it would have been perfect.

Bread was then quickly served, this consisted of a duck rillette with crispy pork, hummous, butter, green and red olives and olive ciabatta bread. All of this was very good, the bread was good and warm and the butter very good.

Also with the bread some locally foraged ceps/mushrooms were provided, these were picked by hand up at Haldon Forest. I have to say I wasn’t too keen on these and found there wasn’t any distinct flavour, or mushroom type flavour at all.

Next a chilled Amuse Bouche of vichyssoise with cubed apple and candied walnuts. This was really nice with a creamy taste, the sweet walnuts were a very good addition also.

Next came the crab dish, this was accompanied by “Brown Crab Toast”, upon tasting my dining partner instantly declared “they should just sell these!!”. She was correct as well the outer “toast” was extremely sweet and matched beautifully with brown crab. The white crab meat was lovely, and the pea panna cotta underneath matched really well, the sorbet tasted alone had a very distinct flavour and wasn’t to my taste, but when matched with the other elements it worked perfectly.

Next was the Scallop dish, this was a very well put together dish with the bowl being piping hot when served. The flavours were very distinct and clean, with only 2 main elements it was very pleasing, the seeds only added to the slight sweetness of the scallop and prince purée.

The Brill came next, now this dish was my favourite of the whole evening. The fish was perfect, with all flavours coming through but the star for me was the verjus and spring onion butter, this was very sweet and for my big sweet-tooth made for the perfect dish. The small balls of spring onions which had been made I can only imagine with a mellon baller, shows the attention to detail here.

Next came the lamb and chicken, this dish to me was slightly disappointing. The lamb was gorgeous with it being cooked just as I liked, but I found the chicken just didn’t add anything to flavour, I think I would have preferred there be just lamb here with no chicken. The side elements were all good with the flavours showing and the garlic added a lovely after taste.

Now for my best bit of any meal….. Dessert! This was the strawberry dessert and was served plain and then the jus being added at the table. The sphere itself was a beautifully light strawberry moose, with an added surprise of popping candy throughout. It all worked well and the centre of the moose had a small ball of cream which really added a nice flavour. The whole dish was so light and refreshing.

Now normally that would be the end of the tasting menu with the “Strawberry”, however being the greedy dessert lover I am, I opted for another dessert course. This was a “Chilled bitter chocolate fondant, salted butter caramel ice cream, pailleté feuillantine”, the fondant itself was a deep, rich moose and personally I was in a small slice of chocolate heaven! The ice cream was lovely with a rich caramel taste, with a subtle salt after effect. However this dish did cause abit of a discussion at the table, and with a few other fellow bloggers after the meal……

The centre of the “Fondant” was a strong butterscotch type caramel, however this was a very thick centre, and I would not call this gooey/liquid. Now this asks the question “what is a fondant”, does this really class as a fondant having a quite solid centre, or more of a caramel centred moose? I’ll leave that up for individuals to decide, however all I know is that it tasting in a word “lush”.

Well that brought the meal to the end, we were asked if we wanted coffee, however we both declined as we are both not coffee drinkers. The bill was then served with a nice stick of rock compliments of the restaurant. However we were both slightly disappointed as the tasting menu included coffee/tea and petite fours, although we declined the tea/coffee, no petite fours appeared. After settling the bill, I then asked to have them which the waiter politely and kindly said he would go get from the kitchen right away.

Petite fours were then served, being a strawberry macaroon, orange jelly, chocolate fudge and white chocolate truffle. The favourite for me was the white chocolate truffle, it was smooth and creamy and had a great taste. Also which was great was that there was 2 of each item, so we could both sample each one.

Overall 8/10

We both really enjoyed our experience at the Elephant, the food was clean, well cooked and executed well. There seemed to be a rolling theme throughout the entire tasting experience and that was sweetness, which to my personal taste was my dream menu, however this might not be to everyone’s taste. There was only a few minor issues of the evening, but they didn’t really distract from an overall good meal, it would have been nice if the petite four experience had not occurred, but something which can be forgotten easy enough. I now only want to return and have the À la carte version of the brilliant Brill dish! Cant wait to return!

The Elephant Restaurant,

3 & 4 Beacon Terrace

Torquay

Devon

TQ1 2BH

Phone: 01803 200 044

Email: info@elephantrestaurant.co.uk

Website: www.elephantrestaurant.co.uk

Brasserie

Lunch

Tuesday – Saturday

Reservations 12.00 – 2.00pm

Dinner

Tuesday – Saturday

Reservations 6.30pm – 9.00pm

The Room

Dinner

Tuesday – Saturday

Reservations 6.30pm – 9.00pm

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Posted in Devon, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Devon, Michelin, Michelin Star, Restaurant, Restaurant review, The Elephant, The Room, Torquay

Old Vienna – Torquay

Posted on May 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

Old Vienna Restaurant - Torquay - Sign

This restaurant originally opened in 1989 only 3 years after I was born, my parents actually had one of the most important business meals of their careers one evening here many years ago. Austrian rooted “Werner”, the owner then closed the doors of Old Vienna in 1991, but since then reopened at the same premises in 2011. Due to his Austrian roots, this reflects in a major way on his menu with sauerkraut, schnitzel’s and many other Austrian delicacies having an influence.

Old Vienna - Torquay - Room When we entered the restaurant, “Werner” the chef was waiting at the bar to greet us, it seemed that on this Wednesday evening he would not only be our waiter but chef as well. This originally scared be abit thinking we would be ignored, but I can gladly say by the end of the meal I was pleasantly surprised how well this worked, ill explain more about that below.

Old Vienna - Torquay - Bread

Bread was quickly served which was lovely and warm, this bread which is home made was lovely. The flavours were so mixed with a hit of paprika, garlic and many other herbs, it was quite dense and doughy, which when accompanied with lashings of butter was gorgeous.

Old Vienna - Torquay - Goats Cheese

I was then then served “Grilled Goats Cheese on Garlic-brushed Bruschetta with Vine Tomato and Basil Concasse“, immediately I was surprised by the size of this, it was a very generous portion. This was one of the most gorgeous goats cheese starters I’ve had at a restaurant, the dressing which covered the salad leaves etc was so very sweet and paired great with the cheese. Everything on the plates matched well, looked great and tasted better.

Now while waiting for the mains to arrive obvious “Werner” was busy away in the kitchen, and while my table was chatting away we were all of a sudden shocked to hear yodeling…… Yes yodeling coming from the kitchen, it seems this chef used to have a past role in the “Generation Game”, needless to say “Werner” took several breaks from the kitchen on the evening in question to chat to us all, and he really is the life of “Old Vienna”.

Old Vienna - Torquay - Deer

After a lot of laughing, chucking and interesting conversation with the chef we moved on to my main which was “Roe Deer Steak on a Carrot and Potato Cake served with sautéed Wild Mushrooms”. This dish again was great, served as requested “Rare” and the mushrooms going great with the deer. I was pleased to see that the portion was not in line with the large starter and was well proportioned. This was served with a selection of vegetables such as Carrots and fennel seeds, Beetroot with Horseradish and a few others, roast and chipped potatoes were also served. I don’t think the additional potatoes were really needed, as each main already comes with a carb element such as my Carrot and Potato cake, which was great.

Old Vienna - Torquay - Tart

Now on to the best part of any mean….. dessert! I had to order the “Linzer Torte – Austria’s answer to the bakewell tart” just to say I had sampled something really Austrian at an Austrian restaurant. This I can only describe as a very “almondy” almost marzipan tasting sponge, with a blueberry jam filling…… it was heaven. The sauces added to it, however I don’t think the mango was needed as it had a sharpness which was just abit too overpowering.

Old Vienna - Torquay - Werner

Werner really is the star of this establishment and spent a good further 45minutes after our meal, sharing stories and his past experiences. He makes the service personal and relaxed, however I am glad that on busy evening he has a waitress who assists him, as I’m sure if he didn’t have help everyone would miss out on his great entertainment.

Overall 9/10

This was a superb meal, I would no way hesitate to recommend close friends, or infact anyone I know to pay it a visit. When you do just make sure to listen out for that faint sound of yodeling….. an experience not to be missed, both for the chef and for the food!

Old Vienna Restaurant
7 Lisburne Square
Torquay
Devon
TQ1 2PT

Phone: 01803 380 180
Email: Werner@oldvienna.co.uk
Website: http://www.oldvienna.co.uk
Opening Hours: Wednesday to Sunday Evenings from 7pm

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Posted in Blog, Devon, Food, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Austrian, Devon, Old Vienna, Restaurant, Restaurant review, Review, Torquay, Werner

The HH Restaurant – Broadclyst – Exeter – Restaurant Review

Posted on January 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

This well known restaurant has been situated in the village of Broadclyst for many years, many more than I have been blessed with on this earth. It has taken different names and themes over the years and changed with the times, but not always with great success. Most recently it has been known as the “Coachman’s Rest” which was known for serving “international” based cuisine from old British favorites to the odd curry dish etc. Although successful in its final days it did struggle with very little business, which from the location of this restaurant should not be a problem based directly in the centre of town and on a very busy through road.

The restaurant was then purchased by new owners with the intension of completely rebuilding and refurbishing the tired looking building, bringing life and freshness back into its history. The refurbishment took from September until the restaurant opened at the end of November/Start of December, they had also decided of the name of the establishment which would be based on the owners surnames and hence the “HH Restaurant” was opened.

I had to hold back from rushing to the telephone upon opening as I do think no matter how experience head chef you have (Thiers coming from a well known back ground of “Jack in the Green – Exeter), it takes time to familiarise yourself with the menu and your new surroundings. I decided to wait until they did a menu refresh as I thought this would give them enough time, and through the wonderful world of Twitter and speaking to Darren who is one of the owners he kindly informed me the menu would be updated on January 8^th, so I quickly booked a table on the evening of 13^th January at 7pm.

Upon arriving the external of the restaurant does have a very fresh look with clean white walls and a large dark brown sign indicated the name and details of the restaurant, the conveniently placed car park is right on the side of the building and saves the annoyance of hunting a car parking space on the small streets of the village.

Upon entering we were immediately greeted by the front of house team and with our coats taken shown to a small sitting area and menus provided, our drink orders were then quickly taken and served. Darren was then kind enough to come over and chat for a small time about the refurbishment and general chit chat etc. First impressions of the internals of the restaurant are good with clean white walls, dark brown and black leather chairs and small bits of structural wood placed around the area, which all make for a pleasing environment.

Looking through the menu which was presented in a very large and I must say unneeded wooden folder, it is a mix of traditional English with a slight French influence thrown in for good measure. I was quite glad to see there was not an abundant use of different mousse’s/gels/foams etc which can show a chefs need to show off in this sort of place, gladly though each dish was described well.

After making our selections and a short wait we were then asked to the table, where we were then greeted by a young waitress. Any long term readers of my blog will know there are 2 real loves of mine when it comes to dining out, 1 being the dessert (It is the best part…. Period), and the second would be the offerings of different flavour/types of bread. Luckily the HH restaurant did not fail on the bread front with our young waitress presenting us with a large basket of bread rolls, of which there was 3 different types which were:

White Buttermilk Loaf
White Poppy Seed Loaf
Country Fennel Seed Loaf

These all looked great and were served lovely and warm, my first selection being the White Buttermilk roll which was in a shape of a spiral, which as you unwound it released large amounts of steam which and just emphasized how fresh it was. Being the child like person I am I could not decide how to easily cut the roll as it being in a shape of a spiral it would have just fell apart, so I proceeded by carefully unwinding the bread which allowed me to lather it with ample amounts of butter, then I was easlier able to roll it back up into the original spiral shape, this made for one of the nicest pre-dinner bread eating’s I have had, with the bread being soft and flavoursome, the milk and butter flavours being strong and complimented well with the butter, unfortunately at this time I was so enticed by the now dripping roll filled with butter my camera seemed a distant thought. Next was the fennel seed loaf which had a strong hard crust but being nice and firm on the inside, the fennel came through well but I found it lacked some flavor and some additional salt could be used here, but this was resolved easily due to the ample use of butter! Unfortunately I did not make it to the try the final bread offering as the small loafs were quite a large size.

Amuse Bouche – Celeriac and Truffle

Just after the bread was presented a small bowl of soup was given to us, this had a wonderful rich flavour with the sweet, creamy flavours of the celeriac coming through which mixed with the taste of truffle made for a very very good soup. This was indeed very rich and a small portion is only needed.

Starter – Ham hock terrine with seared foie gras, apple gel and black mustard seed and turmeric dressing

When Darren brought me this dish and his first words were “Ah sorry need to move your cutlery due to the different sized plates your having this evening”, now I am all for having different styles of plates etc and do appreciated how these add to the impression of the food, however if you are going to do this, please make sure you have spaced your table settings appropriately as it gives a feeling that the meal no matter how well done is just pretentious. Onto the food, the presentation was good with each of the elements spaced out on the plate, on first glance I was disappointed at the size of the serving of the terrine, but this turned out to be a lot thicker than I had expected and quite filling. The flavour of the terrine was good with the strong flavours of pork coming through, and surprisingly this was not salty at all as is the case when using ham hock, it was nice to see a good selection of root vegetables packed densely into this square and made for pleasing textures. The apple gel I found paired perfectly with the ham hock adding the sweet element which tied and partnered these 2 different items perfectly, there was just the correct amount as well of this to allow for the gel to be tasted with every bite of the terrine. The foie gras was very very lightly seared and placed in a pool of oil which I found gave to abit of a overally slimy texture to the entire piece, and due to the very light searing and the already “soft” centre of the liver, I found this texture just to much and slightly dampened my enjoyment of this. The mustard and turmeric dressing which was dotted around the plate did not add anything special to the dish at all, and due to the very little amount use was very hard to sample on the palette, in the end to try and get the taste I used my knife to sample this individually and although the flavour was good, it was just overpowered by everything else. I would say the dressing is used as more of presentation item than a item of substance.

Main – Fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef with braised shin faggot, dauphinoise potato and baby carrots

This dish was presented in my opinion perfectly with a slightly rustic approach that this countryside retreat from the city of Exeter needs, there were gladly no small dots of jus or mousse’s etc, everything was plain to see and easy to identify. The steak was obviously the first item I sampled and asking for the meat to the be “rare” this was cooked just to my liking, the meat was incredibly tender with a wonderful taste and good sear on the outside, the accompanying sauce also added a wonderful taste and balanced the seasoning perfectly. The dauphinoise potatoes were very densly packed thin slices and had a dense texture, with the rich garlic and cream flavours given a great sensation, however it would have been nice if this was abit more moist with the addition of more cream. The shin faggot on this plate though stole the show with such great strong flavours of beef, and a very rich binding sauce making for a wonderful item to try, I only wish there was more of this on my plate, the meat within the faggot casing was moist, tender and succulent without being too salty and the seasoning balance was wonderful. I did really enjoy this main course and really approve of the slightly more rustic approach to the plating of the dish, the flavours all worked well and complimented each other, being not too overpowering and ending up fighting on your palette.

Dessert – Hot chocolate fondant with salted caramel and praline ice cream

Now don’t act surprised that I ordered the chocolate dessert, it was bound to happen. When Darren took our order for this dessert he was kind enough to let us know it was fresh and that would take up to 20minutes to prepare, not being in a rush and having thoughts of gooey chocolate on my mind, I really did not mind the wait. As the minutes slowly ticked by my tapping feet got faster and faster the dessert arrived, the plating of this was gorgeous with the simple pudding easy to identify, everything look fantastic, my only disappointed thought at this time was that surely the salted caramel was not this small scraping on the plate. Moving on to the pudding through both myself and my dining partner held our breaths as we cut into the cake to see if this was a true “Hot Chocolate fondant”, needless to say I think a picture tells a 1000 words.

The inside was incredible with the chocolate being moist, gooey, liquidy, and very runny, the outer cake had a slight crust which combining the 2 different texture was brilliant. At this point I will say this was the best chocolate fondant I have every tasted, with the rich dark chocolate working well on the palette, and when combining this with the praline ice cream which was surprising light and refreshing it just made for a fantastic combo. I can safely say that if you order this dessert you will not be disappointed, it was that good! Overall I loved this dessert (if you didn’t already get it… I really did like this), my only disappointed however came with the salted caramel, as sampling this on its own was amazing with the sweet taste of caramel offsetted with the strong salt flavour work well but where was the rest of it? There was such a small amount on the plated unless you actually made a point to only pick this item up alone on your fork you couldn’t get the taste with the other items.

Petite Fours – Home Made Fudge, Chocolate Ganache and a Chocolate filled cylinder

When coffee arrived these items were also presented, and again the question instantly comes into my head…. Why give 1 item of each to a table of 2 people? This means only 1 person is able to sample an item, we attempted to cut the chocolate ganache in 2, but this failed and resulted in a mound of disfigured chocolate. All of these were good (except for the fudge which my partner sampled and I cannot comment on) with the chocolate cylinder having a good thick shell and having a great crack upon biting upon.

Service – This was brilliant and considering they are still learning the ropes of the restaurant everything went smoothly, with both the owners being present on the evening in question im sure everyone was trying to impress. It gives a great impression though for the whole team and our young waitress really looked after us well, and supplied me with ample amounts of bread.

Overall – 7.5/10

I did really enjoy the food here on this visit, and would love to give a slightly higher score, but there are some small little things which im sure over time will be address by the team. A slight disappointment of the evening was the price of the starter and main course being £8.95 and £21.95 respectively this is quite a high amount and certainly for the starter would have expected abit more.

Personally I would love if they kept their food plating and styling like the main course I sampled tonight, the location of the restaurant, decoration and warm interior gives for a great rustic clean feeling, I didn’t feel there was a great need for the different size and styling of plates and gave abit of a over pretentious feeling to the evening.

I will be returning in the Spring for sure, hopefully to sample a new menu when it is released and knowing that this place has only been open for a little under 2 months, im expecting fantastic things to come. I think it would be good to see maybe a mid week 3 course dinner special with a set price of £30-35 as this im sure would tempt people to visit and sample the wonderful food.

I would recommend the “HH Restaurant” for a intimate gathering with a partner, or makes for a great first date sort of environment as its very open and gives a fresh feeling without being too overbearing and fussy.

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Posted in Devon, Food, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Broadclyst, Chocolate Fondant, Devon, Exeter, Food, HH Restaurant, Restaurant review, Review, Steak

Gemelli Restaurant – Torquay – Restaurant Review

Posted on January 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

This small establishment is based right in the Town Centre of Torquay, just above the main high street. From the exterior it is minimalist styled and unless you were looking for it, you would pass it right by as the front is the same size as all the other shops/operations which are on this street. They advertise them selves as an authentic Italian restaurant, for me this instantly gets shudders of fear in my bones as the thought of deep pan pizza’s, pasta which is saturated in sauce and watery minestrone soups instantly comes to mind. The owners of Gemelli’s are a complete family team with Lorenzo being based in the kitchen and his wife as head front of house, this is then combined with the kids staying upstairs which im sure are the future chefs of the establishment.

The table booked was for Wednesday lunch time at 12:30, upon entering the restaurant I was slightly disappointed to see the place completely empty with no sign of life from owners/staff or diners. I guessed this was due to the pre-christmas detoxes and everything else going on, however standing waiting in the room, still no life was to be found to show us to our table or anything, I decided to take a look around the the Deli counter which has a very good range of items. The small glass windows shows various marinated olives and vegetables, a good range of meats and also a wide range of cheeses. Now at this point over 3 minutes had gone by with no sign of life what so ever, 3 minutes on paper seems no time at all, but when you are waiting for something or in an awkward unknown location it can seem like a life time. At about this time I thought that was going to be it, but then I noticed by the door entering the restaurant a small bell and upon banging the dong, the head of front of house immediately popped out and offered a very warm welcome.

She was very friendly and kind to talk to and made you feel immediately at ease and due to being the only ones in the restaurant this was needed, we were shown to our table at the front of the restaurant with the large windows allowing you to people watch and the goings on outside. The tables are all cleanly dressed with white table cloths and glasses and cutlery placed, with small flower pots placed around. The entire dining room is airy, bright and offers a lovely calm atmosphere even at this time with few people around.

Menus were then presented to us, being lunch time they normally offer a special lunch time offering which is :

Main course + soft drink / coffee £ 6.45

Starter + Main Course + soft drink / coffee £ 8.45

However on this occasion I really fancied having the goats cheese starter which was on the evening menu, Lorenzo was more than happy for my to not go off the lunch time menu and switch to the full evening menu instead. The menu is a great mix of authentic pasta dishes combined with a mix of main courses which suit most tastes, also due to the nature of the chef/cooking he is happy to alter these dishes to suit other tastes or preferences. There is also an extensive pizza menu here which has all that you would expect to find.

With orders taken a small pot of olives and marinated sun dried tomatoes was placed on our table with small tooth picks, these were lovely and fresh and offered a great light snack to prepare us for our meal. I am always surprised when Italian restaurants provide you bread and oils as a pre starter, as most of the starters/mains are carb based pasta and with this added bread it is just so easy to fill up too quickly and become bloated. So this was a nice alternative and allowed you to snack without the concern of being to full to get through your main.

Starter – Caprino con ortaggi grigliati (v) Grilled vegetables with goat cheese on toasted crostone

When presented with the dish I loved how it was very rustically styled on the plate, with the produce not trying to made into something that they shouldn’t be. Everything could immediately be identified on the plate and simply sampled without the need to go routing through the dish to find that certain flavour. The toasted bread was lovely and had a light helping of oil, which was added to by the grilled vegetables which were lavishly coated in a very good olive oil. The large disc of goats cheese atop of the stack of bread and vegetables was gloriously gooey and melted on the outer edges, with the centre still having a good texture to it. The cheese was extremely rich and had a slight hint of salt at the end of the palette which I did enjoy, particularly pleasant was the use of the oil and pesto which was actually melted into the cheese and provided such a great mix of garlic and herb flavours infused into the entire slice. With all the flavours combined of the stack this made for a fantastic dish with the oil providing just enough moisture to compliment the cheese. The small added salad was used well to provide a slight crunch to the entire dish and lightened the dense cheese.

Main Course – Paglia e Fieno salsiccia e porcini White & Green tagliatelle with sausage & creamy porcini – Starter Portion

Now due to the fact in my past experience of Italian restaurants it seems no matter what you ask for when you order a dish of pasta, not only do you get an extremely large and deep bowl, this bowl is usually piled high with dense filling carbs which is one of my pet annoyances when it comes to UK italian restaurants as it is so just too filling for one person to eat. So with this in mind I decided on asking for a starter portion for my main dish, knowing that this is normally what I consider a main dish size. When Lorenzo brought this to the table I must admit, I let out a sigh of relief as not only was the portion perfect but it was served on a plate and not in a deep bowl. The presentation again was very similar to the starter, being very rustic and having that home style cooking look, with all items being simply found and no frills added to the plate, the only addition being a slight sprinkling of parmesan cheese which had already started to melt into the pasta. On first taste I was very found of the seasoning which was perfectly balanced with the salt levels being on a very even level, which with the use of Italian sausage I normally find is a little off in these types of dishes. The sausages added a lovely element to the dish with a great taste and a different texture to the pasta which was tender but not to hard, I would describe it as just have a “bite” and I was still able to easily wrap it around my fork. The main praise here however is the perfect portion of sauce used, there was no cream dripping from the stands of pasta yet it just coated it lightly and allowed for all the flavours to merge together without feeling like you were eating more of a stew than a pasta, which again I found it alot of Italian eateries the sauce is outweighing the actually pasta portion. I loved this dish and found the whole mix of sausage, earthy and juicy mushrooms and the perfectly cooked pasta a fantastic combination.

Panettone Bread & Butter Pudding with Pistachio Ice Cream

Having now fooled my mind into thinking that i’ve only eating 2 small starters I immediately set my eyes on the lovely dessert menu. Unfortunately Lorenzo informed me that he was still making his Tiramisu so this was off the menu, however upon seeing the words “bread pudding” the thought of this stodgy dessert had my excited. Again Lorenzo was kind enough to bring this dish to the table him self, and it was a lovely portion size with the pudding being a good 2×4 inches. When I started tucking into the dish my immediate surprise was a Brulée type topping with sugar which had been glazed/burnt ontop of the bread to form a sort of gorgeous crunchy topping, this provided a sublime change in texture from what this normally stodgy dessert provides. The panettone was great quality with juicy raisins and different fruits place densely throughout the entire section, the desert was served quite hot but not steaming, this was a nice touch as this allowed for the ice cream to start to slowly melt and not just form a pool of liquid immediately. The ice cream was very good and had a good flavour, however it would have been nice to actually find some ground pistachio pieces in the ice cream but this is of personal taste. This has got to be one of my favorite puddings of recent, the whole rustic no frills serving style is brilliant and allowed you to enjoy exactly what you saw on the menu.

Overall – 8/10

I really enjoyed my lunch at this small Italian eatery, and have very very few complaints here. The food was all sublime with everything cooked, tasting and feeling fresh and not pre-prepared, the flavours and combinations used provide for a great authentic Italian experience and the whole in house family team only add to this. The service was also very good with everyone being pleasant and talkative without being to in your face etc, also it was very good service to be able to have 3 freshly cooked courses in the space of 1.5hours and can only praise Lorenzo for this.

The value is excellent as well with my entire meal costing between 15-17 pounds with water, and considering if I did have a main instead of a 2 starter portions this would still be under £25 per head, I think this is good value for money.

My only mine gripe being here is the lack of welcome upon entering and it would be nice to see someone permanently outside in the main dining area to great you, or a sign next to the bell asking you to ring to get attention would be nice.

I would recommend this place for a relaxed lunch for families, or would be fantastic for a close romantic meal for couples. I have since returned to this restaurant as I enjoyed it so much and I am ashamed to say had exact same dishes as previous, this in my opinion is only a praise for the cooking as I enjoyed it that much.

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Posted in Devon, Food, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Devon, Food, Gemelli, Italian, Pasta, Restaurant review, Review

Cary Arms – Torquay – Devon – Restaurant Review

Posted on November 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

The Cary Arms has been a firm establishment set in the history of Torquay for many years, it is set right on the beautiful beach of Babbacombe. Years ago it was more known for a Summer drinking location which serves your standard pub grub, and would be a place to go for your sunday afternoon drink and then attempt to stumble up the HUGE! hill, which it has also become known for. The restaurant was re-launched 18months-2 years ago, since then it has been becoming more and more known as a Gastro-Pub style restaurant serving fine dining in a calm and relaxed environment. This has been shown only recently when at the start of November (2010) it was awarded “Gastro-Pub Newcomer of the Year” from the “Top 50 Gastro Pubs” association.

Having seen this award was given and hearing from a few people different reports, I had it set in my head that I must get down as soon as possible. My chosen evening however they had a special event on, with the famous saxophonist “Greg Abate” playing and a special set menu was to be served. Considering that this would be a special event I thought this would be a great chance to get down and try out some of there offerings.

Unfortunately the Saturday evening turned out to be wet and absolutely freezing, and leaving the house to walk to the pub I was really questioning should I go……. However being brave I wrapped up and managed to get to the start of the long and STEEP hill down to the pub, at this time both myself and dining partner was questioning the worthiness of such a trek.

After much complaining and “sighs” we both started down the hill avoiding the extremely slippery drain covers, by the time we made it down we were both absolutely freezing. Upon walking in to the pub we both have never been so delighted with the pub absolutely glowing with heat, the internal wood surfaces just giving that feeling of warmth. Upon entering the pub it is very inviting with a good sized bar stretching right the way through the main restaurant,with seating located both around the bar and in the restaurant area. The area is very relaxed and not pretentious at all, it puts you completely at ease with small sea-side nik-naks dotted around, the atmosphere it creates is very relaxed.

The waitresses are all young and dressed in relaxed clothing, with jeans and hoodies/sweaters with “The Inn On The Beach” printed on the back, again adding to that relaxed feeling. Due to the dress and their mannerisms they are incredibly approachable, polite and create a chilled out atmosphere the pub is aiming for.

Having now being seated at the back of the restaurant, near a great wood burning fire crackling away, we were very happy to warm up from the walk down the hill earlier. The tables were very solid wood, with wooden benches/chairs used. I will not comment too much about the entertainment on the evening but suffice to say the band was incredible with Greg being a particular delight of the evening, the staff had managed to positioned all the tables to allow for everyone to get a great view as well which was a great plus.

The menu was then presented to us, which on this evening was a set menu priced at £38 and formed of 3 courses. The menu had some really tempting choices and with only 3 starters and 4 mains, it took me a good time to finally come to my decision. The style of cuisene was really pushed towards classic/modern british, with famous classics you would expect such as belly pork, chicken breast and the famous sticky toffee pudding.

The young lady waitress kindly took out orders and as the band began to play, I suddenly realised that no bread was insight and then it dawned on me that we had no bread plates……….. my heart suddenly skipped a few beats as this is normally what I look forward to the most in these gastro-pub style places. I know they say simple things for simple people but something about that still steaming soft chewy homemade bread with lashings of butter just makes my spirit lift! After 15mins myself and dining partner finally came to the conclusion that no bread or amuse bouche would be appearing tonight.

Starter : Pork, Ham and Smoked Bacon Terrine

Immediately this dish jumped out at me due to the stunning colours and how everything jumped off the plate, even the neutral colours of the Brioche and terrine blended so well with the great glossy dressed salad, and stunning blood red plum compote. The brioche bread was lovely and soft with only the slightly of toasting on the outside of the slice but with a good crunch in the crust, it had a great sweet taste and this melded very well the other elements of the dish. The salad was your standard mixed leaves with a light olive oil dressing, standard item really here but were fresh with a good bite and the olive oil added the needed texture to the item. The terrine it self was excellent it was served ice cold, but was not too loose and allowed for a good slice to be cut away from it, due to the lovely amount of bacon rind wrapped around this the flavour on the outside was gorgeous with a strong smokey flavour. The ham in the terrine really did have a kick and could easily over power many items, however the plum compote worked so well with its sweet plums it added such a wonderful additional element and I just couldn’t get enough of this. I really did enjoy this starter, to a point I would travel down the enormous hill just to pop in and grab this as a light lunch.

Main : Mushroom, Blue Vinny and Butternut Squash Wellington

I am still foolishly aiming to keep trying different out of my normal comfort zone dishes and avoid the usual selections I make, such as the Belly Pork or Duck etc etc. When I saw this item on the menu I thought this would be a good chance to swing away my normal narrow minded selections and for once step into the dark dark corners of vegetarianism. Again the dish was presented well with the wellington being not as I had expected. In my head I envisioned a large cylinder of puff pastry, and inside would be many chopped mushrooms with tones of cheese, then a small touch of butternut squash, this would be served as a single slice on the plate. However what was presented instead was a more refined dish with a large portobello, placed atop a thin slice of butternut squash and then a very small amount of blue vinny cheese placed on the mushroom, all wrapped in puff-pastry. The puff-pastry was the first element to be sampled, the top pastry was incredibly crisp and airy, with the layers all giving different flavours due to the mushroom and cheese leaking into the internal layers. The base was very soft and soggy, but being the heathen I am….. I loved this as all the flavours had soaked/absorbed into the pastry and seemed to have the most intense flavour! The mushroom provided a great earthiness when combined with the strong cheese and without this, the cheese would have just been too overpowering. The whole wellington worked well apart from the butternut squash which I found the flavour didn’t really come through in the dish, this element was not missed though and if it was not named on the menu I would have said it was not needed. The cranberry sauce was great with a really sharp acidic taste which complimented the wellington well, and worked well to lift the entire dish up in terms of strong flavours. This dish was also served with your standard side dish of buttery vegtables. The dish all worked well and every element from the internals of the wellington to the sauce and side veg, all seemed to blend exquisitely.

Dessert : Slow Baked Lemon and Lime Tart

Now comes the favorite part of any meal for myself…… dessert. I was brave again here and resisted the urge to go for that good old favorite sticky toffee pudding and pushed those voices in my head aside and decided to go for the “heathy” option of a tart (I think I actually fooled my head into thinking this was healthy to get away from the pudding!). I was immediately impressed when served the dish by the size of the slice with a large spoon of Chantilly cream with a raspberry coulis. The tart it self consisted of the main filling being very well set and great to slice with the edge of the spoon, it had a great strong lemon flavour but being sweet at the same time with no element of sour at all. The topping was a lime jelly with strips of lime rind spread throughout the topping, this added a very strong sour kick to the dish and would be slightly overpowering if it was not for the tart pastry being very sweet. The pastry was great and crisp with your spoon snapping through to the base of the plate with a bang. All three of these elements of the tart made for a great combination, however, with the addition of the cream and the slightest bit of coulis just lifted the entire thing to the next level, you would need to ensure you did not over power the tart with the coulis as this was extremely sweet and took away the sour kick of the lime. After consuming this I can safely say I was full, with this being a particularly filling dish, but being a perfect end to the three courses.

Finally served with the bill was a small sweet which was a slice of Devon “Rock”, which is a lovely sweet suckable sweet, it even had the name of the restaurant printed and was a great memento to take home.

Overall – 9/10

This was a particular favorite meal of mine, with all the elements just blending so well. When thinking back to the meal, not a single dish jumps out at me, and for once they all do! with every dish being a delight to remember. Everything from this evening was great from the relaxed service from the young (and very very attractive) waitresses, to the speed at which everything was served with a good break between the courses as I didnt find myself looking at my watch wondering how long since my last course. The food here was a delight with the starter being the favourite dish of the evening and makes the whole trip of the steep hill worth it. I would love to give this a mark of 10/10 (my first), however the only complaint that comes to mind was the lack of bread at the start of the meal, as this has become a real highlight of visiting Gastro-pubs and sampling some great home cooked bread. I hope this would be changed in the future, and when I next visit would love to find this addition.

I would recommend the Cary Arms to my friends and family. I cant wait to return to try their standard menu and will be interested to see how that fares compared to this special set menu.

Also for those watching their waistlines, just make sure to park at the top of the hill and not be temped to get a taxi up to the car, as the walk will really help burning off some of those consumed calories!!

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Posted in Devon, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Babbacombe, Cary Arms, Devon, Food, Restaurant, Restaurant review, Review, Torquay

Hanburys Fish & Chips Restaurant – Torquay

Posted on October 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

Visited the above restaurant on the 27th September with a table booked at 7:30 for a party of 5 of us. This restaurant also has a take away which is beside the main entrance and this has won many awards for its “Famous” fish and chips in Torquay and has even won country wide recognition. However the establishment has not entered any of the competitions in recent years.

Upon walking into the restaurant you are immediately put into the main walk way of waitresses and guests, after walking down past several diners you then arrive at the main counter. After stating my name etc we were shown to our table which was by the window and looked out onto the main road and was certainly good for people watching. The inside is decorated in a Nautical theme with small boats, sea gulls, large wooden models and even a life size boat steering wheel on the ceiling, this however I found was dulled by the use of tacky fairy/Xmas lights dotted around the place.

The staff here were very polite and seemed to carry out their job well and took our orders etc. The menu was filled with what you would expect from a “fish and chip” restaurant. However there was some oddities here such as the “fresh bread with oils”, which i would have expected to find in a italian and not in the local chip shop. Seeing this i decided to place an order, only to regret this later as i was presented with nothing more than a /Sainsburys part baked roll which was then cooked in the oven…… if the item is not fresh please do not state it is on the menu.

Around 20minutes later my main course was then served of Haddock, topped with smoked salmon with a cheese sauce. Hoping this option would be where the restaurant shined, however this was extremely overcooked with the plate full of water still from the poaching pot, and the cheese sauce was safe to say packet….. The chips were good with a nice taste, however these were no where near as crisp as i was expecting and i was hoping for something special. I un-eagerly picked away at my dish until i got towards the centre of the fish was was just very too chewy and bland to go any further. I then called it a day, now this is a variety for myself to leave food…

My fellow diners who had “Traditional Fish and Chips” however did enjoy their meals and found the fish to be good quality with not a greasy outer batter.

Need to point out though the provided Ketchup Sachets are brilliant and alot better than the usual flat hard to squeeze out types. (You know what they say, simple things, simple minds)

Now moving on I have to put down my biggest disappointment i found was that it seem when you placed your order, the order was then passed through to the take away next door and then cooked like any other standard takeaway order. This i can understand and almost expect from a fish & chip shop restaurant, however i was then surprised…..

I kept seeing waitresses carrying large boxes from the counter to the kitchen and going backwards and forwards after a while watching this I found this was the food from the Takeaway, which to my surprise was food boxed up for a takeaway (traditional cardboard box/Paper). The waitress then took this box to the side of the restaurant, lined up plates (cold), and then proceeded to tip/unbag the food onto the plates for the diners, this also involved “chucking” the mushy peas out of pots into serving bowls etc etc. I found this whole setup extremely disappointing, if i am paying £9 for fish and chips i do not expect it to be in take away boxes to then have a waitress serve it up how my mother would at home, also the clanging of plates and forks etc as waitresses attempted to dish up is unnerving.

The waitresses also did not use/ware gloves whilst carrying out this operation of “plating up”, this is a slight concern from myself as these girls have been handing money, used plates from other guests, etc. I do think if this operation has to take place in this manor the girls could at least put on some latex gloves to plate the food.

Overall – 3/10

Overall very disappointed. For 5 eaters the bill was well over £140.00 with drinks and meals etc (Bread Starters / No desserts).

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Posted in Food, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Devon, Fish & Chips, Food, Hanbury, Hanbury's, Restaurant review, Review, Torquay

Angels Tea Room – Torquay

Posted on October 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

This is a post which I wrote actually back in summer but never actually got around to writing it up and checking it over so thought I would finally get around to it.

This was a lovely July afternoon which was surprisingly warm for our ever getting colder summers…. I decided to treat my Granddad to lunch.

Angels is located on Babbacombe Down’s in Torquay, and is set between a 2 local pubs and various other tea rooms etc. The main difference between this establishment and the others is this one is constantly full, and I mean full. if you do not have a table booked you will be very lucky to just walk in and grab one, this place wether is be winter or summer is normally fully booked. i have been eating here for just over a year and try and get here every few weeks/months for a spot of the old fashioned “Afternoon Tea”.

The exterior of the building is clean with the doors and windows frames painted in a fresh bright blue and looks inviting. There is a small garden in front of the main building which houses several tables for the outside eaters (Brave people).

Upon entering and the ringing of the wind chimes which start chiming as you open the door you find a small room around the size of a large lounge with about 10 tables. This is all decorated lovely with small “nik naks” and the interior theme is definitively “Angels” with more naked babies, and harps than you need to see in a life time, this all helps add to the theme however. The counter at the back of the room has various coffee machines and a fresh orange juicer, also there are several cake stands full of fresh home made cakes. Now these cakes are home made and HUGE!, i’m talking 3 tier Victoria Sponges with huge slices, unfortunately i did not manage to get photos of these but will be sure to get some next time.

Angels pride them selves on fresh locally source produce with all the jams being made locally, and these are also all sold in store.

Upon entering we were greeted by a young girl who ask for our reservation and then directed us to our table, the waitresses are dressed smartly and are not in uniforms which adds to the relaxed feeling. The table is full of tea cups and various china, all mis-matched purposely, again for that feel. You are then offered menus which are full of traditional fair, with cream teas, home made scones, and various meals and a large selection of sandwiches. Also a small desserts was placed on the table full of todays specials, 1 side dedicated to main meals and the other to desserts. The blackboard had more meals than the main menu, which is good and shows they change the menu often.

After 2 minutes the young girl returned to take our order, she was extremely polite and used a small computer to take our order. The good thing about the ordering process is you can customise you order to your exact specification, my Granddad requested his “Cod and Chips” to be poached with mushrooms and onions, and this was gladly accepted and not even questioned. This I find is always a good sign and shows the willingness of the establishment to cater to its customer. Myself not feeling that hungry decided to go for what I though would be a “Light Lunch” ordering a Coronation Chicken Sandwich on Doorstep bread.

The waitress then took our menus and delivered our tea 2 minutes later, which is served in a small tea pot with fresh leaves and a small strainer to poor your tea through into the cup.

Our food arrived within around 20minutes and considering the tea room was packed this was a surprise as I was expecting a longer wait. Upon my sandwich being delivered in front of me, my idea of a “light lunch” immediately disappeared…… as the huge monster sandwich lay before me. Upon taking my first bite i was immediately surprised how packed full of flavour the coronation chicken was, which was packed full of whole fresh apple, Peaches and flacked almonds. The side salad was a welcome light side, which had a small amount of Balsamic vinegar drizzled over.

My lunch partner also was surprIsed by the sIze of fish which consisted of 2 large fillets of cod and cooked and served exactly as requested wIth mushrooms and onIons.

I really enjoyed by lunch and consIderIng my huge sandwIch only cost £6.45, I consider thIs very good value for money.

Overal Score – 8/10

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Posted in Food, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Angels, Review, Torquay

Apologies – Lack of Updates

Posted on October 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

Firstly I must add my apoligies for lack of updates latley, I have been visiting restaurants and have many to write up. Unfortuanrlt I have been on holiday from 27th September until 13th October, then I was greeted to a lovely Hospital visit @Mount Stewert – Torquay, so the operation has been a small set back.

I am now on the mend though and able to type away, so over the next few days there will be a slug of backlog of reviews. Also I have over 12 top restaurant visits planned for the coming weeks, so im going to be a busy guy with all these write ups to do.

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Posted in Food, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Reviews

The Elephant Restaurant – Torquay

Posted on September 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

Well here we are first review of the new blog. Firstly I should add that I’ll mostly be dining alone as to be honest I do not know of any other foodie’s that are nearby, hence finding someone to join me can be difficult….

Anyways a lovely warm wednesday night at a table booked for 7pm at the “Elephant Restaurant”, this is quite a well known restaurant with a single Michelin star to it’s name. The establishment is split between two separate floors the ground being more of a brasserie serving well known traditional dishes with a modern twist and the upstairs being the restaurant area with the Menu being full of mouses and foams etc, this is the known as the “Room Restaurant”.

Well entering the front door which is quite plainly decorated with small menus either side of the door and nicely shown signs as well. You enter the downstairs area of the building which is more of the brasserie type area which is still very nicely decorate. However when you do enter you are not greeted by a dedicated member of staff, I had to stand for a good 2-3minutes waiting for a waiter to finish serving a table to finally come to see me, I know 3 minutes does not sound a long time however this can seem like a lifetime.

Once seated I was offered both a wine menu and the full menu. Having a quick look through the menu I thought most tempting selection seemed to be the ‘tasting menu’ which was shown as:

Golden beetroot and Vulscobe goats’ cheese with elderflower dressing
Paignton crab lightly bound in chive mayonnaise with watermelon and fennel
Hand dived Bay scallops on cabbage and lemon risotto with mussel foam
Rump of Cornish lamb with summer peas, roasted artichoke and a thyme jus
Selection of the Westcountry’s finest artisan cheese (optional course £7.00 per person supplement)
Petit pot of coffee and Baileys mousse with warm chocolate foam, pistachio madelaines
Glazed lemon tart with creme fraiche sorbet and minted raspberries

This was priced at a what I thought was a reasonable £55.00 per person, this however do not include for Coffee or tea with petit fours @ £4.00 per person this is always an annoying thing for me, I do think the coffee should be included in the tasting menu costs as these are all part of the experience.

Well having ordered and the menu been taking away. I started to access my surrounding in slightly more detail, I did this this was very pleasant. A very nice area with a relax feeling and the view was truly stunning. Behind my seating area though was a slightly lower area which consisted of large lounge chairs which was a bar area, this was completely open through arch ways into the “The Room” which then made the calming feeling fade slightly with business men being very loud which I can only guess is after a long day on the golf course from what I could hear which was a lot. I found this overall very lowering to the atmosphere of the room.

I was then served what stated to be warm olive bread, however this was more just plain ciabatta without a olive in sight, this also came with oils and a pork and duck rillette (chunky pete) with pork cracking on top which was very pleasant and a nice addition to the normal butter etc. However where is the butter? it was a nice to have a change but I am firm believer in some things should not be changed and a small pot of butter I think should be also served.

Golden beetroot and Vulscobe goats’ cheese with elderflower dressing

Within 10 minutes my first course was serve, which is quite quick and did not even give me chance to get through half of a first slice of bread. However upon viewing this stunningly colourful plate of food and the aroma of such sweetness that came from it I was pleased it did. The golden beetroot which is new to me was ever so lovely just tender and easy to cut, complete with the Elder flower dressing this wa made very sweet indeed and need the goats cheese to add the earthier flavour to the dish. I thoughouly enjoyed this and would order again.

Paignton crab lightly bound in chive mayonnaise with watermelon and fennel

The second dish arrived in minutes of the first being taken away, presented again was a a beautiful colourful dish. I get the feeling the chefs garden must be constantly stripped of flowers as a pattern is starting to form. Tasting the dish I have mixed feelings the crab it’s self was lovely and had a great strong taste, however it seemed the fennel over powered the crab and both elements over powered the watermelon, still a lovely dish with the separate elements, but combined seemed to lack balance of flavours which blended

Hand dived Bay scallops on cabbage and lemon risotto with mussel foam

The third dish which I have been looking forwarded to, being a major fan of scallops arrived, this did take slightly longer than the previous dishes due to the hot elements I would think. However this was a welcome break and was appreciated. This dish was lovely, normally I find that chefs are trying to hard with scallops with adding very strong flavours and to often over power the star which is the scallops. However on this occasionally the balance was perfect with the scallop sweetness shining through from the lovely cabbage and lemon risotto which I thought would be over bearing but gladly was a joy. The muscle foam also added a lovely element when enough was tempted onto your fork. Overall very happy with this.

Rump of Cornish lamb with summer peas, roasted artichoke and a thyme jus

On to the main dish the lamb. I was very interested to see how they cooked this dish as I love very rare meat however lamb is too often over done. Upon cutting into the rump I was a glad to see the lovely pinkness shining through, this sadly was short lived as the deep I dug into the slices the more darker the meat got. I found this entire dish to very bland and under seasoned the roasted artichoke was not season at all it seemed also the mushrooms seemed watery and tasteless. The lamb however was tender and smooth to eat but again seem to lack any depth. The only saving grace was the lovely smooth and creamy mash potato. I was not impressed by the single main dish of the tasting menu at all.

Well the end of the main courses and starters and onto the desserts which is my favourite part.

Petit pot of coffee and Baileys mousse with warm chocolate foam, pistachio madelaines

First up which I have been looking forward to was a small pot of loveliness. And this is the only way to describe this. I almost was to dissect the individual layers of this pot just as the tastes were Devine. However when combined it all matched well with the earthy espresso calming the whole sweetness coming from the white chocolate and baileys. I was a very fond of the added space dust which anyone will admit brings back great child hood memories and was great. The small pistachio madelaine was also again very good, with s soft sponge texture and subtle flavour. This dish is a particular fond memory for me.

Glazed lemon tart with creme fraiche sorbet and minted raspberries

Moving on to the lemon tart, I was glad to see the small size portion as by now I am getting very full. I was particularly interested to see how the sorbet tasted and this was lovely and light and creamy. The tart it’s self smelled amazing with strong lemon scents. The strawberries again were lovely and fresh and not soft to eat. Very good dessert, with the creme brûlée topping of the tart being a very nice not mentioned surprise.

Coffee and petit fours were then served, these were all fudges of varying types, being white chocolate and passion fruit, white chocolate and pistachio, and dark chocolate with salt and sap. These were all very good with a good range of flavours and good sweetness and texture, I only wish my local shop brought fudge was this good. My americano coffee was also very good, very hot and strong with a good depth of flavour.

Ok well thats the meal over with the bill below.

Not bad for a tasting menu, however I would like to see the coffee included. Also a very nice stick of Rock from a local Bon Bon shop to take home.

Final thoughts:
Service – 7/10
I have mixed views on the service within the restaurant as although plates were cleared quickly and with a smile, when you glass was empty/nearly no attempt was made to fill this. I witnessed one couple even leave their seats to acquire their bottle of water stored in the chilled bar area to fill their own glasses. However when asked about the food my waitress seemed to have good knowledge of what was served, and was more than happy to stop for 2minutes and chat about the dishes and also just general conversation. Also I was witness to the waitress given an explanation of the various local cheese to a near by table, and I was very impressed with her knowledge and explanations of cheeses. I think it would be a great benefit to have someone more dedicated to the restaurant however to ensure attention is given.

Food – 7/10
Now this was very difficult to score, mainly because of the whole meal was very pleasant, and enjoyable. The main let down being the main course, to have a taster menu to be full of starter courses, you should ensure the main course be an absolute star of the show, but the lamb was a real let down on this menu. If this dish was altered or changed I would instantly score the entire meal 8/9 however due to the lamb and the slightly unbalanced crab dish this will be marked a 7.

Value – 8/10
Overall I think this is quite good value with some very fine food served and not over the top prices the qunaity was good and I leave feel fulfilled. However normally I have come to expect some little extras from taster menus in the form of Amuse Bouche or a palette cleanser between courses. The elephant however made sure not to give anything anyway, this was demonstrated by what i believe to be a very high price of £4 for a standard blank coffee and 3No. cubes of Fudge.

Overall – 7.5/10
I would definatly return to “The Elephant” however next time I might try from the À la carte menu.

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Posted in Devon, Food, Restaurant Review, Torquay

Tagged Elephant, Food, Michelin, Restaurant, Restaurant review, Star, The Elephant, Torquay

Category Archives: Torquay

The Room – The Elephant Restaurant – Torquay – Restaurant Review

Old Vienna – Torquay

The HH Restaurant – Broadclyst – Exeter – Restaurant Review

Gemelli Restaurant – Torquay – Restaurant Review

Cary Arms – Torquay – Devon – Restaurant Review

Hanburys Fish & Chips Restaurant – Torquay

Angels Tea Room – Torquay

Apologies – Lack of Updates

The Elephant Restaurant – Torquay

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