The Duchess of Cornwall, Poundbury
Stuck with the Chablis from the last visit, entirely satisfactory, once again with the oddly deceptive first sip. Seems to be a regular feature of the better white wines. My starter was wild mushrooms, which turned out to be nicely presented & sauced, but very chewy. A bit like eating tough green cabbage leaves. I shall not bother again. Main course medallions of lamb, with interesting potatoes, maybe some vegetables. Very good, once I had scraped all the jam off the lamb. I tried to have some more medallions, by themselves, without any trimmings, for desert, but the waitress thought I was joking and failed to deliver. By the time I inquired the moment had passed. Otherwise, the waitress was very good, especially considering how young she was. Head waiter also very good, possibly the husband half of a husband and wife management team.
Crumpets were available for breakfast, but not particularly nice ones. Cooked from frozen? No question of proper rolls for breakfast, something I have not had for years. The publican Prince is said to be fond of his table, so I wonder whether he has proper rolls and bread? If he can't afford it, who can?
Ley Arms, Kenn
Sausage and mash, and on this occasion I remembered to ask to have the gravy - usually a rather sweet concoction when served with this particular dish - on the side. Entirely satisfactory. We learned that the word 'Wetherspoon's' was not a word to be uttered out loud in this establishment; no idea why as the nearest such place must have been miles away, in Exeter.
Home cooking
Not a pub, but worth an honourable mention. Higher grade piece of gammon from Tesco, cooked by BH back in Epsom. Served with boiled potatoes and boiled cabbage.
Volunteer cooking
Tea and cake at the Holne community shop and tea room. Shop surprisingly well stocked for such a place. Plenty of lentils, raisins and that kind of thing, as well as basic, regular groceries. The two young things working the tea room part of the operation were nice but fairly hopeless. Would not have lasted in a Costa for long, being far more interested in each other than the customers. Tea and cake fine.
Church House Inn, Holne
They might do a community shop and tea room, but they don't do a public house, with this one remaining shut. Owned by the church and there is talk of restrictions on the lease putting off prospective landlords. However, I do recall a former neighbour explaining that her father, while holidaying in the area, had spent several afternoons there, chatting over a pint with Archbishop Ramsey, this last then staying in the pub. Or perhaps lunchtimes, all day opening not having been invented at that time and with Holne not, I imagine, running to a market license - and I have never heard of an ecclesiastical license.
TJ's & LJ's Fish and Chips, Brook Street, Tavistock
A place we have used before which offers good quality, reliable fish and chips. And on this occasion, the largest piece of fried cod that I have seen for a while.
The cook told me that their fish arrived in the form of frozen fillets, which did not need much preparation. Cut them to size, remove any bones that might have been missed, dip in batter and fry. A system which worked. One supposes that the likes of Wetherspoon's get their fish in already battered and cooked, just needing to be reheated somehow.
I think the potatoes might have come from a farm, as we heard potato buying talk as we ate.
Trademan's Arms, Scorriton
Convenient and pleasantly served. Something described as pie of the day with vegetables. The latter were quite good, may even have been prepared on the spot. But the pie was a dollop of coffee coloured pork stew obtained from the freezer, topped with a fluffy bit of pastry. The fluffy bit of pastry was done to a turn, but the overall result was not a pie.
Burrator Inn, Dousland
A slightly dowdy looking place, which was rather big and might have seen better days, but which gave us a very good meal, nicely served. Including a meat pie which was a good deal better than that we had had the day before. We shall be back.
The illustration above is of a bit of flex attached to the wall above our table. A type of flex I thought vanished with my childhood, half a century ago - although I have to admit to still having a few feet of the stuff in the garage, just in case.
The place where we once came across the hunt, assembling outside. About a dozen hefty looking horses, plus followers of various sorts.
Forest Inn, Hexworthy
Our second visit to this large establishment, complete with stables out the back. Appeared to being doing a good lunch time trade, but presumably built in the days when walking was a bigger sport than it is now. Burnt down at least once. In easy reach of both open moor and beauty spots.
Lunch started with what appeared to be home made hummus with small toasts pretending to be flat bread, the toast working well. Ended with good sausages and mash, having remembered once again to have gravy on the side. In the event, untouched.
Forest Inn, Hexworthy
Back again for more the following day. Hummus on toast again, but went for a chicken and bacon salad, aka Ceasar salad, after that. And they managed not to comment on my choice of sparkling water - I suppose the days when pubs could - or would want to - make cracks about non-drinkers are long gone. They need the car-borne food trade. But I remember the days when they would have.
Taylor's, Ashburton
Tea and cake at Ashburton's fancy tea shop. Also known as the English Tea Room. We thought that the name might have come from up north. Cake - Devon apple cake - not bad for shop cake, once I had tipped off the thick layer of soft brown sugar someone had seen fit to pour over the top. Is there no bound to our taste for more or less raw sugar?
Tea might have involved tea leaves.
Overall impression
Standard of service heaps better than it used to be. All these cooking schools and restaurant programmes on telly must be doing some good. All British too; the wave of cheerful young foreigners who are more or less de rigueur in London does not seem to have reached Devon, at least not the parts that we were in.
References
Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/holiday-food.html.
Reference 2: http://theburratorinn.com/.
Reference 3: http://forestinndartmoor.co.uk/index.html.
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