I posted last week about the lovely Pig at Combe, near Honiton, which featured in my piece on the food of East Devon in the current issue of Olive magazine. Two gastropubs that are hidden in the lanes of this beautiful region also merit a visit if you’re down that way: the Five Bells at Clyst Hydon (pictured below) and The Jack in the Green at Rockbeare. Their chefs, Ian Webber and Matt Mason, both trained at Gidleigh Park nearby, and are producing some great dishes drawing on East Devon’s rich larder, including Matt’s Smoked salmon and prawn roulade starter, pictured below, which uses edible flowers from nearby Maddocks Farm Organics.
If you want something more casual, grab a funky cocktail or wood-fired pizza topped with homemade charcuterie at The Rusty Pig in quaint Ottery St Mary whose owner Rob Rea used to work at River Cottage. Try out the local crab (inside a crab-shaped home-made bread roll) at Otterton Mill – and pick up a bag of flour that’s been stoneground in its ancient watermill to take home. Or perch among the deck chairs on the beach at pretty Beer (pictured) and enjoy some locally caught fish with chips. Endearingly old-fashioned Honiton has some good eating spots too, and to capture them, enroll on a Food Photography course at nearby Otter Farm, run by the charismatic Mark Diacono (also ex-River Cottage). If you want to make a weekend of it, you’re in luck: on Coombe farm nearby there’s an adorable shepherd’s hut (pictured) that you can book through AirbnB.
You can read my full Olive feature here.
Five Bells, Clyst St Mary. © Clare Hargreaves
Salmon starter at The Jack in the Green, Rockbeare. © Clare Hargreaves
Shepherds hut Airbnb at Coombe Farm near Honiton. © Clare Hargreaves
The beach at Beer. © Clare Hargreaves
