The Claycutters, Chudleigh Knighton

Where to lunch is a very important decision that one needs to make carefully, especially in retirement. The reason is that we are older and wiser (or so we believe) and have had good, bad and indifferent experiences of dining in various eateries all over the country and indeed in many far away places too.

Today we were going out to lunch with friends who are Devonians: John is a retired farmer, who hasn’t quite retired and he and his wife Sue run a B&B in Teigngrace, Devon. Maybe there should be a B&B Quest (great idea - Ed)

Being born and bred in Devon they know many local people and it is through the “word of mouth” wire that eateries are praised and recommended or, alas, bow down and die.

Neil and Julie, formerly of The Highwayman’s Haunt at Chudleigh have recently taken over the management of this pub and John had heard some good things about the menu and the staff, so we decided to try it out for ourselves.

The place came across as a traditional yet quaint (in the good sense of the word) pub with a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff. There are many seating areas to choose from with the addition of a patio area.

As well as the traditional bar and a la carte menus, which are packed full of local, seasonal produce, they provide a Light Lunch menu where one could select a main course for £6.95 or a main and a desert for £8.95. There are also specials on the blackboards, which change daily. I was also told that they offer an extensive wine list and choice of well-kept Real Ales.

So to the two menus, which were both good, interesting, varied and reasonably priced. We decided to order from the Light Lunch menu, as John and Sue had warned us that the portions were very generous.

Colin chose the roast of the day, which happened to be turkey. It was well presented and obviously sourced from fresh produce (I just hate frozen veggies!) The gravy was homemade. His only criticism was that the turkey was over salted, though it was nice to see chunks of turkey and not just transparent slithers.

Sue, John and I all went for the beef and onion pie with new potatoes and peas. It was a move away from my regular type of meal and I was not disappointed. It came piping hot and was absolutely delicious. Underneath the dramatic puff pastry was locally sourced, minced, rump steak blended with onions to give a tasty and satisfying kick to the palate. The potatoes were plain and sweet and I did add a touch of mayonnaise to them, which livened them a little. The peas were few, but the pie made up for that. The verdict from all was positive.


Our choice of drinks wasn’t too imaginative as we didn’t want wine at lunchtime. Sue and I had J20 apple and mango, (no ice…don’t you just hate it when your drink is watered down by melting ice!) John had an appletiser and Colin had half a pint of Otter bitter.

We all decided that we were glad we didn’t go for the full menu as having seen some of the other customer’s orders it was extremely generous and too much for us for a lunch.

The couple opposite us had the Chicken Korma option, which looked wonderful. There were beautiful big chunks of chicken on a bed of rice, served with poppadoms. When I asked her what she thought she said she was disappointed as it was rather bland and very “70’s”, with too many things like raisins and not enough spice!

And so the desserts. Colin decided that as I had made apple and blackberry crumble the night before, he wouldn’t partake, but the rest of us decided we would.

John ordered the blackberry and apple crumble and when it arrived, his heart sank. It was huge, but he managed to finish most of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. The custard on the side was a nice idea as then he could put as little or as much custard on the crumble as he wanted.

Sue and I both have a weakness for proifiteroles, so that is what we ordered, and we were not disappointed. 5 fresh profiteroles topped with clotted cream on home made chocolate sauce. I thought I had died and gone to heaven, and so wonderfully presented. The waitress even came back with a longer handled and smaller spoon to make it easier to eat. Oh yes…to die for!


So that completed our lunch as we decided we didn’t have any room left for coffee! We'll be going back to sample the full menu sometime soon!


Scores

Food 4/5
Presentation 4/5
Service 5/5
Setting 5/5
Giving an overall 18/20

Lunch Questers were Sue, John, Colin and Mel

The Total Bill came to: £41.70

The Claycutters
Chudleigh Knighton
DEVON TQ13 OEY