Cat & Fiddle Inn in East Devon

Used to visited the cat & fiddle once a month in the late 80s, early 90s with friends from our American car club. We had a reunion and although u der different ownership, the cat & fiddle is still a friendly, comfortable pub/restaurant to visit. The staff are friendly and chatty, and the food is very good. The only strange thing we noticed was last orders at 9.30, as they close at 10pm. They don't get much/any business late in the evenings, so they close earlier than many other places. Still, it's a great place for a pint and a meal.

Such a nice place to go has a family we have been going there for a long time around 40 years love it there nice staff polite staff really good food.

Wonderful meal and the service was excellent we will be back next month

Myself and my family have been here on multiple occasions. We were going to a local concert and wanted to get some quick to eat before our event. We all ordered prawn baguettes which came with dry lettuce chucked on the plate and cold chips. The prawn in the sandwich were clearly tiny, frozen and watery. We waited an hour for 3 sandwiches. The places wasn't even full even tho they had a 45 min wait on food there was table that were empty. There was other tables asking staff about where their food was that had been there before us. When I went up to pay the bill the young barman was very rude and snappy I mentioned we weren't happy with our food and that the quality wasn't up the par especially becuase we had waited so long for 3 sandwiches. His answer to our complaint was " we have been quite busy so that's why" not a sorry or anything offered to us at all just clearly didn't care. I feel that the ingredients could of been alot better and presentation. We will not be returning.

First time visiting the cat and fiddle pub. Awesome selection on the carvery, and very enjoyable. Staff very friendly, and good value for money. Will definitely return again.

A group of 5 ladies visited today for the first time and the food and service were excellent, we have been looking for a venue for our Christmas get together and after today the decision was made so all booked in for our Christmas meal in December 🎅🏻

play area for kids is so rare, makes a fab meal out for all ages

Friendly staff,good service, fantastic food.

Great evening ,Food and Service ....

Lovely friendly place Carvery excellent Staff polite and helpful

I am a coeliac so had previously rung up about gluten free options as I had seen a few reviews. Was told over the phone a lot of their menu was or could be made gluten free and was safe. Booked a table for 6 people on a Sunday night. When we arrived, it took a while to be seated as staff kept walking past us without checking if we were ok or what we needed. Once seated, unsure of whether it was table service or order at the bar, a girl then came and asked for our drinks order. We waited for the remainder of our party to arrive before ordering food. Service was slow to order once the rest of our party had arrived. I asked for a gluten free hunters chicken as stated as an option on the GF menu. Other members ordered items off the normal menu but nearly everything they chose, couldn’t be made as they had ran out. It would have been better if the waitress had mentioned what wasn’t available before ordering. A while later, another waitress came over to inform me that the hunters chicken couldn’t be made GF as it came in breaded. It then comes to question why this was even an option on the GF menu. As a coeliac if I had eaten this, I would have been extremely poorly if nobody had picked it up in the kitchen. I changed my order to a gammon steak as this felt like the safest option. Food was average, service was very slow. Our waitress was nice and pleasant. As it was a Sunday night, it was quiet, staff started to clean up around us getting the hoover out etc. understandably people want to go home after a shift but at no point did anyone check to see if we were finished with our deserts and if we wanted the bill. We went up to pay at the bar which was fine but the pricing on the bill was slightly wrong and we had to clamber over the cleaning products to get to the bar. Overall, very average. Wouldn’t return and it was extremely disappointing about the gluten free options after such a positive experience on the phone before booking.

The price was expensive but we wouldn’t have minded paying the price if the service and waiting time was top quality. But it was £60 for 2 mains, 2 Desserts and 2 drinks with a waiting time of about 1 hour and 28 minutes all together. My partners carvery was fast as it was self serve, but he was way done eating by the time my burger came out, which we had to remind them about my food, it was about 45 minutes by the time I received my food. My partner ordered dessert early stages of me eating then it was 30 minutes in waiting by the time we asked where it was which we think they forgot about the dessert aswell, it was 43 minutes waiting all together for the dessert.

Great place to eat and lovely staff.

We went for a family dinner. I was surprised of the menu because they have Sunday roast on a Thursday. Ambient was good specially because of the soft play, my kids enjoyed it so much. We got a table close to the softplay which was very convenient. Unfortunately, I expected more of the service. It took us almost 30mins to have a table, and the Sunday roast was quick, but we order extra veggies that never come, we needed to ask the waiter to bring it.

The soft play was great and I loved how the pub was split into sections for children playing (outdoor play and indoor play right next to each other as well) and adults out for a meal/regular pub drinkers which was nice. The atmosphere was good and clearly popular. Food I was slightly disappointed with. Had the roast which was not as flavoured as you can get other places however the thing that I found not good with the food was that when serving the roast from the self service area, not all of the different dishes had their own spoon/tongs meaning that the same spoon/tongs hasld to sometimes be used in different bowls. This didn't cause any problems for me however for anyone with allergies this could potentially be a huge problem and would need to be addressed. This is the only time I've been so I am not sure if this is normal or if I just happen to be there at a bad time, if utensils had fallen on the floor and were being replaced but can only speak to my experience.

Great service at lunchtime on Saturday for a fairly large family meal. Plenty of parking. Nicely located not far from the end of M5 motorway. Keep up the great service 👍

First time visit for Sunday carvery and not disappointed. Plenty of parking, fantastic carvery and all aspects of service was quick and friendly. Will be back again for sure

A fairly decent Carvery. Nothing Special

Food was Very expensive and the food wasn’t great. Tables weren’t cleaned I had to do it myself. Best thing was the outside park for the kids.

Impromptu stop after a day in A&E and we were served very quickly and enjoyed a nice carvery.

This place is great for bringing kids to dine, as it has an indoor soft play area and an outdoor playground. The food is reasonably priced, the environment is pleasant, and the parking lot is spacious.

Ordered a cheese and ham ploughman's,ham and cheese was ok,other than that it was just a plate of green leaves most suitable for a rabbit,and the bread roll was rock hard. The worst ploughman's I ever had.

Great food and lovely to see an outdoor play area too. Unfortunately drinks are expensive, really shocked to get 1 tiny cup of tea out a pot costing £3.75!!!! (Especially when the teabag had burst too) .

Carvery for vegetarian vegetables only was only a £1 cheaper than with meat or veg nut roast option and £5 more expensive than a child's roast with meat. Very helpful bar and restaurant staff wanted to charge less but grumpy supervisor/manager abrupt and said no. Every other carvery prices are lower for veg only or charge per item or, charges as kids meal. Carvery items hadn't been replaced and weren't hot. Been coming here for 20 yrs but hadn't been in a while. Disappointed ☹️

The staff were really helpful and pleasant. We had two visits to the pub after a two day visit to crealy. First night I had ploughman’s and my wife had the carvery both excellent. I had carvery the next evening because my better half’s looked so good. I’ve only marked the atmosphere is three because we had to eat in the children’s area because of the kids. But to be honest, the public looks lovely.

Awesome place, used to visit as a kid and now I'm back full circle. Still as good as it used to be, love it! Great service, friendly staff and quality dining. Top drawer!

The pub is lovely inside, really nice atmosphere but most of all the carvery was amazing! They even had gluten free cauliflower cheese and gravy! My son is coeliac and I always worry about where we eat but this was easy. Highly recommend. Update Aug 24 went back again and still lovely food and ceoliac safe xx

Starter of prawns was fresh and amazing topped off with the 2 for £15 deal on the carvery could not be happier with the food and service my baby was taken care of and plenty of things for him to do lovely softplay area for small ones and the larger ones

Lovely place! Greet staff and lovely food, unusual these days!

Service was great unfortunately the food wasn't very good tonight and the bloke carving the meat on the carvery bit was a miserable so and so !!!

Food very good, we all had the roast, but very busy Saturday night.

Great atmosphere for families with young children. Lovely soft play area clearly visible from restaurant. Food was fresh & tasty. Definitely be going back.

Another great carvery from the cat & fiddle, service was very good.

Very disappointed for £16.50 only two choices of meat ,poor veg ,some dry chopped up sausages ,had to ask for my meal to be put in microwave as it was lukewarm wont be going there again in a hurry

Very nice carvery, our children loved the indoor soft play. Thank you very much. We will definitely be back. 😊

Gorgeous place. Lovely food and dog friendly too

Times on the profile not accurate not mentioning the idea of having them displayed by the roadside. How those places even exist i have no idea. Just hungry and tired working class person.

Unfortunately, one of the waitresses had had a fall just before me, and some friends came in. The staff was severely reduced, and we had to wait a long time for our drinks, a long time to order our food, and then a long time again for our dessert. In fact, we had to go up to a waitress. Every time we wanted something, nobody came to us. The carvery was quite tasty though, but the apple crumble was a complete disaster and was practically inedible. due to the lack of service, we probably won’t return.

Cold, watered down curry with very little flavour. Fish & chips with bullets instead of peas and the batter definitely needed more cooking, no colour. We watched as the staff was closing the place down around us. The kitchen light went out. No offer of dessert. We left before 9pm. Won't be going again ever!!!

Big big portions Poor waitress was run off her feet I had the gammon The lady had a Ploughman's lunch

Best carvery I've had in years. Definitely recommend to carvery lovers!

Turned with a booking and space was free. Good selection of food and very pleasant friendly staff

Arrived on holiday it was pouring with rain. Stumbled on this lovely pub and glad we did. One if the best carverys ivd had . Meat was tender cooked to perfection, great selection of veg and lovely roast potatoes and parsnips. Friendly staff to. Will definitely be going back before we go home .

Staff was very helpful, they arranged icecream takeaway which made my partner real happy. Thank you to helpful staff.

Nice hearty carvery style roast, with choice of meats. Lots of on site parking and children welcome with indoor and outdoor play areas.

The staff were incredibly nice took our orders quickly BUT the food was tastless , cold and not much to choose on the carvery station for vegetables the meat was dry, cold so we placed it politely into our napkins to take home for our dog . Our coffees were freezing cold they were nice if you wanted ice cold coffee . Other than this it's a nice place with humble staff and nice place to take kids . Our carvery were expensive for the portions .

Currently my favourite carvey around Exeter

Great pub for young kids with a small soft play area to keep them busy

Excellent carvery. Good value for over 55s

Nothing like it used be. Was served by a woman and her child. Carvery was only just warm and tasteless. Gravy was the only hot and tasty bit.

Nice welcome and quickly seated, fast service being asked for drink and food orders and food was reasonably fast. However, the advertised soft play was tiny any only really suitable for under 5s (or possibly even younger!) and despite the website saying they have an outside play area they no longer have this, and the soft play/outdoor play area was a big part of choosing this location for lunch, looks like the outdoor play has been gone for some time - please update the website urgently! Car park spaces were very tight for current cars as well! Overall nice food, good service but don't bet on all the website being correct!

Went for a family get together we had mixed meals but all good quality, my only criticism would be the carvery was not very hot other than that all was good, we would go back.

My partner, myself and my son had the Carvery. My other son had the burger and my daughter had fish and chips. Our tickets for our carveries came out really promptly but we wanted to wait for the other two to get their meals and within ten minutes they had theirs and I had my nut roast to go with my Carvery. The roast potatoes and veg were fresh, cooked well and delicious. There was cauliflower cheese, sweetcorn, swede, leeks, red cabbage, green beans and mixed veg with peas. The stuffing balls were lovely and so we're the Yorkshire puds. My nut roast was huge and very yummy, loads of goats cheese! My son enjoyed his burger which was thick and had bacon and real cheese with it. My daughters fish looked nice and white inside, was a good size and she enjoyed it. Four of us had desserts and they were good too. We paid just over £123 for the 5 of us which I don't think is bad atall considering we had large drinks each too. Would definitely go again.

Far better carvery than average. Real ale too

Brilliant food and staff really friendly and helpful 😀

Family pub, obviously very popular and correctly so. Waiting staff were a bit irritable. The big let down for me for me was the toilets. Floor was soaking wet and it was quite smelly.

Food is lovely and all the staff are great. Love going here. We can even take the dog in.

The whole experience was terrible!

Booked table for 12 adults..Good Service..and perfect carvery Plenty of choice..

Went here for a club meet, best carvery I've had in years. As a large group it can often be difficult with seating, but this place was great. We had the old skittles room which had a section of bar dedicated too it, and was abit closed off so our group didn't disturb anyone. The carvery was generous with the meat and it was well cooked and the vegtibles were great and not over cooked. Staff were freindly and helpful. I left with a full belly and will certainly be coming back.

Good value for money,good quality food and excellent service.

Went in for a meal, stood for 10minutes waiting to be seated and left. No one acknowledged us or the 7 people queuing behind us. Even if short staffed the girl behind the bar could of said someone will be with you

Four of us had a tasty and welcome roast at the Cat & Fiddle. Great choice at the carvery, including tender beef, gammon and turkey, plus a large selection of well-cooked vegetables. Good pint of beer too. Staff were all polite, friendly and helpful. 🙂👍 The available dining area on the day was at the opposite end to the quiet, reception area near the car park, so be patient, be kind - you will be assisted.

We were disappointed by the carvery. Not a lot of meat and although the vegetables were beautifully arranged with a wide variety, it was only luke warm.

Lovely place to go with family and friends, date etc. Friendly staff and food was delicious, especially the carvery.

I opted for the hunters chicken and wasn't disappointed, a large plate of chips salad and the hunters chicken was way plenty to fill me and was very nice the chicken was coated, and covered in bacon and smothered in rich flavour BBQ sauce, I also had the home made apple and cinnamon crumble that was really really nice, The place it's self looked very clean and cosy, the cavery looked very appealing. to be fair I couldn't fault it definitely somewhere I would visit in the future

EDIT 31.07.22. Special mention for Michael on carvery who went the extra mile keeping a little boy happy in front of us in the queue. Michael was very professional, friendly and welcoming and like all of your staff who we've met on our visits, they are a credit to you. A lot of other establishments could do with taking a leaf out of your book! Our dog and 2 cats have enjoyed some of the leftovers and we have our 2 HUGE takeaway tubs to enjoy as well. I over heard 2 separate groups one saying that the carvery was "next level" and the other that the choice of veg was like nothing they've seen before. Thanks for another fabulous meal. Excellent evening at the Cat and Fiddle. The staff were friendly and accommodating. We rang to book at short notice and spoke to a lovely member of staff called Sam. We went straight over to the Cat and Fiddle and were greeted and seated quickly and orders taken. There were 4 in our party and we each had different meals. I had one of rhe last carvers of the evening as they end at 8pm and it was 20 to when I collected my meal from the carvery counter. The gentleman carving rhe meat was so very polite and had excellent customer service. He even told me about meals on other days. Very refreshing to have such a lovely experience. The food was tasty and there was plenty of it. The layout of the serving buffet allowed for space between myself and other clients who were putting veg on their plates so I felt Covid safe. The restaurant and bar area both had open airy zones so that clients could sit at the table and not be too closely packed in near others. Over all this was a very lovely experience and I am very much looking forward to returning and having another meal here. The car park area was very large, there is another entrance for disabled access and the inside has flat areas so if you arepushing someone it makes it far easier on you.

We’re staying at the Woodbury Park spa and went for a meal at the cat and fiddle bar staff ‘ waitresses and food was bloody amazing we left fully stuffed with their outstanding carvery well done to all at the pub in a bonus the over 55 deal brilliant

Absolutely fantastic carvery and super nice staff, will come again

No great food. No service had to ask for everything. No check back. Didn't get asked if we wanted dessert or coffees Wouldn't want to put money in there till again

Lovely meal, but coming from the Yorkshire really missed the mashed potatoes on the plate,staff really welcoming and helpful.

Absolutely Brilliant! Me, my wife and 3 children had a fantastic time. Spur of the moment we decided to go for a roast and got a table straight away, we was greeted kindly by staff who directed us to our table next to the play area so our 3 children could play, as I went to the bar I was stopped by the Chef "excuse me Sir can you come over here with me please" he said will a smile as I followed "try this Gammon it's just come out the over!" Gorgeous! I died and went to heaven, I knew I was in for a treat seeing all that fresh food laid out for the carvery. Thank you Chef! Already I'm impressed! I went to bar to order, "2 Adult Caverys, 1 Children's Carvery, two cheese burgers and chips, 1 Pint of Amstal, Coffee Liquliore and 3 Fruit Shoots Please" "No problem Sir and by the way the kids meals are free" said the polite waitress. What! Apparently Children eat for free if you go during the week and buy an adult meal, all of that was just 60 quid! Amazed as I had sip of my ice cold and well kept larger "please Sir let me take you drinks over" This place just gets better! The children are playing happily in the play area so me and the Mrs can have a nice chat and unwind. Two minutes later "here's your food Sir" (quick service) right let's get our Carvery I said to my oldest Son. Roast Beef, Turkey, Pork, Gammon and crackling, that friendly and chatty Chef loaded me and the Boys right up! "Eat it all boys" Fresh Feg, Pigs in Blankets the food was Amazing! My Wife loved her's and the kids didn't want to leave! I'm home now and can't stop thinking about that Gammon and how friendly and hilarious the Chef was! Can't wait to go back 10/10

A big thank you to all the staff at the cat and fiddle, had Christmas lunch there yesterday 25th 2023, A bit worried as always cooked this special meal for over 40 years, so been treated out for once, the meal was superb, beautiful persented ,waited on by staff who worked their socks off. An all round enjoyable meal, so well done to all staff ,behind the scene and out front.

Great carvery with lots of choice and good value for money. Best to make a booking as very busy when we visited.👍👍

The girls love coming in to see chef Alan. Considering the amount of people here they haven’t dropped there 5 star standards

Nice roast and desserts big pub

Didn't have food but a couple drinks. Wow! What a lovely English pub. And lovely friendly staff. Well done all of you!

Table available as a walk in on a busy Sunday evening so very grateful for that. Placed right next to the soft play which we were initially happy about for our 2 under 5's but then several over 5 children started play fighting in the area, being very loud and throwing soft play cubes (hitting our table) making it unsafe for our children. Our kids did come out crying 1-2 times. It seems their parents weren't bothered and the staff had disappeared. When they did come back into the area they didn't say anything to the older kids or their parents. We asked to move tables further away and this was accommodated but the table, chairs and carpet were caked in food. Some of the fabric chairs were wet as well so had to swap them with leather ones from another table and wipe everything down before we could sit down. The carvery wasn't anything to shout about although my daughter got the fish goujons and they were lovely! The toilets were very messy like kids had been left to their own devices in there. I'm not one to complain but on this occasion we did as it was my birthday meal out and they deducted the 2 carvery meals so very good customer services. Staff were always polite but won't be returning in a hurry unfortunately.

Very good service and reasonably priced meal which was delicious and plenty of food also good choice of vegetables

Here for a company Christmas meal. Very nice food, very happy and friendly staff. The main restaurant looks cosy but the function room is a bit bland and doesn't cope well with the noise of the big group.

Excellent food chef was lovely and very friendly staff

Food was nice. Service was good. Carvery was enjoyable.

The waitress was inexperienced and not sure she particularly cared. Addressed as 'guys' - we are both over 55. We have visited a couple of time recently, the food was ok but let down by the service.

First time of visiting and was pleasantly surprised, one of the best Sunday carverys we have had since returning from Spain.

Brilliant to take children ,for play area indoors ,,we go out here a few times a year And look forward to going ,can't fault this place ,recommended To all family's with children

Very good late lunch carvery. Good quality meat and a great selection of veg.

£15 for the worst carvery, everything about it was terrible. This is the kind of place where they won't ask if things are okay because they know how bad it is. Manky meat, all veg turns to paste, nasty gravy, raw crumble. I'd usually say something but it was that bad that we just left.

Overall great time. Good food and service. Only let down was the miserable stressed barman!!!

One specific member of their bar staff, whose name I didn't catch but had a 'kiss' tattoo on his neck, displayed a significant level of rudeness. He seemed unable to handle a moderately busy customer flow, struggling even with the straightforward task of taking a three-drink order. I made a simple request for one of the drinks to be served with ice, but his response was dismissive, saying, "If I remember!" Furthermore, when I placed and paid for my order, he claimed it was too busy to serve me the drinks right away. This was perplexing, considering that I had just observed him promptly serving the customer before me their drinks. Was not advised the food wait would be an hour, we discovered this after waiting 30+ minutes, when the food arrived, it was overcooked and so we left over half of it. This is my second awful experience at this pub, I will not be returning

I was recommended this place from someone and I booked a table for my girls first birthday. When we arrived there was nobody to take us to our table, we were not asked for drinks or told that the kitchen was due to be closed in 15 minutes (bear in mind they booked us in a week before and we were there on time). When we went to the bar to order our food we were told the kitchen was closed. One of the staff then said that it was ok because we were booked in but they made us feel bad for even ordering food. We were served our food (which isn’t very great either) and after a while we asked if the kitchen was open as my partner wanted something more and were told that it was (?!?! Why tell us the kitchen is closing then). Anyway, we asked if they could give us some plates for our girls birthday cake and guess what? We got a tray, a knife and napkins. I felt embarrassed in front of my guests that they had to eat a birthday cake on flipping napkins with their hands! Apparently all the plates were in the dishwasher. I will never ever return to this place again. It’s dirty, the staff is impolite and service absolutely horrendous. This was meant to be a special day for a first birthday but it was so extremely disappointed.

Fantastic food, very good quality and value only exceeded by the friendly and helpful staff . Highly recommended

Lovely atmosphere! Service was delightful, fun and super helpful. I'm told the food is always better than the night we were there but still a fun evening.

A Decent burger and the staff were friendly

Sam and her team were incredible tonight. Hosted my wife's 40th and nothing was too much trouble, all of the staff were so polite and the food was incredible. Shout out to Alan behind the carvery who treated my 7 year old daughter to all the meats on the carvery and also called out my wife to sing her happy birthday. Amazing service and food. Thank you guys

Great food but a little slow on the service side considering it wasn't very busy. The carvery looked fresh and tasty, friends said that it was really nice.

Really nice place, kids play area and relaxed staff getting on with everything well.

I recently visited this charming pub and had a fantastic experience. The carvery was outstanding, offering a wide selection of delicious options. The staff were incredibly friendly and attentive, making us feel very welcome. What truly stood out was the indoor playground for kids, providing a family-friendly atmosphere. The pub's rustic decor and inviting ambiance added to the overall appeal. I highly recommend this pub for a great meal and a warm atmosphere.

Wow , been here a few times as its our local but honestly food hasn't been great ,, but wow the food today was excellent, carvey hot tasty and no complaints at all, well done everyone , definitely will be having more food here

Always get a great meal here. Often have the carvery.

Always lovely, friendly helpful staff, food has always been great and resonably priced. We have never had a problem, always recommend to family and friends We visit quite often and always get seated at the same table which our daughter loves she says its nice that such busy people remember us