Dolphin in North Devon

Bad first (not that bad ..😆) A bit old and dated, dispite the newish tile panelling Batter was nice but a little oily on the fish (soaked into the batter) The good.. HUGE battered fish - (suggest you just get the small one) cooked perfectly Sirloin steak was tender and cooked perfectly (ordered medium) I was pleasantly surprised on the quality, as it's a basic takeaway with a restaurant attached and it was under £20, so no top steak restaurant - but kudos to the chef, best £20 steak I've had, and better than some classier $$$$ places I've been, For that £20 I also got onion rings (perfect), salad - quality greens, few cut up bits of capsicum a couple of mushrooms, tomato, fried tomato too and plenty of chips cooked perfectly and very nice. (but best chips in UK I've had is at Lochgilphead - Scotland) Constructive criticism only - I was VERY happy given the price, Way better than a lot of places I've been to so far in the UK, and would definitely eat the same dishes again. Staff were friendly... This is at the end of the tourist season too. (Oct'24)

Amazing fish and chips well worth the money

Fantastic seafood platters,and a side order of whitebait...super friendly service and very clean. We had so much that we took a box of salad home with us..would highly recommend,can't fault it

Fantastic fish & chips, legendary battered chicken fillet, service with a smile, and treats for the dog. Great visit & highly recommend

Excellent service, lovely people. Couldnt do wnough for us on a cold, wet afternoon. We only had Tea and Tea cakes but they were lovely. Thank you, all good and lovely clean toilet facilities also.

Stopped here for lunch in Ilfracombe, great service and food cooked fresh, also very reasonably priced and friendly staff.

One of the best gluten free chippy we've ever found. Large gluten free option eat in or takeaway dog friendly. Great staff and service

Wonderful fish and chips freshly cooked. Lovely friendly staff.

Lovely meal had by my wife and I,highly recommended

We had takeaway cod and chips this afternoon. Sun was out and the village was particularly busy for early October. For context, I don't like fish and chips as a meal. It's just not really my bag, it's a long story. The missus ordered some chips for our daughter who has a dairy and peanut allergy and she got herself the small cod and chips. The server was very helpful with the allergen stuff and overall extremely polite. When we sat down across the road a little bit, it was the delicious smell that got me. In short, these were the best chips I've ever eaten from a chip shop in Devon. Good chunky cut chips that were in no way greasy. Cooked very well and lovely and fluffy on the inside sprinkled in amongst these huge chips were smaller crisper ones and even a few you might call scribbles! Then I tried the "small" cod! It was incredible! Again lovely crispy melt in the mouth batter and a beautiful meaty fillet of cod. Cracking food. 11/10

Awesome non greasy breakfast nicelypresented, dog friendly, treats and water for doggy and lovely cider.

Very good 👍 food , service very nice & helpful .

Great meal all freshly cooked. Small portion available for smaller appetites. Staff could not have done more to help us . Even managed to order a taxi for us to our campsite as buses cancelled due to roadworks. THANK YOU

The Best Seafood and views across Harbour, just love coming here.Staff are friendly and watchful for anything you require like the table next to us an agitated young child and a member of staff took him to see the fishtank in Resturant and returned with big smiles all round.

Absolutely awful food. Visited on a Sunday night. Chips had been cooked many times over and chicken pie was uneatable. Very disappointed

Was on holiday in Devon last week 8th to 16th September we went to Illfracombe for the day decided to have fish & chips by the harbour I must say they was the worst fish & chips we have ever had fish was awful soaked in batter it must not have been changed in ages all you could taste was a the fat it was cooked in old fat that needs changing and the chips were so dried out they must have sat there for ages. Never will we go here again. £25 down the pan

I don't normally leave reviews but after the service we received, it's only fair that people know before they go in. Walking in, we were greeted with a nice girl who took us to a table, cannot fault her at all. However, the woman who served us was very, very rude, I have never met anyone who doesn't know how to serve customers nicely. She was appalling. Firstly, when she was taking my mum's order she said "who's next?" So while I was then saying what I wanted she basically told me to shut up as she was asking what my mum wanted to drink. Then, when she took my order, she asked if I wanted a small portion and I said "no thank you" and she said in a horrible voice "so you want a big then". Once she took our order, the young girl came up and asked us to pay. She offered that we could all pay separately, however when we did this, the woman who served us did not like this at all and made it very complicated. She was throwing stuff about and being horrible to the other employees there. I found one of the employees in the toilet crying, so she had obviously shouted at her. They made us feel very unwelcome which is a shame because we had been in there before when we visited Devon a few years ago and they were lovely then but now, it's just horrible. The food was fine but I will NEVER go in to this restaurant again. Not until, the staff gets some lessons in how to treat their customers. Very disappointed and definitely wouldn't recommend!!

Fish cooked fresh and so tasty. Chips worse ever had. Dry cold leftovers

This is just a fish and chip shop with tables to eat. I didn’t find anything special about it but food was ok if you want cod and chips (seafood restaurant implies to me a little more than that which it is not). Service was good though, staff stood around a lot near bar area but wasn’t mega busy but still better to look busy than bored. Felt like it could do with a good clean. As a northerner I know the differences a chippy can have and this was just standard.

Lovely fish and chips We looked at the one further along and it looked very pale. We came here and had cod, chips and curry sauce (and scraps of course!) and it was really delicious, there was a wait but it was cooked to perfection, golden cod and well cooked chips. The curry was delicious too. Would recommend Lovely friendly staff too

Food was amazing and recommended before we came here on holiday. However, the takeaway side of this business is a joke. Constantly struggling to keep up with orders, consistent moaning about the job by a few members on the take away staff, one I heard about 5 times wishing she gave her shift away. I waiting for 45 mins outside in the street, as I now many people did with one gent waiting over and hour, for fish and chips…. Then for an order block to be put on so they could catch up. Can’t say anything about the restaurant, I darent enter and upon a revisit to give benefit of the doubt, food was again lovely, staff couldn’t keep up (we know it’s August) so much so that one of the chefs had to come join to team to get everything moving. She was a star might I add, but honestly never heard so many complaints from staff while at work

Great experience and tasty food, A hats off to Anna who answered our questions before we had the chance to ask! "Nope the fish oil doesnt get mixed with the sausages its all separate"

Takeaway experience- Tasty fish and chips (when we eventually got them) however service was chaotic, 2 young girls taking orders and serving takeaway orders. Our friends received their order within a reasonable time but we waited over 40 mins as it turned out they had forgotten to process our order.

Just a chipper. Tables a bit sticky. Floor carpet is maybe not best choice for such type of restaurant. Appears dirty. Cannot tell much about the food....they just forgot. Staff had not a clue about pending orders. Left after 45min still hungry.

Mmm such good fish and chips that we ate here twice in a few days.

Food was great, the service absolutely excellent. Attention to detail first class. Their ability to cater for gluten free went above and beyond.

Turned up without a booking on a Saturday night but they were able to seat us a table of 6 and the dog. The food was delicious and really well priced. We loved the Haggis fritters and deep fried black pudding!

We called in on a Saturday evening, without a booking, for 6 people and a dog, and they were able to seat us quickly. The table and floor around it were cleaned quickly before we were seated (especially helpful as the dog would have been hoovering up the scraps if they hadn’t!). The choice was great, and the specials of haggis balls and battered black pudding were too tempting to resist. And they were worth it, sooo good! Our order was taken quickly and delivered in good time. Everything was really tasty, clear plates all around. And really well priced, great value for 6 of us. If we are ever that way again we will call in.

Great chips and battered sausage! :)

Perfect lunch! I visited Ilfracombe with my misses and daughter. What an amazing place I wish I lived here. We were going from promenada towards docks and get munchies in our bellies. We decided to stop in The Dolphin Restaurant. For start we wasn't sure about it as restaurant was quite empty but what a mistake would we do if we wouldn't stop by. I tried 3 dishes. Lasagne, Cod and Haddock. Now lasagne... It was one of the best lasagne I've ever had! 🤤 And I'm massive fan of it. I had thousands of them 🫢 Fish was nice and fresh so as chips. Salad for lasagne was fresh also. What can I say everything was just on TOP level! Customer service was also on great level. Waitress Beth was so nice to us, and her recommendation was spot on. Massive compliments to chefs! This restaurant deserves to be full at all time! Only concern I might say was the music, it was nice but I feel like shanty would make better job 😁 Love from my family to this place WORTH VISITING!

The best gluten free fish and chips we've ever had. They also had gluten free vinegar!!!

Overall a good experience. The fish and chips are worth to try. A bit crowded especially at lunch and early dinner time. The big COD is not that big and bit pricey but it’s understandable as it’s a tourist spot.

Old style fish and chips shop; lovely staff who were attentive and helpful. Food was good - decent portions and quality and good attention to various dietary needs of our group.

Now that is the sort of place I would be proud to own. Could not fault them if I tried. Lovely staff clean and tidy and the food was really fresh and tasty. the manager pictured was a diamond and me and my family WILL BE BACK!

Had takeaway cod and chips. Very tasty, lovely light batter.

Let down by rude service and overall weird vibes. Would not recommend.

Had lovely fish and chips sitting on the pier. One of us had a burnt battered sausage. Big portions. Didn't put off the seagull!

We were going to have fish and chips on the harbour wall and watch the sunset, but ended up inside instead as the seagulls looked too menacing!! Great food served fresh and a nice location overlooking the harbour.

We come back to this place every year! Absolutely amazing food and the do a gluten free menu, their fish,chips and gravy are stunning. Thank u! We will be back next year!

We stopped here today for lunch again. After visiting last year. This was probably the best fish and chip meal ever. Lovely friendly waitress too. Thank you everyone. Keep up your amazing work.

This place can’t do enough to make you feel welcome. So accommodating to us and our two-year-old and our little dog. Lovely staff and lovely fresh food. Really great place to eat-in your fish and chips.

Typical seaside fish and chips restaurant. Service provided by charming young ladies. Fish was tasty (we had the large cod) and chips were well cooked and chunky.

Best fish and chips I’ve ever had! There’s also an amazing view of the harbour and the staff were great with our son who was being a bit of a handful!

Lovely fish nice light batter and not greasy. Calamari and whitebait starters were also really fresh and tasty

Good fish and chips, good selection of veggie options, reasonable wait time

The service was very attentive, the food was on the plate incredibly quickly and really fresh, fragrant and crispy.

They food was amazing and the staff was very friendly to

Best fish and chips I have had for years. Batter covered the fish sufficiently so not to disguise the size and shape of the fish. It was crispy, tasty , and high quality. I recommend this restaurant for excellent fast service , value for money and of course the afore mentioned Cod and chips.

I find it very loud and echoing in here. The service is good and not bad prices but disappointing quality of fish to be honest 😕

My partner and I visited over the weekend even from walking in I wasn't impressed. We had initially walked in and the woman that was behind the collect counter clicked at my partner like he was a dog and told him that he had come into the wrong entrance. We then waited to be seated in the dine in area and 30 seconds after sitting down we were asked what we wanted. We asked for another 10 minutes as my partner had needed to nip out and another 2 minutes later we were asked again if we were ready to order. The entire time we felt rushed. The we had ordered a glass of squash and a glass of apple juice the glass of squash probably had one drop in. The food arrived and it was still scolding 5 minutes after being sat there. There was no salt on the table and the colour of the batter and the chips looked like the oil needs changing. The customer service was absolutely appalling waitresses being rude about other waitresses made me feel like I was back at school again. Very disappointed

Good quality food. Service slightly slow and tables ordering after us served way before us but on our second visit a very slick service. More of cafe feel which suited us fine on the occasion. Good value for money with generous portions, views towards harbour and we visited twice

Chips were mostly bits. Girl serving was very friendly

It's been quite some years since I have had such a bad meal as the one I had here today. If it wasn't a take away and I had still been near the "restaurant" it would have gone back. It did however go in the bin. Raw batter on the fish and a pie top you could use as a discus it was so tough and dried out. I would recommend you look elsewhere as I doubt it could be worse than here.

Used The Doplhin Restaraunt today and the food was amazing, had the lasagne and it was delicious. The staff are very happy and friendly. Will definitely be using this restaurant again

Went yesterday and really looking forward to some good fish and chips. What a disappointment 😠 it was the worst fish I've ever had. The batter was awful and soggy. Very small portion even though I'd asked for large. Terrible.

Had lovely meal all week from this amazing restaurant and our last night was so nice with chloe the manager making us feel so welcome and all the staff were happy in their job excellent service excellent choice of meals would highly recommend the dolphin restaurant and takeaway

Visited The Dolphin on a day trip to Ilfracombe with The Waverley. We were looking forward to eating some fresh seafood. The customer service was efficient but we ordered the seafood platter and it all came deep fried and over cooked and very crunchy. We ate it because we were hungry and didn't want the experience to spoil the day and there probably wasn't time to eat again elsewhere. Don't think we will return here. Waitress did very kindly gave us some discount and apologised.

Lovely staff and amazing food! Made to feel very welcome with our very loud little one.

Delicious food and great service, freshly cooked and appreciated the warning about the seagullls

Very friendly staff and polite.food was really lovely home made curry was banging definitely will be going back when in the area would recommend

Phenomenal, English, old style Seafood Restaurant 🍤🦞🐟🦀 with views over the Ilfracombe's Harbour ⚓, great deals (Sharing Platter for 2 for £21!), finger-licking 🤤 classical Devonshire's Cream Tea 🍪🫖, good selection of drinks and exceptional service ! 👏👏 Definitely will be back one day to try other stuff! 🫶🫶

Fantastic little seaside restaurant. Great service, great food and accommodated the 6 of us and our Labrador. Food was delicious and fresh and service very friendly. They loved our dog and even gave him a free sausage 🌭

Great food and great service! 7 of us seated and served very quickly, food was really tasty too. Would recommend to anyone visiting the harbour area.

Food was expensive and the chips were not nice. Would not go back.

Nice bit of scran. Portions weren't massive but definitely enough to fill you up

Poor customer service, one server whom I believe was the manager was incredibly rude to my party and towards the staff barking like a dog, extremely bossy and condescending while taking our order. The food was horrible, avoid this restaurant.

Ordered two identical fish and chips plus two identical drinks yet the waitress thought we'd only ordered one of each. Not exactly complicated. Nice fish though.

Had Haddock & Chips, batter was quite greasy, fish wasn't the freshest, chips not great. Nice location.

Amazing food and lovely staff with a great view while we were eating, Great value for money also, would definitely return.

Most expensive under sized fish n chip I’ve ever brought Avoid

Great fish and Chips! Not greasy at all and the curry sauce was amazing! Portions are decent and the staff were friendly.

We visited ilfracrombe to see what it was like not very happy pretty boring then we decided to pop in here to have a snack the whole team in the restaurant were very welcoming and pleasant especially to our dogs we sat down and ordered the wives had chilly con carny myself and my brother in law had the mixed fish dish the service was very quick and food was excellent but the thing that stood out was the overall service friendliness and the way the people running the restaurant couldn’t do enough to please us and was friendly to each other if we visit again we will return 100% recommend

Seafood was really nice, comfortable seating but just note that it is more a cafe than a restaurant. Quite a lot of new staff, it seemed, so some points were confused (we were charged for 2 desserts when really the first one was ordered then the waitress came back to say it was out but had forgotten to take it off our tab). The double charge was sorted but I had to point it out.

The fresh chips were incredible and the service was as good. The only place ill go week in and week out during open season. 1000% recommended!

I highly recommend the seafood platter. A wonderful twist in traditional fish and chips. Our son also loved the scampi. Thank you!

Ate here twice. Amazing meals, great value. The staff were friendly and welcoming and the food was piping hot. Would highly recommend.

Great food friendly staff lovely place every time me and my girlfriend foods always hot and fresh could not get better 👍🏻👌🏻

Great Location and the fish and chips to die for x

The food didn't taste nice at all it was all dry and the curry sauce was horrible the pickles tasted like it was out of for days.

Best Fish & Chips ever.. Recommended..I've eaten in many Restaurants this one is top of the list..Great value for money.

Thoroughly enjoyed their special, seafood chowder with crispy bread. Staff were attentive and the place was very clean.

We ordered to take away today- during the school Easter holidays and we had quite a wait. About 25 mins. They didn't look particularly busy in the take away but could have been busy in the restaurant. I'm happy waiting for a good fish and chips. My only gripe was when the server sneezed into some kitchen roll in her hands and rubbed them onto blue roll then down her apron. I asked her very nicely if she wouldn't mind washing her hands as I had watched her and her reply shocked me. She told me that as they don't have any anti bac hand sanitiser, they have been informed that they just have to vigorously wipe their hands in the blue roll and for extra measure, she wipes them on her apron. This is certainly not how you clean your hands. Bacteria isn't just wiped away with vigorous hand rubbing, germs and viruses also aren't removed with anti bac gel! Why she had been told this, I do not know but when asked, she did go off to find some gel to clean her hands with. I don't want to be a 'Karen' but I also don't want to get any illnesses from poor hand washing! At least get some anti bac gel behind the counter but somewhere hands could be washed properly would be much better! If Covid taught us anything, it should at least be how to wash our hands!

Absolutely smashing place 👌 It is extremely busy but it has a fast turn over. Staff are quick, helpful, friendly and often seen wizzing around. We had a Amazing waitress seat us who was working extremely hard with a broken arm. She was a trooper. We popped in easter Friday for dinner. I am GF due to allergies but this is only the 2nd Fish and chip restaurant I've found that offers GF batter and a larger GFmenu. Due to how busy it is , it doesn't have a calm atmosphere but it's nice. I had GF haddock, chips, mushy peas, and a GF curry sauce. GF Haddock was extremely tasty! The curry sauce was powdery , not mixed well, but had a nice taste. Chips were gorgeous.

What a lovely, traditional, seaside fish and chip restaurant. The staff were welcoming and friendly. They worked very hard as it was a wet and busy Easter Friday. Food was delicious. I had the battered sausage, my stepson had the steak pie and my husband the traditional fish and chips. All big portions. They also allowed our dog in, which was fabulous. Really friendly and I would recommend when visiting.

Popped in on a rainy Thursday. Fish and chips were just the best, the staff were friendly and accomadating. We stayed in North Devon for a week and ate out every day. This place was the best.

The staff were so polite and friendly they worked their socks off in what was a very busy lunchtime period. Great tasty food and I was very happy to see a wide range of gluten free options. Could not fault one bit..

Food is expensive but it is very fresh so took the sting. Unfortunately, they forgot half my meal and completely forgot my partners meal until we mentioned it. The kids meals were very good and their milkshake was very nice. Waitresses was very helpful, just unfortunate we had to chase after our food. Kitchen accepted responsibility for the mistake. It's not the warmest fish and chip restaurant I've been to, with many people choosing to wear their coats while eating. Time of year doesn't exactly help in this respect.

Fish and chips mushy peas...quality beautiful tasting fish will be using again, irish woman very pleasant and professional,only down fall is it only opens for holiday season,

Great fish&chips, hugely recommended

We visited in October after a day out to Ilfracombe and we really fancied fish and chips! The Dolphin didn’t disappoint! The food was fresh and tasty, the team were friendly and the kids menu offering is fantastic too. A special mention to the lovely lady (whose name I have forgotten, I’m so sorry!) who was fantastic with my 2yo & 4m old, especially a huge thank you for offering to keep my food warm while I fed the baby. This is the first time EVER while I’ve fed either of my kiddos in public someone has offered to keep my food warm and it was amazing to be asked, thank you ❤️ Thank you so much, we’ll definitely visit again!

Oh My Oh My........... absolutely the best fish and chips ever. Called in the early evening after a day out and was greeted by friendly staff and a wonderful takeaway meal. It was so that good I just had to go back and complement their standard of food ....... think I frightened the lady a little as she thought I was going back to complain ha ha no way!!

We are fussy about fish and chips, making it an amateur challenge to ‘rate’ the nations chippies on our various staycations. I have additionally added to the ‘fuss’ by recently going gluten free, and so have unfortunately been eating my fish without the batter :-( so imagine my absolute joy when I saw that The Dolphin had a gluten free menu (cooked in separate fryer). Batter was amazing. Super crispy like a crunchy tempura. Chips were also gorgeous (whatever potato variety they have opted for, they clearly know their spuds). My co reviewer isn’t dietary intolerant so can vouch for the quality ‘doorstop’ slices of bread and butter also, which he crafted into a chip butty. Glass of Sauvignon Blanc and pot of tea. No room for dessert this time! This independent restaurant on the harbour definitely deserves a visit while you are in Ilfracombe.

Fantastic food, tasted hot, fresh and tasty. Didn’t take long to be prepared considering it was quiet busy. Staff friendly and helpful! Ate alongside the harbour as it was a beautiful day! Plenty of seating at the end of the harbour. Highly recommend!

Almost half the order was missing.

Great staff and food was really good definitely worth a visit

The staff were excellent, the young lady serving us in the restaurant was very attentive to my children and made our visit a pleasure. Very relaxed atmosphere

Went in with a family of 20 people and we were served super friendly, very efficiently and faultless. The food is wonderful, we had a fantastic time. Family run restaurant atmosphere. Thank you to the whole team.

Service was excellent. Staff very polite. Food was excellent, hot and freshly cooked. A very good experience. I will return there again. Very good value for the money. Thank you

Fish and Chips were great, and the staff were also very friendly and helpful.

Good service and reasonable prices