The Bear and Blacksmith in South Hams

We are so pleased the pub has reopened with such a friendly team and great food. The Sunday roast today was absolutely delicious. It has a lovely pub atmosphere and is dog friendly. We can’t wait to return.

The most delicious Sunday Roast in the South Hams! The food was superbly presented, seasoned to perfection, fluffy and crispy roast potatoes, perfectly cooked side vegetables and Yorkshire pudding, and the tastiest cauliflower cheese…cannot wait to return!!

Great 🐻 beer. Friendly staff. What else do you want?

So our first night in the area and looking forward to some local food. Sadly the meal we had was very poor. The fish special had run out by 7.30 despite there hardly being anyone in. We ate off the wrongly named " Al a carte" menu...should say basic pub grip. A tasteless brie (hardly any brie in it) and mushroom burger turned up with two onion rings and some not very nice chips. When we complained we were offered a fish replacement, which came with nothing else and had been quickly cooked ...not very well. Thankfully the weekend improved with visits to The Millbrook and The Cricket.

Lovely warm table by the fire. Perfect on a winters night. Lovely food and service to top it off. Thank you.

We ate here tonight and can’t recommend it enough! Very friendly staff, good value for money and the food was really excellent; very tasty and freshly cooked. Thank you!

One of if not the best Sunday roasts I’ve had when eating out, the Rib of beef was perfectly cooked and the deserts were equally good. Nothing wrong with the beer either.

Brilliant food, excellent atmosphere and friendly people. It was great to see a village pub this busy on a Tuesday night, and it’s not surprising given the quality of food and drink on offer.

Dropped in for an unexpected Sunday lunch. We don’t normally do lunch but this was gorgeous. Beautifully presented not overwhelming Lots of perfect vegetables and the best crackling ever

Absolutely fabulous meal & service. Superb food, top notch service and friendliness. Can't praise these lovely people enough.

Great food perfect portion size I would definitely recommend this place for a meal, although drafty where we sat.

Honestly I am surprised at the reviews. Maybe we came in on an off day or it just wasn't the best experience this time, but me and my boyfriend went in the summer. We immediately felt uncomfortable, as we were the only people there aside from one other guy, and I half got the feeling it was because we were younger, but it felt like we were being stared at weirdly. We sat in the freezing restaurant and were the only people there, ordered a couple of drinks and they took ages to arrive considering it was just us. The cod we ordered was weirdly powdery and the chips arrived slightly cold and soggy. We also had to wait a very long time for food. The person who served us seemed less that charismatic for a waiter and I felt pretty judged but maybe that is just me feeling uncomfortable overall. Seeing these reviews now, we might try to come in again. It seems as though we unfortunately had one bad experience, hopefully it's a one off though!!

Wow..... we are blown away by the service and food. Louisa was extremely attentive and professional, the scallop starter was outstanding, followed by the fish and chips, perhaps the best that we have eaten in a very long time. To also see where the food has been sourced on a chalk board added to the authenticity. Left feeling we need to return again and soon. Thank you so much to all.

Nice pub/restaurant with good food and service. Attention, Mondays are Chefs Night and are apparently often fully booked even in the off-season, so it's better to reserve in advance (unfortunately only by phone)!

Most recent visit was for the Kid Hod Thai pop up this week and it was excellent

Not really a pub more a restaurant.

My family and I have just celebrated my 80th birthday with Sunday Lunch at The Bear and Blacksmith in Chillington. We were made so very welcome, and the food was excellent. Highly recommended and we will certainly be back.

We had a excellent lunch today at a fantastic price, well worth a try. Always get such a wonderful welcome, so great to have a local pub like this.

Great food, great evening, great company, great staff and an even greater surprise.

Very friendly staff and great food. Dogs welcome. Bit tricky to get wheelchair in.

A nice pub in Chillington, a village to the east of Kingsbridge. Ate there with family, with a nice menu featuring dishes based on the availability of local food. Fish and chips uses fish available on the day, served with a vibrant pea purée. A pork dish was also on the specials from a local farm. A good choice of desserts including affogato (in Devon!). Good choice of local ciders at the bar. A car park is located behind the pub, and look out for it as the sign is easy to miss. Dogs are also welcome in the pub.

Great pub with lovely food & drink. Nice decking at the back with a bucolic South Hams view.

Enjoyed two delicious meals at this small but popular village pub. Best sirloin I've had in ages, more interesting choices too like roasted hake with curried mussels, great local ales & ciders. Booking strongly recommended as it's popular.

Great friendly pub and staff, Excellent food and good selection of food and drink, Staff are very helpful and attentive, We selected the burger off the lunch time menu and it was excellent,

Great food and social. Liked by locals and visitors

Had a Sunday lunch in the evening today and it was superb. Delicious pork for me and chicken for him loved the freshly cooked vegetables excellent service a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Amazing place, great atmosphere, best food I've ever tasted

Exceptional staff,excellent food and drinks.The service from Louisa and Jess was friendly polite and very professional and that goes for all the staff. I would highly recommend coming here for a meal and a drink which is at a reasonable price and very well presented,the atmosphere is very relaxed.Parking is round the back of the premises,although there is parking on the side street.I might also add that it is a Free House . All I can say is we were very Impressed. The Steak was excellent and the Skate wing my wife had she said was excellent as well and the portions .

Just called in at midday and was given a lovely welcome from the Barman. We ordered a Big Malc Burger each with chip and a pint of draft Bass for me. Appsolultly cracking Burgers nice friendly service. Sat outside on an under cover area very pleasant. Will be back for an evening meal very soon I think.

Visited for dinner on Monday 29th. Very good welcome from the guy behind the bar. The two female waiting staff were very professional and friendly. Chose the lobster salad with new potatoes.......faultless. Really really enjoyed the lobster. Chocolate fondant with fresh berries for dessert was just right. Along with the live music a pretty perfect night. Based on our experience would definitely recommend.

Fantastic welcoming atmosphere, with warm and attentive staff. We ate early evening and there was a lovely family vibe at that time. There is a good selection of 3-4 case ales on tap, and the food is sensational. We had the house burger, and it was easily in my top 2-3 burgers of all time. Would highly recommend.

Completely in awe of our dining experience at the Bear and Blacksmith today. Amazing Sunday lunch for 12 of us…. We’re a very discerning group; fussy children, vegetarians, food allergies etc. The staff were welcoming and the food amazing. We had a super meal and will definitely be back…. A gem of a place and awards are well deserved….

Friendly staff, great well prepared menu. Dog friendly and near a park to walk-off those pudding calories.

My husband and I had the best 3 course meal we've ever had at this wonderful pub. The staff were very attentive and couldn't do enough for you. The food is amazing we would definitely recommend it. We can't wait to visit there again.

We visited this restaurant twice during a week away in Devon staying in the village of Chillington. The review is definitely a tale of two visits with the first impressing and the second being such a disappointment. It’s a busy restaurant and so you will probably need to book. We did this on both occasions and upon our return, it was chaos trying to get to our table. It shouldn’t have been this complicated but staff didn’t really want to listen. All our disappointment comes from the second visit. The first visit - very good indeed. I would say it was pricy for what it was but they are the only establishment locally and so can inflate prices. We enjoyed their burgers and fish and chips. Desserts were very nice. Second visit was not great. I’ve already mentioned the confusion at the start. They just didn’t seem to listen to what we were actually saying. We did eventually get the table we knew we were supposed to be at. Food wise, it was poor. The lamb (£25) was inedible. Couldn’t cut it, couldn’t chew it. I mention price as there were four small slices, all inedible. Returned. Lobster, also £25 was nothing special. Chips - felt like the scraps you get at the bottom of a chip shop takeaway. Some might have heard of ‘scraps’. That’s what most were. Gave up and didn’t bother with desserts. Hard to see how two evenings could be so different. We will probably never return - due to not holidaying here in future - but if we did, I probably wouldn’t bother with this. Save my money and venture elsewhere. That being said, it is busy and so clearly is well-regarded. Over to you to decide.

We had the most amazing lunch at the Bear and Blacksmith yesterday. Where else in Devon could you get freshly caught clams followed by fresh lobster for such a reasonable price and quality. Top food from a top pub. And the staff make it even more wonderful. Thank you Malcolm.

Another great meal. This time a perfect Sunday roast. Excellent

This amazing pub was hired out for a funeral wake.Coming down from London I was so impressed with the welcome and great service.The staff were top notch and the food took it to another level.Amazing.Cant wait to visit again and hopefully can stay for a Sunday roast.Cant recommend this place enough.👍👍👍👍

Excellent food, lovely staff, wholeheartedly recommended! We will be back!

Dined here during a recent holiday, ordered fillet steak with chips, mushrooms, tom's, etc but was served fillet, braised leeks and a parmesan pearl barley risotto. I asked the waitress to check the menu and it turns out I'd been given a copy of the menu that hadn't been changed from the day before. Chef immediately appeared, apologised and offered to refire the meal, I declined as I hate waste and 'er indoors was already well into her sea bass and "the best mussels and broth ever". Chef asked me for my opinion as I was the first to sample this dish. The steak was perfect and the leeks wonderful but the risotto despite it's wonderful flavour was just too large a portion and I thought needed something salty against it on the plate. We were offered a complimentary bottle of wine by way of an apology for the mix up. We declined as the food was excellent. We returned later in the week to be served Day Boat caught Pollock with chips, pea puree and home made tartare sauce. WOW!! and I mean WOW!! Stunning huge piece of fish in see through crispy batter, honestly I could count the fish flakes through it! Twice cooked chips maybe? Delicious pea puree and cracking tartare sauce. Other than the initial glowing comments after sampling I don't think we spoke until we had devoured every morsel of our food! Staff friendly and helpful, good ales and wine and a very pleasant ambiance at great prices! Fish and chips can't possibly be called fine dining can it? Yes, it can, it really can!

Looks not much from outside, but a warm welcome and great food inside. Friendly staff, very dog friendly and well decorated inside.

Beautiful food, really special stuff. Generous portions too. I took a doggy bag so I didn’t miss out on puddings. Everything we had was excellent. Even the chips. My goat dish was lovely, chops a bit rare even for me but curry soooo good.

I know places are understaffed these days and try to be understanding about the impact this has but our server looked as miserable as can be. She could hardly make eye contact with us. Service was perfunctory at best. My meal -vegetarian chilli-was tasteless and...

We were staying the night in Chillington so decided to try this bistro pub for a meal and wow, we were not disappointed. Everything was perfect from start to finish from the friendly Northern server, the menu and the service to the delicious food served...

Great food and service....Sunday Roast is a bargin

Fantastic food & very well presented... Staff also really friendly & helpful..

Myself and my husband ate here along with our two spaniels. I can honestly say that it was the best food I’ve had in a very long time. We are both vegetarian and so we don’t always get a good choice when eating out but...

Incredible wedding caterer!! We can’t thank Malcolm and Louise enough for all their help creating the wedding food of our dreams! Highlights included: mountains of delicious canapés, a banquet of sharing platters, mind blowing pasties for evening food and a beautiful 3 tiered wedding cake. All our guests loved the food (particularly the lobsters!) and our friends getting married next said the bar has been set very high! They were happy to accommodate any requests that we made, they were flexible on the day when timings ran over and in general everyone was a pleasure to work with! I’m summary, would highly recommend Malcolm and his team!

What an Amazing find, we booked for tea and had the best meal I have had in a very long time! I had King prawns to start while my husband had The Ham Hock, both were lovely. My husband had a burger for his main...

Absolutely stunning meal couldn't have asked for a better evening the staff were very friendly helpful and informative would definitely recommend food outstanding

Burger was seriously good, highly recommend them, one of the best I’ve ever had. great quality meat, lovely sauces, really tasty bun

Beautiful meals all freshly cooked using local ingredients, the sea food was amazing. The staff were fantastic and there was a wonderful atmosphere.

We spent the half term week in the Kingsbridge area and on Monday the two pubs we usually frequent were shut or full. Getting pretty desperate with a hangry 8 year old on board we drove through Chillington and followed the signs to the hidden...

We were there for the jubilee weekend when they had their seafood festival - the food was delicious, very fresh. The staff were also lovely. Would return again and again!

Great food and service!!! I have a shellfish allergy and they prepared a meal specifically for me and were really nice about, the chef even came to talk to me personally. Totally recommend :)

Just had one our most delightful meals. Glad that yesterday's diners had eaten all the steaks - the pork chop was excellent together with the onion rings/tomatoes/mushrooms/chips and pepper sauce. Wonderful atmosphere and attentive staff. If in the area it's a must to visit and...

Genuinely the best steaks we have had in an age. My mother is notoriously hard to please and she positively raved about the quality of the meat. Everything we ordered was delicious and every plate was cleared. Even the coffee was spot on! Would recommend...

Popped in here tonight early evening (hadn't booked) but we were lucky enough to get a table, food was delicious, and service from the busy waitress and colleague was top notch thankyou to you all there!

Had lunch here last week, excellent fish and chips, nice pint of well kept beer, excellent conversation with locals. A1

Jess was such a canny lass ! Tip top food too. It's a must

Excellent local food and drink. Very clean, with friendly staff and dogs are allowed. The food was fantastic. Prices were far lower than expected. A pleasant surprise!

We are staying in the area and popped in hoping to get a drink and something to eat. It was quite early, 6.30 and they already had quite a few people seated. They did find a table for us and within half an hour it...

It’s without doubt my most favourite place to wine and dine in the south hams. The service is excellent and the staff are so friendly, can’t wait to see you all again when we are back in Devon x

Great place with delicious food such a gem and worth a trip from Salcombe. Kid friendly great produce and service exceptional. Great choice.. definitely going back and highly recommend. Great baked brie and hazelnuts starter with homemade bread. Rib eye steaks and lamb cutlets fantastic.. amazing chocolate orange bread and butter pudding and cheese board.

Whilst on a short break to Devon had a meal here.. The food was fab, locally sourced food, great.service and friendly and knowledgeable staff. Would definitely recommend.

We have spent 5 days in Devon eating well every day. Todays lunch at The Bear and Blacksmith in Chillington had to be one of our highlights. The Big Ol Bowl of fish was delicious, especially the pieces of smoked salmon. I’m a fish lover...

We visited the Bear and Blacksmith as a family, the food was average - steaks and burgers were nice but scallops were very poor - overpowered with garlic, potatoes and pea purée, at £25, this was an expensive, unenjoyable plate. I ordered a cocktail, which...

Wow! What a lovely pub. Great food, great beer and great staff....and it's my local!

We were really looking forward to our Sunday roast after reading such rave reviews. The lamb has a charcoal burnt edging which left a horrible taste in the mouth, the beef was far too rare (we like rare but this was still alive), a quarter...

Lovely friendly welcome and although they were busy we were made to feel special and appreciated. My scallop and cauliflower starter was delicious and my husband loved the camembert too.

Fab service and excellent food. A busy Friday night but still first class meal out with all staff offering up great service.

Fantastic food, efficient and friendly staff

Rang on the off chance they could squeeze in a party of 8 on a Monday night after a long coastal walk left us too tired to cook. Brilliant service- rang us back promptly with a table confirmation. Theme continued in the pub- specials were...

Lovely restaurant, staff were friendly and food was great!

Ate at the Bear & Blacksmith twice during our recent stay in Chillington. Great menu using local produce. Knocked spots off other places we tried and well worth a visit ( booking essential )

We were staying at the Whitehouse, who recomended Bear and Blacksmith. Sunday night so Sunday roast menu, Fantastic Scallop starter and a truly tasty roast beef. A very generous plate of tender meat and selection of vegetables that were perfectly cooked. Did I mention that...

Game pie spot on as was the fish, service excellent very friendly. Recommend.

Excellent breakfast for the Ukrainian cause.

Heard lots of great things about the food here. Gave it a try on a Saturday lunchtime. Pleasant welcome. Pub was empty apart from one other couple. It was cold inside. Radiators were on at the far garden end of the pub but a barely burning wood burner provided flickering light but not much else to boost the turned off radiators in the bar area. Brrr. Catch of the day (Whitebait) was nicely done and tasty. 3 of us still had coats on so I skipped puddings which all came with ice-cream or sorbet, my companions enjoyed theirs though. Apparently the kitchen was prepping for Valentine's Night and Sunday Roast but the wait between courses was way too long, especially as there were only 5 people in 2 parties wanting food. On the basis of the food, I'd have gone for 4*, but the cold and long wait dropped it to a generous 3*. Probably won't rush back. Pity, as the whole concept of using local produce is great and the food itself was good.

Very pleasant pub/restaurant. Visited for dinner recently. Main courses were lovely - particularly fish of the day - whole lemon sole on the bone. Slightly let down by pudding selection, and temperature, (the back of the back room was chilly).

Greet night all 44 of us great food good atmosphere thanks to Malcolm and all of his staff

The bear and blacksmith was recommended on our visit to salcombe. We were not disappointed! Amazing locally sourced food, and incredible value for money.

Absolutely outstanding food. All local produce and meats are local or home reared, it is rare to find such a top quality award winning eatery offering quality and affordability. The Team at The Bear & Blacksmith should be proud of themselves.

Delicious roast dinner. Friendly, helpful staff

A small pub serving amazing food in a small village named Chillington. Friendly staff and good service all add up to a really excellent evening. The lamb was amazing, as was the poached pear. Unfortunately, we were only visitors to the area!

Lovely food - great staff too !

Lovely festive atmosphere, amazing food and faultless service with very kind and helpful staff

We went for a long awaited get together; it was warm on a chilly December night and we had a wonderful welcome. The food is excellent, seldom before have I found goose on a menu and it was delicious. Service is professional, attentive and friendly.and...

Whilst on a long weekend away in South Devon we decided to have dinner at the winner of the "Best Trencherman's Pub" award - The Bear and Blacksmith in Chillington. The pub is quite small and you walk through the front door into the intimate...

This has to be my favourite pub in South Hams. The Shippens bitter makes for a perfect pint, And how very nice to find a Landlord who sells such excellent beer charging less than £4 a pint in this part of the world. AS for...

This is our second visit at Lunchtime. Malcolm the chef Patron is nuts abut quality local sources food abd produces a lot of his ingredients himself. He is very selective which is a great start. All his local suppliers are listed on a board in...

A nice menu using all locally sourced produce. Very nicely presented flavoursome food in this small award winning village pub.

All great. Nice atmosphere, good selection of beers, wonderful service. The pheasant was delicious as was the burger. Friendly service. All at a reasonable price. Thoroughly recommended

Always a delicious meals and pleasant service.

Nice friendly local pub with good food.

Excellent food and service the waitress who served us was amazing

Dropped in for lunch without booking and we received the warmest of welcomes, The scallops Starter was perfectly cooked and presented and the Fish Pie was one of the best we’ve encountered anywhere. The wine list would put many a top restaurant to shame and...

Very pleasant lunch with family and friends. Food was excellent, I had the local muscles. I didn't have a pud but the ones that the others had looked lovely if not a bit small. Service was good, waitress friendly and pub had a great ambiance.

We had a lovely evening at the Bear and Blacksmith. We liked the ambience and the service was excellent. There was a good choice of fish, meat and vegetarian dishes on the menu. I opted for the lamb which was amazing. Would highly recommend.

All I can say is fantastic and the best fish pie my wife has every had anywhere !!!! All the staff are superb and a great selection of non Alcoholic drinks for me. Best pub /restaurant for miles around