The best restaurants serving British food in Exeter South West

Good food and a good service, but wow, it felt like the staff had somewhere to be afterwards! Was there a party to go to? The service was very rushed and we didn’t have time to breathe from starter to dessert!! Such a shame considering everything else was to a good standard…

Great family friendly dinner with options for everyone available. Kids felt really welcomed and we were well looked after

We popped in here after a family day at Crealy, good location and plenty of parking. Staff were brilliant very quick helpful and polite, carvery was really good plenty of meat and lots of veg options. Only thing that let the place down was the toilets were vile I mean disgusting and the place it's self isn't that clean, really gross carpets and dated.

We came here early as a group of 8 with family and friends, having not eaten here before. The service was a little slow from the beginning although very friendly and welcoming. I had the tiger prawns to start with which were very small and over cooked. I had more heads than bodies and they were very small. I buy bigger tiger prawns at Makro. I did have a finger bowl but it was cold water and nowhere to put the prawn heads or tails. Despite being there at 6.30pm we were still waiting for our main courses at 8pm. My husband and I had to leave at 8.50pm to catch the last train home. Main course was very good I had the sea base and couldn't fault that with a side of Spinach. Alas I didn't have time for a dessert. We had a wonderful bottle of Zinfandel wine. I have mixed feelings about this restaurant, I certainly wouldn't recommend the Tiger prawns as a starter.

Went for a meal with the family which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Good selection of dishes all freshly cooked and excellent attentive waiters/waitresses. This is proper pub food unlike so many other establishments which serve frozen reheated muck for the same price.

Having spent a large amount of time in the pub over the last two or more years it’s safe to say the staff, particularly Babs and Josh have created a lovely atmosphere, providing consistently high quality food and a good selection of drinks….. 5* would highly recommend Thanks, Chris 😘

12 of us went for a family birthday and the staff were brilliant. Lovely pub and the food was delicious it all came out together and piping hot. Lovely atmosphere and great pub. A must go.

The staff where so lovely and made sure, everyone was happy I don’t think we could fault them one bit and are waiter Callum was pure vibes

It’s a beautiful pub, the owners are absolutely brilliant & so are the staff. Welcoming & cheerful atmosphere, the food is brilliant. I couldn’t recommend it enough!

Horrendous experience- left to go elsewhere. Batman was so rude 27/9/34 Told us to go upstairs for an aperol spritz as they weren’t doing cocktails downstairs . When I said that wasn’t really a cocktail he said ’yes it is ‘ in a very sarcastic manner

Retro vibe was relaxed, good music, excellent service and food was lush. Best kids burger in kids menu we’ve ever had. Milkshake was lush, breakfasts excellent and the cheesecake was incredible. Love the vibe. Will definitely be back. Thanks

Stayed in Topsham for a week and discovered this cafe towards the end of our stay. We liked it so much we went there 2 days in a row. Portions are generous and service is relatively quick. Loved their smashed avocado on toast. I asked for it with a fried egg and it came with 2.. was extremely full afterwards :) Deceptively spacious as there is a side room and also an outside eating area I think. The only niggle is that on one of our visits we were sat by the kitchen we came out smelling of food! Would be good if the extraction was better.

Love this pub - we are locals and come here relatively often for drinks. Great location and the staff are great. Went for dinner on a Friday afternoon at 5pm. Pub quite busy but not overly. We were sat in the bottom room which seemed set up for food but there was a table of workmen next to us who had clearly just knocked off and were VERY excited for the weekend f-ing and blinding and getting more and more rowdy - it became a bit too much. Maybe separate the diners from the drinkers? Starters - shell-on king prawns - gorgeous but no finger bowl should’ve asked really but thought I’d get some abuse from the workmen for being posh (they commented on every plate that came out) - wife’s breaded chicken was somehow slimey?? Mains - sirloin steak ordered medium - was over cooked - wife’s steak pie was nice but the mashed potatoes were sooooo salty I couldn’t feel my teeth after trying them! All veggies and salads were lovely and fresh and service was great. Disappointing food experience but we do love the pub….

Popped on for a quick meal, which was up to the usual standard. Staff were very attentive as there were clearly not enough for this busy restaurant. They were excellent.

A group of us met in Topsham for a walk and lunch. Not knowing how many would turn up, I had booked for 12. In the event, there were 17 all keen for a lunch. All credit to the team at The Lighter for accommodating us all on a very busy day, even managing when we turned up an hour earlier than planned. The food was excellent, the service too. Wholeheartedly recommend the smoky fish pie. Best fish pie I have ever eaten, and I have tasted quite a lot. Well done chef. Handshake from the South Devon Ramblers.