2 Best Restaurants in Wells, The West Country

This vegetarian café and restaurant is perfect for breakfast, coffee, or a light lunch. Order at the counter and find a space in one of the three rooms—all simply furnished with rustic-style benches and tables and local art on the pastel-colored walls—or in the walled garden. Apart from pizzas, quiches, jacket potatoes, and house-baked rolls and cakes, the chalkboard might include such dishes as butternut squash lasagne or vegetable Thai red curry. The whole food shop out back offers a range of picnic ingredients, too.

Fresh, seasonal, creative dishes are served at this smart but relaxed restaurant in the heart of Wells. Small and sharing plates predominate on the menu, which is mostly oriented toward such vegetarian dishes as grilled zucchini with whipped tofu and basil pesto, beetroot Waldorf with celery, grape, walnut, and apple, or sweet-and-sour eggplant with pickled cabbage. Some excellent meat and fish options do make an appearance, however, perhaps sea bream ceviche with orange and stem ginger dressing or braised lamb rump with carrots and salsa verde. Most dishes are around £10, and there's an enticing set-price lunch menu (£18 or £21). Try and book a table at the back, for partial views of the cathedral's west front.