14 Best Restaurants in The West Country, England

One of England's foremost country-house hotels occupies an enclave of landscaped gardens and streams, reached via a lengthy, winding country lane and private drive at the edge of Dartmoor. Its pricey contemporary restaurant, directed by chef Chris Eden, has been showered with culinary awards, including a Michelin star, and you'll see why when you dig into the steamed turbot served with squash, caviar, and seaweed or the aged fillet of beef cooked over coals, with smoked bone marrow, garlic, and spinach—two of the choices you might find on the three-course prix-fixe dinner menu (£135). There's also a "lounge menu," served in the lounges or on the terrace, which includes such starters as cheese soufflé and smoked salmon, and beef sirloin and gnocchi as main courses. The wine list is formidable, and the locally pumped spring water is like no other. If you're not up to a full meal, wholesome sandwiches are offered all day. You can also order a luxury picnic hamper (£125 for two) containing an array of cold meats, cheeses, bread, salad, sweet treats, and wine, which can be enjoyed at any time and anywhere in the house, within the grounds of Gidleigh Park, or farther afield. Inside the long, half-timber building, built in 1928 in Tudor style, you'll find antiques in the public rooms and in the 24 luxurious guest rooms. Note, however, that the hotel and restaurant are closed on Sunday and Monday (except on bank holidays).

This dining-focused pub with bright, homey furnishings and a relaxed vibe looks past green fields to the ocean beyond. The frequently changing fixed-price menus (£40 or £48) feature fresh, inventively prepared meat and seafood dishes—look for hake with imam bayildi and garlic yogurt or lamb loin with potato and cheddar croquette and tender-stem broccoli. Leave room for some enticing desserts. Eight smallish rooms provide guest accommodations. The inn sits near the curvy coast road 6 miles west of St. Ives.

The restaurant within this Georgian house has magnificent views across the wooded, rhododendron-filled Tamar Valley and a sophisticated menu featuring traditional British cuisine with French elements. A typical starter and main course might be ginger-cured salmon with mango, wasabi, and dill, followed by Creedy Carver duck breast with textures of shallot and pommes duchesse, while desserts include pumpkin crème brûlée with blackberry sorbet and spiced orange and blackberry. Alongside the à la carte two- or three-course lunch menu (£32 or £39) and the three-course dinner menu (£69), there's a six-course tasting menu (£85). A converted coach house and the main house contain 16 sumptuously furnished guest rooms. It's 3 miles west of Tavistock.

Set in a sea-facing Georgian building on one of the West Country's most enchanting stretches of coast, this restaurant with rooms run by an Anglo-Italian husband-and-wife team offers modern reinventions of classic Italian dishes executed with consummate artistry and originality. The five-course set menu (£75, reservations essential) might include such antipasti as Tropean onion tatin or Forest Broth with Parmesan pudding, which you might follow with risotto ai funghi or tegliatelle alla Portofino, and such mains as dry-aged trout or guinea fowl with salt-baked beetroot. The desserts are equally enticing, such as strawberry and rhubarb and Exmoor Black Forest chocolate bomb. All dietary preferences are catered for, and there's a fine Italian wine list. The dining rooms are hung with flamboyant modern art, while upstairs, the four guest rooms display the same flair, combining a traditional style with modern design and restful hues.

Exeter-born master chef Michael Caines has breathed new life into this elegant Georgian mansion overlooking the Exe estuary 5 miles south of Exeter, where he has created a Michelin-starred showcase for his sophisticated and highly original recipes. The wow-factor starts the moment you arrive, with unforgettable estuary views—a fitting prelude to seasonal three- or four-course lunches (£85–£110), à la carte fixed-price dinners (£185), and multicourse tasting menus (£230 and £240) that might feature shellfish mousseline with langoustine bisque; steamed Cornish cod with Jerusalem artichoke and mussels; or chicken and smoked ham hock terrine with duck liver, pistachio, and truffle mayonnaise. The separate vegetarian and vegan menu has choices like roasted leek terrine with pickled mushrooms, hazelnut, and black garlic, while typical desserts include rhubarb soufflé with vanilla sorbet, and coffee parfait with candied almonds and white chocolate ice cream. For less formal dining and more modestly priced menus (£48 and £60), try the Pool House Restaurant and Bar, where tables overlook the outdoor pool. Luxurious accommodations are also available on site.

Paul Ainsworth has been expanding his culinary presence in Padstow to rival that of Rick Stein, and, for many foodies, Ainsworth offers the better experience at this intimate bistro—his original foothold in the town—where diners seated in a series of small, stylish rooms feast on ingeniously concocted dishes that make the most of local and seasonal produce. The four-course set-price menus (£160) for lunch and dinner might include smoked pike roe with pink grapefruit and Cornish jack crab to start, followed by pigeon with salted plum condiment and black cardamom or wild turbot with Iberian ham mousseline. Just be sure to leave room for dessert. The atmosphere is warm and lively, with swift, ultra-attentive staff.

Housed within the historic Plymouth Gin Distillery in the heart of the Barbican, this restaurant owned by a distinguished local culinary duo blends a leisurely, cheerful atmosphere with high-quality dishes that favor local produce. The menu might include monkfish with mussels and potato terrine; pea and lemon risotto with ricotta cheese; and steak from the charcoal grill. To finish, try one of the toothsome desserts, perhaps the lemon posset with strawberries or the white chocolate parfait. There are good set-price menus at lunchtime and early evening, and you can sample gin cocktails in the Refectory Cocktail Lounge on the same premises, made with the Plymouth Gin distilled on site.

The finest of a slew of restaurants and cafés in Bristol's trendy, newly developed Wapping Wharf harborside district, this compact venue might be squeezed into a pair of shipping containers, but punches way above what its diminutive dimensions might suggest. The seasonally changing menu is also on the small side, and most dishes are tapas-size, but every one is startlingly original, and each is a winner. Smoked trout with golden beetroot, buttermilk, and horseradish, for example, is an excellent start to such mains as rump of lamb, cannellini beans, and rainbow chard. Desserts are also fabulous, and you can watch it all taking shape in the open kitchen. Dishes on the seven-course tasting menu (£55; request when booking) are unspecified—it may surprise but will not disappoint. The restaurant is steps away from the Floating Harbour and M Shed, and there are tables outside on the deck for warm days.

Set back from the harbor, this elegant, Michelin-starred eatery offers sophisticated but relaxed dining, with views over Torbay from its Georgian windows. To start, you might have the option to try barbecue lobster with lobster custard, apple, and sorrel or cured Brixham mackerel with fennel yogurt and cucumber, followed by such main dishes as roasted rump of lamb or line-caught bass with shiitake and Thai green sauce. The highly skilled kitchen team is matched by the pleasant and attentive wait staff. At lunch, you can choose between the set menu (£32.50–£38.50), a multicourse tasting menu (£58), or a set-price à la carte menu (£57.50 or £75), which is also available in the evening alongside the evening tasting menu (£98.50).

Tucked away at the bottom of Topsham's winding main street and near the placid River Exe, this seafood bistro attracts enthusiastic plaudits for its succulent culinary creations, its friendly service, and its cozy atmosphere. You might find deviled mackerel, Brixham crab, and scallops on the fixed-price menu (£33 and £39), though you might also be tempted to sample pan-roasted lamb rump or asparagus tart, as well as such impressive desserts as elderflower cheesecake. The brick walls of the main dining area are hung with local art, and there are tables upstairs, too.

Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge at this restaurant, where meat and seafood dishes are cooked over an Argentinian asado, or firepit. Look for onglet, aged rump, fillet steak, sea bass, and monkfish tail, as well as such vegetarian options as roasted cauliflower steak and spicy charred carrots. Fixed-price early evening menus are also available. Sited inside the Avon Gorge Hotel and part of the Hotel du Vin group, the restaurant is named after the two legendary giants whose competition for the hand of the beautiful Avona led to the carving of the gorge. Enjoy pre- or post-prandial drinks on the broad outdoor terrace of the adjacent White Lion bar.

One of the country's foremost chefs, Nathan Outlaw, has established a base in Port Isaac, where he has two top-notch seafood restaurants. The Fish Kitchen, right on the quay, is the more casual of the two, occupying a 15th-century fisherman’s cottage with just eight tables. The three-course fixed-price sharing menu (£95 per person) features the freshest seafood available, all creatively prepared and sustainably sourced; at lunchtime you can also order à la carte. Your meal might include crispy fried monkfish with fennel and soused sea-bass with saffron and carrot, followed by a dessert of basil custard, oat, and strawberry. The smarter, roomier, and pricier Outlaw's New Road at the top of the village also serves a seafood tasting menu for lunch and dinner at £175 per person or à la carte at lunchtime (Tuesday through Saturday). No children under 10 are allowed in either restaurant.

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.

In a prime riverside location, this seafood restaurant epitomizes the region's ongoing food revolution. The knowledgeable staff guides you through the Italian-inspired menu, which primarily depends on the day's catch and might feature Dartmouth lobster salad, tagliatelle with spider crab and datterini tomatoes, or cod loin al cartoccio. Leave room for the delicious desserts, too, such as apricot sorbet. Three-course prix-fixe menus are a good deal at lunchtime (£30), and Joe's Bar, attached to the restaurant, offers a good range of wines, locally distilled gin, and cocktails. The owner, celebrity-chef Mitch Tonks, also runs a much more basic fish-and-chips restaurant a few doors along called Rockfish, open daily.