The Knowhere Guide

Eating and Drinking in Exeter, Devon*

Exeter, Devon Pubs, Cafes, Coffee Shops and Restaurants

Food

• You really ought to bring some of these comments up to date - "I love Watty's Dele behind Dingles. It smells like foodie heaven and sells everything you want but really don't need - yum!" Shame that it closed ages ago. "Boston's on Paris Street (not to be confused with the Boston Tea Party Coffee Shop) is the best greasy spoon in Exeter, with a massive fry up for just £2.50. Avoid eye contact with most of the regulars though!" - Whole area demolished to make way for the new Princesshay development. "Gepetto's (Fore St - tiny family-run Italian, cheap for the quality of what you get)" - closed. "La Chandelle - under the Iron Bridge. not cheap but worth it for entertainment value because the woman who runs it is undoubtedly a close relative of Sybil Fawlty" - closed.
• Mc donalds and KFC is good and cheap
• The Fire House without a doubt serves the best food on a budget plus you can eat and get a bottle of wine for under a tenner.....brilliant!
• Metzo all day brekky and a pint - ideal.
• excellent value for money is found at the juice moose where great food, much of it organic and from local suppliers, is served in a bright and friendly atmosphere for a very reasonable price
• eddies in heavitree - immense.
• UNCLE RAJ sidwell street (round the corner from arena) Dee Yi - Chinese restaurant opposite the swimming baths in heavitree! MMHHH good food!
• Some of the food comments need updating. The 3 Amigos is no more, and Watty's deli shut years ago. Also Gepettos on Fore Street is now shut.
• Definately NOT Al-FARIDS Exeter. Expensive and overated. Tapas is good, meat content very poor. Unfortunately this restuarant has gone like many of the other themed restuarants, in the way of lurring customers in the early days, with good food at reasonable prices. Now gone drastically downhill unfortunately.
• Hi guys thanks for the great mention in your famous residents!!! column about Colin & Emma Spry How about a mention in the restaurant column for Starz Bar & Restaurant. Try www.Sugarvine.com and look under american restaurants for more info. Thanks again. Colin Spry
• Light of India, Heavitree, is awesome!
• The Magic Wok: great chinese.
• La Rossetta, Take Away Street, Newton Poppleford.Devon. Service without a smile, rude, hostile and unfriendly Food presented unhygienic and inedable
• Starz Bar & Restarurant, Lower North St. opened late 2003, massive portions, superb food, great cocktails and brilliant atmosphere.
• ooo the kebab shop in heavitree is AMAZING (i forgot the name). and the chippy near the clock tower is the best place for chips, especially after a nite out
• There are no nice restaurants, Micheal Caine's one is nothing special. For takeaways you could venture to Exeter's ghetto St Thomas for a cheap Chinese. (Well, apart from getting so drunk you pass out there isn't much else to do with your money).
• Mcdonalds and burger king in the high street. Much malined companies. But where can visitors get a quick bite to eat and a cup of tea or coffee after the shops shut @6pm
• Michael Caine's at the Royal Clarence is a restaurant that beats the rest of the nation.
• Herbies, Maccy D
• McDonalds
• hmmm too many to list, faves include pizza express, ask, the spaghetti house for v cheap italian
• The Waterfront, though its in danger of giong the same way as Metzo
• Three Amigos a good place to eat ???? Okay for being overcharged for poor "Ex-Tex generic chilly (sic) Con (no pun intended) Carne. Service.... what you'ld expect from bored students. AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE.
• The Real McCoy cafe thing, Pizza Express. Boston's, The Cavern in the daytime
• Get hold of a free copy of monthly listings magazine "The List" (from retailers all over town) - that's all I use to find out what's on!
• Ghandis Indian restaurant by the clocktower is good, but is often booked up at the weekends. They do takeaways too though.
• For the best meal in Exeter go to the Thai Orchid on Cathedral close, but you may have to book and is very expesive! usual fast food junk, loads of kebab shops, Herbies in North St. is great for veggie food. Otherwise head down to the river: Mill on the Exe, Waterfront pizzas, Double locks pub. The White Hart inn on South street does nice food too, but very quiet and non-trendy!
• The best chippie ive ever been to is next to the clock tower it does all the deep fried food you can think of and always visit it when im back in Exeter.
• Mad Megs is excellent. Medievil style decor and serving wenches in full medievil get-up. friendly service, good atmosphere and most important of all tasty, traditional food, cooked perfectly. Well worth a visit.
• Give COOLINGS in Gandy Street a try! you will be VERY pleasently surprised !! They do a MASSIVE range of salads, and great hot food, they do get busy at lunchtimes, bit up market, but dead trendy.
• There is also a new branch of ASK pizza pasta restaurant near the cathedral. The eating space is spread across a number of different rooms in what was originally a house as well as an al fresco patio area. Good value quality food with great service. Brazz is great but the service can be a bit dodgy. Starters can arrive with the main course and things like toppings can be missed off. Enjoy but beware!!!
• Brazz near the centre is ace. Top looking waitress served me (great french accent too). Very trendy and good for totty spotting
• The best restaurant in Exeter is without a doubt the Three Amigos in Bystock Terrace. The food is fantastic, the atmosphere terrific and the service is brilliant. And the chilli beer is world-class.
• I love Watty's Dele behind Dingles. It smells like foodie heaven and sells everything you want but really don't need - yum!
• I lived in heavitree which has a beautiful array of nasty kebab type places and curry houses.
• Boston's on Paris Street (not to be confused with the Boston Tea Party Coffee Shop) is the best greasy spoon in Exeter, with a massive fry up for just £2.50. Avoid eye contact with most of the regulars though!
• Despite several major flaws. Exeter is fab for grub. My favourites: Gepetto's (Fore St - tiny family-run Italian, cheap for the quality of what you get) The Nobody Inn (at Doddiscombsleigh. In the middle of nowhere, but worth it) La Chandelle - under the Iron Bridge. not cheap but worth it for entertainment value because the woman who runs it is undoubtedly a close relative of Sybil Fawlty. The Duke of York at Iddesleigh is the best of the lot (although bloody miles away). Apparently Noel Edmonds goes sometimes but I've never seen him. Masses of fantastic food and not too expensive. Plus you can stay overnight if you get too legless.
• If you want to eat delicious and cheap food try GOLDEN HORN on Fore street/166, and DENIZ KEBAP on Heavitree. You will enjoy the friendly atmosphere and TURKISH hospitality.
• I miss the food in Exeter!! There are many takeways in Exeter. Chinese, Indian and Italian and they have some great places to eat out as well. As well as your regular BK and KFC, they have some great places to eat. The Prospect Inn, a pub on the Quay serves good tradtional food and some world dishes too in a cosy atmosphere. The Mill on the Exe is also a great place to eat with a varied menu, you can sit outside and enjoy the River Exe in both these places during the summer. In the city there is a great Italian restaruant called Gino's which serves great pasta!
• Dix Neuf is now a Cafe Rouge.
• Ellen's Donut Parlour , top of North Street , Exeter REALLY great place for American - Style DONUTS Nice coffee etc.
• ELLEN'S DONUT PARLOUR Top of North Street Next to ATHENA Loads of exciting flavours of American Style Donuts etc. Nice coffee & chat place.
• Lots of fantastic places to eat, including the American Diner, Cafe Rouge, Pizza Express and some fantastic pub restaurants such as the White Hart Hotel near the Quay. Also great for lunches because there are a large number of cafes, my particular favourite being the Boston Tea Party along Queen Street.
• Macs, BuK, KFC and all the usual. Harleys Cafe, Fore Street Arcade (top) = cheapish, plenty of interesting characters. Dix-Neuf Brasserie.

Pubs

• im a townie , n drink in butlers, aussie bar, the mint, hogshead... pile o f crap, but always a laugh! Ricocos, pile of dung.. warehouse, very young crowd, but i still go ! and im 26! it is what u make it, full of locals
• You really ought to bring some of these comments up to date, i.e. "crazy horse is crazy when it comes to asking for id" - it closed in 2001 (mainly because of selling to under age drinkers). Also The Roadhouse has been shut for ages, but is just about to reopen (called The Showman of Exeter)
• North Bridge Inn, Iron Bridge, St. David's Hill. Nice community based alternative pub, just outside the city centre.
• The Fire House is great for cheap doubles and cheap wine and still not a towny in sight...yipee!!
• good to see more non smoking pubs opening up
• IMPERIAL -cheap drinks and you gotta love those vodka pitchers!!!
• The City Gate is now very smart. The Jolly Porter, near the station had, until recently possibly the cheapest real ale in the area at £1-62 a pint but they've just put it up to more realistic levels. Still an amazingly tatty place, though. The Artful Dodger a short distance away has a bar billiards table (so much more skilful than pool) and the Great Western Hotel just over the road has over 12 real ales on at the same time - more at the weekends.
• Time Piece
• Hole in the wall on a thursday night -students night (£1 a pint). Proper quality night, everyone's there. Three Fat Fish -usually a laugh. Impi on a monday.
• Mostly Thirtysomethings at the NBI but when the students get back get there early for a seat...
• There are plenty of pubs in Exeter - it just depends what kind of pub you want. Pissholes are a plenty. However, there are some cracking places for us real ale fans. I won't bother repeating pubs already mentioned. I really grudge giving the secrets away but these guys deserve credit and custom: Great Western Hotel, nr St Davids - Unsurpassed in selection - food is superb whether having a bar meal or eating in restaurant. City Gate, North Street - good bar food, no smoking area available, great beer, quite chilled out. For us old yuns, Honiton Inn, 50's decor, Otter Ale. The Oak, Fore Street, Heavitree - Otter Ale - A real, real ale pub with a traditional atmosphere. Seems very popular. Only thatched pub in town.
• The Bowling Green-most likely to go unoticed cause its not really a towny place! The Angel: good for music and atmosphere but a bouncer on the door: mean looking guy. Timepiece: sound place. The Firehouse: no football ever played, not much of a towny haunt either which makes good.
• Starz Bar & Restaurant, Lower North St. is one on Exeter's best Cocktail Bars, relaxed and very friendly.
• yes bar (used ot be fermats number), walkabout, the mint, thirsty camel and imperial. the ship inn is nice and cosy tho, and the vaults is a pretty good gay bar. there r quite a few decent pubs like hogshead near fore street which r worth a try
• great veriaty of pubs in town and out by far the best pub has to be the Longbroke (the old Valient Soldier) in cowick street. this pub has been renivated and looks superb, the food is good and best of all it is the cheapest pub in exeter as far as i can tell. some people are put off because of its reputation, but you will soon see that it is all a mith.
• The worst pub in exeter is the imperial. its super bland.
• Bishops Blaize - great karaoke on Friday night, Hole in the Wall, The Ship (Franny Drake went there!), The Mint for old times sake, Turk's Head if you're desperate. Hogshead if you're really desperate.
• I can't belive HogsHead has been overlooked here.... An excellent pub with plenty of room, good food and some great bar staff ;) As for the marines, most of them are out for a good time, but boys will be boys (and some girls) and they do tend to get a bit drunk and ott - just laugh along with them, and you'll have no problems. Agreement with all others here- Turf Locks and Double Locks are great. You can get on a boat and coast down the canal to the Double locks at the weekend for a quiet pint too!
• north bridge inn has it's own website - www.northbridgeinn.co.uk - so you can see what's on. mixed crowd, relaxed and attitude free. (unlike some pubs in exeter!)
• the aptly named WHOLE in the wall is fiarly cheap and above all, next to timepeice
• Jolly Porter
• they r all good except thirsty camel with its freaky reptilian decor!
• North Bridge Inn, Live music every week, pool table, beer garden and pub quiz Sundays
• Angel every time. Its such a quaint little place. Yeah you get loads of 40 year olds in there but theyre cool and sometimes students chill out there.
• The NORTH BRIDGE INN, St. David's Hill just over the bridge from the centre of town. Great for an afternoon's drinking or meeting your friends before you go clubbing. Lovely pool room which MUST have been purpose built and a jukebox that is, well don't take my word for it; go and see for yourself. Don't go too early or you'll end up staying there all night. Needs more live music though.
• I like the Angel. It is fairly cool and has some sort of boudoir arrangement at the back with a disco ball. Also the Hole In The Wall (it's great, they go rounf kicking out the sixteen year olds who got in before the bouncers arrived. This always means that if you wait by them for a little while you are guarenteed a seat). Fermats Number has turned into the Yes Bar therefore shall not be visisted. The Imperial is good for cheap things. And the Thirtsy Camel used to be good, now it's full of sleazy old men.
• THE ROADHOUSE
• Double Locks down by the canal is a good pub. Got lots of beers to choose from and is nice for a relaxing night out on a summers evening. You can also pitch a tent on the grass outside if you don't want to drive home.
• The City Gate has now been taken over by Youngs (of London) - I've only ever found one urinal there, one door away from the food serving area. Apparently the ladies toilets are pretty cramped as well.
• Fermats Number is nice...and the Angel, the Hole in the Wall (sometimes), Turks Head, but by far the best...the THIRSTY CAMEL!!!
• Fermat's number (some drinks for £1 on a thurs), The Turks Head, The Thirsty Camel, Timepiece bar, not really the Hole In The Wall because it's full of very young people.
• I can't beleive no-ones mentioned the FIREHOUSE. Just down from Debenhams, this is a brilliant pub. As well as the bar downstairs there's a large room upstairs. There's a wide range of exremely well priced drinks and the food is good too. Excellent atmosphere and excellent value.
• Adult pub crawl: Imperial, Fermats Number, Chumleys, Hogshead, Walkabout, Metzo Cafe Bar, Mud Dock. End at club of choice on quay. Alternative pub crawl for habitual anti-wrinkle cream users: Hole in the Wall, ship Inn, Turks head, Butlers, The Mint, Coachmakers, Waterfront. End at club of choice on quay. Both groups meet with interesting results. Ever feel like you're snogging your dad?!
• Turks head is cool, even the Nods (Marines) dont cause that much trouble any more! The Duke of York on Sidwell St. is good for a weeknight drink, and even though Crazy Horse has closed down there is still a variety of mad pubs. The Walkabout is cool for sport. You wont have any trouble with soldiers in Exeter just some baby Marines still in training but theyre nothing to worry about.
• COOLINGS in Gandy Street is GREAT all day !! coffee in the morning, fantastic lunches, afternoon food and a great bar in the evenings, not expensive but NOT cheap, therefore keeps the trash out, very female friendly and they wiil also let you hold your parties in the Cellar Bar. Well worth a visit, gets VERY busy at weekends !!
• Chumley's does NOT let in single blokes at the weekend . avan whan part of a group. also scene of dodgy hen/stag night capers
• Just reading some of these reviews make me want to move back again. Truely, 3 of the most wonderful years of my life were spent frequenting the pubs and clubs of Exeter, but the one pub that every time i think of it has me longing to return is The Double Locks. Easiest to reach by foot, by heading south from what used to be the maritime museum, along the side of the canal & river Exe. Can also be reached by car via Marsh Barton Industrial Estate, over a rickety narrow wooden swing bridge and along quarter of a mile of 15mph speed limited road. Great for lazy summer days, especially when a live act is playing, very good beer, but extremely busy on bank holidays and weekends.
• crazy horse is crazy when it comes to asking for id
• Check out the CityGate (currently being rebuilt after a fire) for a classier kind of pint. The beer garden out the back is great.
• Give us some decent wine bars! Chaucers used to be excellent, The Ship is full of stuffed shirt bankers and estate agents - steer clear - St Martin's Cafe and Cafe Rouge sell excellent wine but have zero atmosphere. I'll have to open one myself I think.
• Barts used to be really grotty but fun, now it's clean and lots some of its character/characters. I remember when the upstairs of Barts was the Loft, gay club, but now it's Liberty. Both did really good food. Iron Bridge is a really friendly gay pub.
• The Nobody Inn in Doddscombleigh (just outside Exeter) is a great country pub, with a roaring fire, huge cheese selection and the most expensive Whiskey Bottle in the country!
• I think Exeter has some of the best pubs around! The Ship being one of the best! It's one of the oldest pubs in Exeter, situated in St Martins Lane and used to be a favourite of Sir Francis Drake! It has a friendly cosy atmosphere and serves great food at lunchtime and also has a restaurant upstairs. Friday and Saturday evenings from 9,00pm onwards it can be very busy!! Cheap drink and good music!! Chaucers has a very similar atmosphere, situated in the High St. and has great food too! Chumleys (a very new 'posh' pub!) situated in Queen St, gets very busy at weekends, also serves good food. Well known for their killer cocktails they serve upstairs! Bit pricey but great place to be!! Gandy Street has some great pubs, also busy at weekends, Vines, Volts and Coolings, check out Vines for their live music they have on!! A variety of bands play here! The Austrailian Bar in Fore Street, usually the last stop before the clubbers head toward the Quay! Very busy from 9.00pm onwards, sometimes a que, but a great Aussie atmosphere!!! And a good place to buy cheap 'shots' of alcohol!!!
• The Turks Head is the Townie/Marine pub, if you don't fit into either class don't go! The stiudent pub is the BlacK Horse which also has a few regulars who are not students. Quite a few new pubs have opened in the last few years O'Neils, The Imperial, The City Gate plus more Irish pubs.
• The Roadhouse in Cowick St. Run by the Satans Slaves MC for the past four years. It offers a 1 O'clock licence at weekends in it's club bar, The Bunker. No dress code. Never any hassle. And brilliant music. You don't have to be a biker. Anyone welcome. Tel 01392 202035 for details.
• A really good pub is the Black Horse (near Debenhams) and a newly opened favourite is Chumleys on Queen Street. I really like the "Hole in the Wall" too because there's a large number of pool tables and decent bitters. For a more romantic atmosphere, "The Mill on the Exe" and "The Exchange" are nice.
• Whilst Exeter itself offers some fine bars, for 'real ale' enthusiasts, the best choice is to be found at the Beer Engine in Newton-St-Cyres (approximately 4-5 miles) out of town. The pub also provides entertainment (mostly bands) a number of nights each week.
• I lived in Excrement for three years and hated the place. Very middle class and too many pissed up soldiers on Friday and Saturday nights who's hobby is beating up students and locals (Prince Andrew did his Commando training down the road at Lympstone). So mid town drinking at the weekend tends to be out of bounds unless you belong to the University rugby team. However it does have a couple of saving graces in the form of the Double Locks and the Turf Locks. Hard to get to but well worth the hike. You can walk along the tow path down the Exe towards the sea behind the Art College and over a couple of fields; there you will find the Double Locks. If you catch a ferry from Topsham (also a very nice place - Trevor Macdonald has a house there you know! and it has a high percentage of pubs per head) you can get across the river and walk a few miles to the Turf Locks (it can also be reached by road but it's car park is half a mile away from the pub). But on a sunny day it's well worth checking out these pubs for their beer and good food. Bank holidays at the Double Locks tend to have campouts in the garden with lots of kids and students (especially on last day of term) and clean honest working people running around and playing volley ball, eating barbecues and drinking lots of good ale by the canal side. A drunken suntrap - I've got sunburn many a time there.

Cafes and Coffee Shops

• Try and find the 'Sandwiched Inn' on Magdalen Road for great coffee and sandwiches- these guys also do the food at The Northcott Theatre!
• The little cafe near the courts (just up from Michael Spiers jewellers)is a gem and sells the best coffee and also serves great food
• the juice moose has brought sunshine and excellent food and drinks to exeter. fresh juices and home made cakes - the chocolate brownie is just fantastic
• bostons tea party, cavern is quite good during the day 2 if u can stand the lil goth kids that fill up all the tables. cafe rouge 4 me - like being in paris bt nowhere near as cool
• Not COFFEE PLUS - they drop rolls on the floor and still serve them (i should know used to work there)
• dont go 2 boston tea party it a crap hole from hell i should know i use 2 work there the manager is a complete twat ps egg him please
• Some of the bakers shops are good for a coffe and a pastie.
• Bostons on Queen Street: Good place. Lets Do: on Fore Street: Sound Place, great coffee, one of the only places you can smoke. A new cafe is opening up at the top of the High Street by Henry's Bar that will apparently be doing live music aswell: like a cafe of Greenwich village in the 60's.
• BOSTON TEA PARTY!! if you go nowhere else, go here! get the hot chocolate and head upstairs for a couchy thing! it's divine!
• bostons tea party is nice but non-smoking and tends to be full of posh boys lately. cavern is a bit dodgy and full of baby goths but not bad, real mcoy in fore street is good for milkshakes!there seems to be a hell of a lot of caostas springing up everywhere too...
• The Boston tea party is popular, it has a dilapidated chic to it, but in reality it's just grimey.
• McCoys arcade cafe is lovely - loads of personality. And juice Moose has the coolest name ever - and so deserves a visit on the back of that alone
• Bostons in Paris Street, Harleys cafe down Fore Street, The Tea Cosy in Heavitree.
• the milkmaid, cafe rouge
• The best place for coffee now is Harry's on Longbrook St,just down from The Black Horse.It's only open mornings but the coffee is the best and fairtrade,too.Check out their retro espresso machine as well.
• Metzo used to be ruled by intelligent uni going sexy women and funny guys. Now its been taken over by cap wearing spotty ugly shit hair cut, red bloated shits. Kill them. Metzo you let yourself down. Now I guess the onyl good coffee shoop is Bostons or the italian place near MVC
• Boston Tea Party is cool, its reallt studenty and they do white hot chocolate! Its definitely one of the best places in exeter.
• anyway but McDonalds, KFC or Burger King. Also don't go into the Chinese that's towards Blue Boy gifts. Scary shit.
• Boston's Tea Party
• Dinasaur Cafe by the clock tower is a brilliant little place, well worth going to. The food is excellent value, some Greek dishes as well as your more regular stuff and the service can't be faulted. The only downer is if your a non-smoker, cos its all smoking.
• The best cafe in Exeter used to be Boston Tea Party on Queen Street, but since its gone no smoking its lost the majority of clientelle and the foggy Amsterdam (ish) atmosphere. Now try Chumleys for lunch, Carved Angel on Cathedral green is gorgeous too! Metzo Cafe Bar for trendyness
• Phoenix Arts Centre in Gandy Street is starting to happen
• Crepes for fantastic pancakes! Bit tatty these days but food makes it worthwhile, it's tucked down Gandy Street.
• That coffee shop behind Mol's...Oddfellows? (Sorry, been awhile since I've been to Exeter. Also, Debenhams tea shop on its top floor has nothing special except the incredible view of the city and countryside.
• Th Boston tea Party on Queen St, opposite the entrance to the Guild Hall shopping centre is great. Go upstairs and there's a massive open space with comfy sofas, Sunday papers , board gamnes etc. Sometimes closed at weird times though.

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Last updated: 2008-05-15