Picture House, The

Positioned comfortably between café, bar and restaurant, this is a place where customers can enjoy a luxurious three course meal or happily while away unaccounted for hours over cream teas or a drink with friends in surroundings that soothe and please. Eclectic menus are complemented by a mix of cocktails that fire the imagination, wines that are at one with the dishes and service that is friendly but not obtrusive.

Décor introduces warmth into proceedings with bold primary colours cleverly muted to balance each other and provide the relaxed atmosphere one hopes to find in a place that takes its clientele seriously.

Emphasis is placed on the local produce, renowned for its freshness and flavours and owner/Head chef Nick Armitage is not slow to take advantage of the unexpected source or market find. So, it should not come as a total surprise to find River Exe mussels Kirkpatrick, steamed mussels with bacon, cream and Worcestershire sauce added without impairing their flavour. Oysters Kiwi style gives the first hint as to Nick's origins - they have a batter coat with soy and miso dipping sauce and are stunningly good.

For sheer freshness consider the Picture House salad, with salad leaves, red onion, herbs and dried fruit, cherry tomatoes, fresh vegetables, toasted seeds and radish sprouts. How long is it since you had a rich dripping sandwich? When I was at home my mother would have one ready for me when I returned to the fold - here they have rare roast fore rib of Lackham Farm Limousin beef on hot dripping toast with parsley, capers, sea salt and creamed horseradish.

Main courses follow the same imaginative route with crisp belly of pork and pig in a blanket, black pudding, carrot puree, potatoes flavoured with paprika and cider gravy. A risotto of walnuts,
Shropshire Blue and chickweed arrives with a sauté of locally foraged mushrooms.

As you might by now have expected a selection of local artisan cheeses with balsamic onions heads the dessert list, followed closely by Eton mess, a wonderful misnomer for such a luscious dish but perhaps it was not always so, and a simply brilliant toffee apple crumble with rum custard.

The whole point about this menu of Nick's is that it never stays the same for long, you can walk in and find the unexpected available without notice, thus increasing the pull food factor to new levels of expectation.

The wine list covers a good range, but it would be asking too much of human nature not to find a strong light shining on the New Zealand wines with which the owner is so familiar. At the bar there is a remarkable array of 17 rums, and 16 vodkas including the Polish Belvedere and Ultimat brands. If you have an occasion to celebrate and decide on something short look no further than the Louis XIII premium cognac.

The truth of the matter is that The Picture House is an individual amongst its own kind, a place made for self-expression and measured indulgence - rather like the cognac.

Their attractive Website is only a click away.