Restaurant-Guide.com
hand picked restaurants

A 12th century bread and breakfast inn, The Tucker's Arms is a beautiful old English pub located in the village of Dalwood, 3 miles west of Axminster. Sporting a white-washed facade with thatched roofs, the interior of the inn is cosy and comfortable, with low-beamed ceilings, flag stone floors, a long wooden bar at one end and an ancient inglenook fireplace. The inn serves a wide variety of authentic British fare which is freshly prepared with ingredients sourced from local markets.

The bar food at lunch time includes filled baguettes and baked potatoes; beer-battered fish, and Thai carb linguine. There also fast foods of home-made burger topped with cheese, sausage and mash, ham and egg. Evening dishes include slow-roast pork belly with rosemary, garlic and cider cream sauce; lamb rump topped with tomato and chilli chutney; baked chicken breast with a creamy wild mushroom sauce; and salmon fillet with pesto dressing.

The bar serves a varied collection of wines, malt whiskies and well-kept cask ales from the local breweries.

Tucked away in peaceful open countryside and approached down leafy lanes through Hawkchurch - the 'village of roses' - the Fairwater Head Hotel is a mere 4 miles from Axminster and 5 miles from Lyme Regis and the Jurassic coast - England's first natural World Heritage Site which covers 95 miles of truly stunning coastline from east Devon to Dorset, with rocks recording 185 million years of the Earth's history. Housed within this country house hotel the Greenfields offers breathtaking views of the beautiful Axe valley. If you can tear yourself away from the panorama you will find ample recompense in the menu which embraces plenty of local produce ably converted into dishes ranging from simple to elaborate.

Enjoy chicken liver parfait and marinated roast vegetable and feta salad before moving on to a main course which could consist of roasted rump of organic lamb and pan fried sea bass fillet. To bring the curtains down on an exhilarating meal order carrot cake cookies with vanilla sauce and chocolate ice cream.