West Country Restaurant Guide

22 Mill Street Restaurant

Regulars and newcomers alike tend to rave over this much commended little restaurant. The style is modern but takes considerable heed of much that is best from the past. To offer a set dinner menu of this sort of quality from £28.

• Address: 22 Mill Street, Chagford, TQ13 8AW (Map)
• Cuisine(s): European, Modern European, Seafood
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: £28.00, Dinner: £54.00

2A Restaurant

As possibly the area's only real restaurant, 2A has become a definite dining favourite in Malmesbury. Named after its address on Silver Street, it offers a relaxed and stylish elegance. A humble doorway leads into a small, charming bistro area where guests are greeted by smartly dressed, friendly and enthusiastic staff.

• Address: 2a Silver Street, Malmesbury, SN16 9BU (Map)
• Cuisine(s): Modern British, Gourmet
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: £20.00, Dinner: £32.00

2XS Bar & Restaurant

Deep in the heart of rural Wiltshire, this sophisticated and well run place offers a glimpse of, shall we say, Kensington in rustica, and is much appreciated as such. In the summer months, and who is to say for how long those stretch out now, a delightful walled courtyard offers the best of all worlds.

• Address: 7 Kingsbury Street, Marlborough, SN8 1HU (Map)
• Cuisine(s): Modern British
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: £12.00, Dinner: £35.00

4DQ Bar & Bistro

• Address: The Corner House Hotel, Park Street, Taunton, TA1 4DQ (Map)
• Cuisine(s): Bistro, Modern
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: £20.00, Dinner: £38.00

A Cozinha

Those who enjoyed A Cozinha (the kitchen) when it was in the city centre are likely to enjoy it even more now that it is relocated in new premises in Alfred Place, Kingsdown. The elegant and charismatic Yvonne MacFarlane continues to produce the only real Portuguese food in Bristol, a cuisine that is lamentably undervalued in the view of this writer, though it is clear the inhabitants of Bristol know a good thing when they see it.

• Address: Alfred Place, Kingsdown , Bristol, BS2 8HD (Map)
• Cuisine(s): Portuguese
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: N/A, Dinner: £36.00

Abbey Restaurant, The

"To achieve perfection, I strive for 150%, then, if I make a mistake, what I do is still 100%". As a philosophy, you can't aspire higher. Michael Riemenschneider achieves this twice a day in his new job as partner and Head Chef of The Abbey Restaurant in Penzance.

• Address: Abbey Street, Penzance, TR18 4AR (Map)
• Cuisine(s): Modern European
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: £29.00, Dinner: £45.00

Abbot Restaurant at Shapwick House Hotel, The

• Address: Monks Drive, Shapwick, nr Bridgwater, TA7 9NL (Map)
• Cuisine(s): British UK, French
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: N/A, Dinner: £36.00

Acorn Inn

The Acorn Inn, set in the picturesque West Dorset village of Evershot, did not escape the attentions of Thomas Hardy, and in Tess of d'Urbervilles it became the 'Sow and Acorn'. Perhaps Hardy had the protection of the innocent in mind for it is very easy to be beguiled by the easy antiquity of this wonderful old, stone-built inn, which offers attractive and well-prepared food in totally rustic surroundings.

• Address: Fore Street, Evershot, DT2 0JW (Map)
• Cuisine(s): French, Modern European
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: N/A, Dinner: £32.00

Agaric

A passion and lifestyle for Nick Coiley, formerly Head Chef at The Carved Angel in Dartmouth, for many years one of Britain's top restaurants. The simple concept is based on brief but ever changing menus employing local ingredients which are patently fresh.

• Address: 30 North Street, Ashburton, TQ13 7QD (Map)
• Cuisine(s): European, International
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: £24.00, Dinner: £47.00

Alba Restaurant

House in the former Lifeboat House, the restaurant takes its name appropriately enough from the SS Alba which went down off St Ives in 1938, and whose boiler may still be seen at low tide. Two local lifeboatmen were lost in the rescue, a grim foretaste of what was to happen the following year when the Coxswain and six crew members were lost in another incident at sea.

• Address: Old Lifeboat House, Wharf Road, St Ives, TR26 1LF (Map)
• Cuisine(s): Modern European
• Avg. Cost Per Head Lunch: £25.00, Dinner: £41.00