We had a very relaxing weekend staying at this restaurant with rooms on Porlock Weir. The building, which is a really big custard-yellow house with well-tended gardens, has a gorgeous position looking directly out to the sea over the weir. Delightful. The furnishings are kind of homely and a little bit ornate with splashes of modern thrown in - but comfy and very clean at the same time. The place has a good and quite laid-back feel to it. I felt that the outstanding review by Margaret Drabble a few months ago in the Guardian was a little bit too gushingly good. Either they are not trying so hard now that so many people are beating a path to their door, or she caught them on an exceptionally brilliant day. Minor irritations included a saniflow toilet in the ensuite to our room (Brrrrng, shluuuuurp etc in the middle of the night); a hairdryer that would only work intermittently; and pre-prandial snacks in the bar that weren't very nice (olives too salty). None of these are exactly hanging offences, are they? Although one thing that was definitely an issue was the stumpiness of the menu. Basically a choice of five starters, five mains, five desserts. With no specials. So if you only fancied one thing on the menu and were staying for two nights on the inclusive deal, you'd have to eat the same dish twice! This is a real problem if you are a bit of a foodie. Or a vegetarian. The food we did eat was executed pretty well and was gently imaginative. The wine was not fantastic. Some issues with the food included the fridge-coldness of some dishes (the quail's egg with salmon starter as well as the rather bitter creme brulee) and the perhaps over-enthusiastic use of spices like mace or cardamom throughout many of the dishes. Also very little in the way of nice fresh veg with a number of the meat dishes which were all rather rich. Having said that, the cheese (which sits in its own bespoke cheese cabinet in the dining room) was exquisite and at perfect ripeness & temperature - something which is an all too rare treat given the way that many restaurants give you something tasteless yanked out of the fridge. The cheese selection was exceptionally fabulous, and we wished the servings could have been a bit bigger than the weight-watching portions dished out for us. Would we stay there again? Yes, but for one night not two - and we wouldn't beat a path to the door as part of a gastronomic pilgrimage, which is what we thought we were doing when we booked it. It's good value, unpretentious and friendly. read more