The UK is literally littered with country pubs, and in many cases it's sad to say, but appropriately phrased perhaps, that what they serve up as food is pretty rubbish. The phrase 'home cooked' seems to have been superceded my the concept of 'van delivered' all too often. Thankfully that's not the case at the Five Bells in Clyst Hydon. It's one of the very first places I visited when I moved to Devon many years ago, as a friend recommended it, and I've been returning ever since. It's the kind of place you turn to where you just know you won't be disappointed, a foodies rock in an otherwise tempestuous chain pub ocean.
The pub's one many awards over the years, so I won't go on about how tasty the food is, but I will say that one of the nice things I've always liked about it is that they are still experimenting. Sure you can get your english staples there like steak & kidney pudding, game pate, treacle pudding, etc., but also other treats such as mediterranean tarts. The chef here is one of those increasingly rare beasts, someone who really knows what to buy and how to cook it. It's not some kind of reinvented gastro pub either - it's just a good pub with good food - why is that so hard to manage anymore? I should say they also stock a fine range of drinks, including the Otter beers, once of Devon's best breweries.
Then there's the location and the pub itself. Buried deep in the heart of Devon, near some great woods (with some interesting mushrooms to hunt), wonderful gardens outside and an interior that just seems to keep on going, full of nooks and crannies, games to play, old books to read and much more. I once took a friend and his (very small) three girls for lunch there and the owners and staff didn't blink an eye. Sure they made sure we were tucked around the corner a bit but the girls didn't mind and all loved the food!
If that isn't enough to tempt you then how about the fact that Clyst Hydon itself has it's very own lido just round the corner from the pub? Just check the Google map and you'll see it just next door. All in all this place is a gem. A little hard to find perhaps but if you can find it, then you deserve it.
P.S. There's a two course lunch menu at £7.95 available from Monday - Thursday and Saturday. This is my favourite as I never know what I'm getting till I turn up at the pub. read more