Devon Pub Review: Railway Inn, Honiton

The Railway Inn came warmly recommended from fellow Devon food blogger, Countrywoodsmoke.  After dropping off our lovely huge goldfish, Speedy, at his house (to keep as a pet for his kids allegedly....he'd better not end up in the smoker.....) we went to the pub.  

The Railway Inn is just slightly off the beaten track about 5 minutes walk from the main shopping street in Honiton and we had to ask twice for directions (it's not that tricky but the first lady pointed us in the wrong direction!)

It was a fairly busy Saturday lunchtime but the staff were doing an admirable job.  We were presented with a bottle of filtered water and freshly baked olive and herb bread with a bowl of oil and vinegar within a few minutes of arrival - the very soft, warm dough was beautifully squidgy and we were really hungry so it was needed.  All four of us, two adults and two children, had difficulty choosing the food as there was so much on the menu that we fancied.  And that is quite a result for two children who can be a bit choosy when they want to be (one won't eat cheese, the other won't eat potato).

We chose the pate and a bowl of chips to share as a starter for the table.  Aren't we classy?  The chef is French and he puts a French / Mediterranean twist on some great quality Devon and Somerset produce.

 I chose to have two starters as my main as I couldn't decide between the small Fritto Misto –  and the Fragrant chicken Vietnamese Salad -with beansprouts, chinese leaf, carrots, spring onion, mint, toasted almonds, confit ginger & spicy sesame dressing.

This salad was pretty good but the dressing was a bit too sweet and plentiful for my taste.

My 'starter size' fritto misto had a delicious fishcake, whitebait, a small piece of white fish and plenty of squid.  Loved it.

My son went for the Proper Fritto Misto –Trio of Crispy fried sustainable fish with proper chips (£12.95).  The fish were really well cooked and the batter was delicious, my son loved the King Prawn (or was it a langoustine - it was eaten so quickly it was hard to tell) and the white fish but wasn't so keen on the battered mackerel.  This photo makes it look quite small, but it wasn't!

 The other two had the award-winning pizzas (£10.95) and ate every morsel.  Pictured is the beef and chorizo version.

My personal favourites were the pate, the bread, the fried fish and the chips.  My tiny quibble was just that the chicken salad dressing was a bit too sweet and plentiful.

 We were sadly too full up for pudding, but we were given a handful of jelly babies on the saucer with the bill, which was a parting gift to make us all smile.

Great atmosphere, a chef and staff who know what they are doing with some great quality ingredients in a relaxed, family-friendly setting.

http://therailwayhoniton.co.uk/

Hugh Recipe Booklets Free this Weekend..7-8 July 2012

I am a big fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his commitment to ethical, simple, local food (plus he's based in Devon, just about).  This is a bit of a heads up as there are going to be two free booklets this Sat and Sun (7 and 8 July 2012) with The Telegraph containing 40 recipes from his River Cottage Veg Every Day book.

I have bought the book for my veggie sister but I haven't committed to it myself, possibly due to the fact that my two huge shelves of cookbooks are groaning and it's now a matter of 'one in one out'.  Two small booklets should fit in nicely.

Find out more and preview recipes at telegraph.co.uk/vegeveryday