Food & Drink
Abbey
'Since last year's Guide, Michael Riemenschneider has taken over from
Ben Tuncliffe and his creative and confident cooking has made quite a
splash locally. Sourcing and timing of materials are both admirable and
combinations are well-considered.'
Elizabeth Carter, Good Food Guide 2009
'Riemenschneider's food is complex and displays an almost obsessive
attention to detail, but with well-defined flavours and innovative
ingredient combinations.'
Restaurant magazine, August 2008
'Accomplished, sophisticated and artful are all words that could
describe [Riemenschneider's] cooking.'
Carol Trewin, Western Morning News, May 2008
'Riemenschneider has created an exquisite menu.'
Alex Wade, Cornwall Today, April 2008
Old Coastguard
'Views out over Mount's Bay are a great draw here, where the daytime
bistro menu does a roaring trade in crab sandwiches.'
Elizabeth Carter, The Times Knowledge, August 2008
'The smart lunch menu is worth paying for to enjoy astonishing sea views
before the sun goes down.'
Rachael Oakden, Coast, January 2008
'The dining room is spacious and friendly-feeling, with its stripped
wooden floors, pale-blue walls and simple tables. Picture windows look
out over a tropical garden to crashing waves and wheeling seagulls.'
Harper's Bazaar, 2008 Going Out Guide
The Pheasant Inn
'The Pheasant Inn is run by two food fanatics, Roberto Perini and Luana
Gugliuzzo. Luana is a renowned pastry chef from Paris and Roberto has
worked with many great chefs, but now the pair have retired to this
idyllic Somerset pub where they serve fabulous Tuscan food.'
Arthur Potts Dawson, Guardian, July 2008
'There is such an empathy here that food is not cooked but created, from
a variety of egg pastas made fresh that morning to delicious, just-baked
bread and even the olive oil had its own story to tell about the village
in the mountains it had come from. So venture forth to Italian heaven
right here on the Mendips.'
Paul Hartley, Mendip Times, May 2008
Royal Oak
'With great food and a friendly bar, it's little surprise that [the
Royal Oak] was recently in The Independent's Top 50 B&Bs in Britain.'
Graeme Spratley, Active magazine, August 2008
'If Ed and Kirsty's aim is to attract a wet walker off the moor, a
farmer or a foodie looking for a great meal, they have got the recipe
right.'
Carol Trewin, Western Morning News, April 2008
Somerset Orchards
'Somerset Orchards believes there's more to cider apples than cider, and
to prove it this cooperative of 12 growers has launched two
single-variety pressed juices, the first of their kind on the market
Kingston Blacks and Browns cider-apple juices are the sort of grown-up
soft drinks that teetotallers yearn for: refreshing, complex and just
verging on sharpness.'
Country Living, September 2008
Withy Kitchen
'I challenge any carnivore not to enjoy [Withy Kitchen's] squash and
refried bean fajitas or their roast vegetable tagine with parsley and
saffron couscous.'
Paul Hartley, Mendip Times, August 2008
Wookey Hole Inn (see also Hotels)
'On the edge of the Mendip Hills: a traditional façade, a funky décor,
excellent food and no end of choice behind the kitsch-with-style bar.
The food, which has good local credentials, is seriously tasty and
imaginative.'
Alastair Sawday, Special Places Pubs & Inns of England and Wales
'This is within walking distance of the famous caves and blends a
contemporary setting with a lively atmosphere and a serious approach to
food that includes using top-notch local produce.'
Elizabeth Carter, The Times Knowledge, July 2008
'Chef Ashley Rainbow lives up to his name with delicious
Mediterranean-influenced English dishes using local and seasonal
ingredients from the rich Somerset pastures.'
What's On Somerset, Autumn 2007