Exmoor Forest Inn

In lovely surroundings with plenty of fine walks, comfortable inn with enjoyable food, good range of drinks and friendly licensees; bedrooms

This friendly inn is an enjoyable place to stay as it's in lovely surroundings with fine walks all round and they have 1 ½ miles of wild brown trout and salmon fishing on the River Barle; dogs are most welcome and they provide dog beds, bowls and towels. The bar has a few red plush stools around little circular tables by the bar counter and steps up to a larger area with joists in the ceiling, cushioned settles, upholstered stools and mate's chairs around a mix of dark tables, a woodburning stove with two shelves of stone flagons to one side and hunting prints, trophies and antlers on the walls. The walls of the Tack Room are covered with saddles, bridles, stirrups, horseshoes and so forth and there are similar tables and chairs as well as one nice long table for a bigger party. Cotleigh Harrier, Cottage Somerset and Dorset Ale, Exmoor Hound Dog, and St Austell Proper Job on handpump, ten wines by the glass, local cider, 30 malt whiskies. There's a cosy little residents' lounge and an airy dining room. Piped music, board games, shove-ha'penny, dominoes, and bar skittles. Picnic-sets and wooden and metal benches around tables under parasols in the front garden. The collie is called Noddy and the jack Russell, Pip.

Using some home-grown vegetables and local suppliers, the reliable bar food includes lunchtime filled rolls and filled baked potatoes, soup, free-range pork terrine with crab apple and chilli jelly, local smoked trout, sausages with onion gravy, spring rolls with mixed oriental mushrooms and a sweet chilli sauce, chicken supreme with a tarragon crust and a white wine and tarragon sauce, confit duck on home-made onion marmalade, fillets of john dory with olives, rosemary, capers and sun-fried tomatoes, and puddings like apple and pecan tart and dark chocolate, coffee and caramel set cream with hazelnut praline.