Beer:
We visited earlier in the week and discounted it- the hotel bar is a very bland hotel bar. However, we missed the public bar on one side, which is traditionally pub-like, and was a nice place to wait for our restaurant booking just up the street. Good staff and beer, As the Rugby World Cup was on, so was the TV, but not so loud you couldn’t talk.
Seaton:
We’d not been given a good impression on a prior walk past, with pissed-up, shouting blokes, but visiting on a weekday evening it was OK. There was ale, and the TV wasn’t too loud, but given the better choices in town we only visited once; this was a bit sports-bar.
Lyme Regis:
A walk along the Cobb from town brought us here. Standard modern food-orientated pub inside, pleasant seating outside, decent beer, and good prices for the location, and an almost-pubcat over the road, who seemed to be willing the traffic to try to move him at one point.
Beer:
This was a traditional pub, overlooking the bay, as per it’s Google Maps description. I suppose it still is, but it’s been hit with the Greene King pubco stick of Old English Inns.
By no means bad, but it’s got the middle-class-green, the over-polished lanterns outside, and the pubco-slick but trying to be pally food menu. As it was, the food was OK, but a little expensive and not exceptional, the beer not bad at all, and the staff were fine; it just lacked atmosphere a bit.
Seaton:
We nearly gave this a miss, as, frankly, it looked a bit grim.
A lot of that, though, was a side effect of the window film making it look dark inside from out, and, we found, vice versa. In the event, it was better than expected; there was ale, the barmaid was friendly, and it wasn’t too grim at all.
Sidmouth:
Nice pub just round the corner from Duke’s and much more our thing. Traditional, independently-owned pub just back from the seafront in one of the main shopping streets. Great food, staff, and beer and a nice relaxed atmosphere.
Sidmouth:
Some discussion here about whether it’s a restaurant, hotel, or pub, but we’ll go with pub, on the evidence of a dominating bar, a reluctance to serve food after 2:30, and the look and feel as we approached.
The look was “up itself food pub”, and that was borne out when we got in. It would seem Sidmouth is moving upmarket, and Duke’s is going with it. There’s typical modern hotel-pub decor (more green, pastels, and stripped wood!), and a slightly trendy air. Not really our thing, but many would love it. Good beer, outside space, food that looked good.
Seaton:
Odd place this: outside looks like it might be slightly posh, inside it’s an odd-feeling place: first impressions are of an ordinary food-biased pub, after a while, it started to feel like a hotel bar in a hotel with coach parties, but that may have been the clientele- we were the youngest non-staff, despite being soundly middle-aged. Beer was fine though, staff were pleasant, the food looked good, and while there was karaoke on, you could still hold a conversation.
Seaton:
Right on the seafront, and a striking building, this was a disappointment for us, but it seemed popular with the locals. The sign outside states “Bar and Restaurant”, but google has it as a social club, and that’s what it felt like to us, full of locals, with a raffle draw going on, noisily, and the decor was like that. The locals were friend;y enough, and the beer was fine, though.
Colyford, near Seaton:
A mere step from the Seaton Tramway, we broke the journey back here for a swift drink in the sun. Pleasant, traditional pub, nice staff, and a beer garden, and a couple of good real ales.