Spoken — Restaurant in East Devon

Very disappointed evening and experience at Spoken. After popping in a few days earlier and getting a member of the bar staff to go and speak to the chef to ask if they could possibly cater for my dietary restrictions I was told they could do me a gluten free pizza without any onion or garlic. I then emailed them on Friday to check and ask to book a table, had a reply saying that would be absolutely fine and checking the time we would be arriving. We arrived and went to the bar to say we had booked to be told that they don't accept bookings and the email address I had used (from their website) wasn't active, he then told me I couldn't have had a reply from themselves. He then went to the kitchen and told me that they couldn't do anything other than a plain gluten free base with no tomato sauce of any kind or any other sauce. I understand them not being able to cater for my dietary restrictions however the gentleman was so rude when saying it, especially as he told me I couldn't have had a reply from the email address that day as it was no longer active basically saying I was lying that I had emailed that day requesting to book a table and had a reply from themselves! Also very disappointed that I had gone through the processes of both popping in to the restaurant in advance to ask about the possibility to cater for my dietary restrictions (whilst the owner was in the bar area when his bar staff was liaising with the chef) and emailing the day of our visit to double check that this was still okay. I understand the staff are new and untrained (I had to explain to the bar staff when I popped into ask about catering for me originally that my assistance dog is allowed in by law as he told me no dogs at all were allowed inside) however the rudeness of the bar staff member last night went far past basic training. We had stopped there for drinks various times in the past but will not be using them again, not because they couldn't cater for me but because they were so rude last night. They may also want to find out who is replying to their email address and if it isn't anyone related to the business maybe remove it from their website contact us...

Really nice, lovely place with friendly, helpful staff. The place looks great and it was a pleasant surprise to find a place like this in Exmouth… The food was good and decent but I think, with little extra attention, it could be better. We ordered three dishes. The risotto was lovely but the artichoke and mushrooms clearly came from a jar… with fresh ingredients it would have been so much better. The peppers stuffed with couscous: again, amazing flavours, all spot on… but the couscous was dry. Finally, the shell-on large prawns: cooked to perfection, not over cooked. My only issue with it (but this is something very personal and subjective) was the sauce - it had such a strong flavour (chilli) when the prawns have such a delicate one. It’s like when people put ketchup on food (sorry for the comparison), everything tastes of ketchup… Prices: reasonable. Someone in the comments complained about paying £8.50 for three large prawns. Would you really want to eat in a place where they cost, I don’t know, £1.50 each?? You get what you pay for, no exceptions. It feels like 5 stars is a bit too much but as there is no 4.5 we thought rounding it up is fairer than rounding it down. We will absolutely be back and this place is so much...

The place is nice and has a cool atmosphere and vibe, however our experience was a bit all over the place. We ordered 2 of the rump steaks, they first had to go away and check the price as there was confusion on whether it should be the price on the menu. Then they needed to check whether it comes with fries or salad or if you get everything as it says on the menu. Basically they had to keep double checking the menu and what we were ordering as it seems like there was some discrepancy between the menu and what the manager and the chef wanted. It should be as per menu or the menu shouldn't be used. Finally got our steaks and then there was no steak knives. We were literally told good luck. The plate was crowded, food was bland, no seasoning of the steak. No salt or pepper on the table or asked if we wanted anything, just left to it with normal knives. Very disappointed, other food may well be good but when you push the boat out and go for the steak you expect a bit better. Waitress was really nice and seemed to be doing best she could with a bad /...