The Bowd Inn — Restaurant in East Devon

My friends booked a table for 4 here so we could meet up after not seeing them since 2019. Its easy to find just off the main road and has a decent car park in front and an overflow too. The usual hand sanitizer was at the entrance and we checked in via the QR code. We were a bit early and had a short wait while they sanitized our table. Although they were not that busy it was a while before they took our orders of prawn salad, sandwich and 2 fish and chips along with drinks. It took quite a while before even the drinks arrived and a very long while before the meals arrived, possibly 30-40 mins after ordering. Apparently the sandwich and the salad were ok but our fish and chips were well overcooked and hard. The fish was fairly small and the batter so hard that it was a struggle cutting it. At no point during the 1 1/2 hours that we were in there were we asked if we wanted more drinks or even a desert. None of us did. Overall the service was desperately slow or non existent and some of the food was poor and overcooked. If we had been on our own we would have returned our meals but did not want to embarrass our friends who had arranged it. We certainly will not...

Reopened & back from the dead! The Bowd, a family run Pub Restaurant near Sidmouth, has at last reopened following its sudden, and so far unexplained, closure. The Bowd has always been by a long way the Best Carvery in the Area in terms of both Quality & Value for Money. Their Farmhouse Carvery returned from 30th March, ours was delicious and cost £14.95, but it may be a little more on Sundays. The Main Menu is limited at present but has something for everyone. Our Lemon Cheesecake with Mango Sauce to follow was delicious. They are operating with a reduced staff, we only saw three, but the Service was friendly and accommodating. The Restaurant area was relaxed and warm with the radiators fully on, a haven on a Cold & Rainy Spring day. Currently their Advertising & Publicity warrants a little more attention. We only found out that the Bowd had reopened as we happened to drive past recently. Even some weekly FB Posts & Photos would help enormously. At this point they are only open from Thursday to Sunday 11:45am to 3pm. Let's hope they return to full opening soon. Welcome Back to the Bowd, and as far as our family are concerned, we've...

We had some mixed experiences. We went there for the carvery. It was overcrowded and we were very glad, that we booked a table. We sad next to a birthday party table, which was quite loud but alright with us. The queue for the carvery was huge and we didn't want to leave our table with our things alone, so my husband went to the queue while I ordered our drinks and waited. It took him at least 15 minutes to get back with a full plate. Afterwards I went to the carvery and had to wait again very long. But the cook was really friendly and nice and I liked the variety in the food. The quality of the food was also alright.

But: When I received our drinks, I noticed something unidentifiable swimming in my husbands ale which looked really disgusting. I friendly complained about it and also asked for a glass for my own ginger beer (they just gave me the bottle without an extra glass). They brought a new ale for my husband a really dirty empty glass for me, without even apologising for the first ale. Maybe they were stressed because it was a full sunday but I would expect at least clean glasses. All in all, it was barely okay, but I wouldn't go...