The Grapevine Brewhouse — Restaurant in East Devon

Firstly, I have to state that my partner and I have previously enjoyed many visits to this lovely pub - he enjoys the fine ales, we have eaten many times here and frequently enjoy the live music with some great bands. I would consider myself to be a 'regular', often coming along with friends/colleagues. However, on the last two occasions that we have eaten at The Grapevine I am sad to say that the food has been more than just disappointing - it has been absolute rubbish!!!!! Disgusting even!! Last Thursday, 23rd July it was my 'retirement do' and there were approx. 12 around the table and many arriving for a drink so, yes, a large gathering. The menu was poor, ie only one fish dish on offer, not filleted. Rib eye steak was the special of the evening and I believe all my guests who ordered this meal complained that theirs was tough ...... and most certainly looked it! Two people ordered the curry and informed me it was 'tasteless'. My partner had the lamb which resembled a lump of gristle on his plate and a very small portion at that! I struggled to order as nothing took my fancy but opted for veggies on skewers. Still hungry so ordered fries on the side - it just got worse: overcooked and greasy! One guest's order did not turn up at all, she was forgotten! On reminding the staff she eventually did receive her meal but by this time many of us were eating individually. Towards the end of this evening we were informed that there was only an extremely limited number of cask ales available to drink - a further disappointment. I did not make a fuss nor complain as we were a large group and the evening had been booked for many weeks in advance - in short, I felt hugely embarrassed that I opted for this venue (especially as a few weeks prior we encountered a very similar scenario - but more of this below). I was very aware that my guests were also dissatisfied and some were verbally critical about the poor standard and poor value for money. However, I must add that the staff were courteous and helpful under the circumstances. The other occasion I refer to above was several weeks ago when my partner and I booked the evening to dine out with friends who are not local people. This evening was equally embarrassing with mishap after mishap. Many dishes were 'off the menu', hence we were offered poor third or fourth choices. Two steaks were returned to the kitchen as under cooked and another meal was cold. One guest who ordered vegetables was given salad 'mistakenly' and the chips once again were disgusting! When I went to the bar to pay the final bill a young gentleman politely enquired as to how everyone had enjoyed their meals. I replied by saying that I had not intended to complain in front of our guests and create a stir but since he had posed the question I informed him that we were enormously disappointed. He apologised, saying he would report this back to the kitchen etc. We had no further discussion and no-one approached our table before we left. Later that evening my partner and I did express our regret to our friends for such a poor choice of venue. There will most definitely NOT be a third occasion at The Grapevine for dining out in the foreseeable future unless we hear that the chef and/or management have improved considerably. I'm sure we will continue to go along and listen to some great bands and excellent music but sadly we will be eating and drinking elsewhere beforehand! Finally, I would wish people reading this to know that I am not in the habit of writing this kind of review but do feel it is completely...

Dog friendly ,great beer,nice staff, brill food. Is all-round awesome,edit (2019) ..things have since changed the food is still great but a bit repetitive after few visits, spoken across the road has a better menu which changes.

The beer menu has considerably slimmed down and instead of having beer from across Europe America etc it is now predominately British beer at eye watering prices . Before I could justify treating myself to something from across the pond at a hefty price as it felt luxuriant , but paying the same, or slightly lower price, for something that has come from there own brewery , which is in the backyard, makes me grimace. Other beers seem to be all from Bristol. It's a real shame I used to love it here as it felt like a luxury, now it has maybe ( I have never run a pub) become greedy. I say this because I refuse to believe that there is not a huge cost difference from importing small amounts to brewing on site, pass those savings to the customer please.

I think the owners are perhaps arrogant in labelling themselves as the only beer experts that count to the pub, which means the beer being sapid is heavily reliant on if you enjoy what they enjoy. Just a thought but why don't you invite regulars to tasting nights that then dictate what is carried in the pub?, Or other local beer experts, if you don't trust the average persons viewpoint. You could justify your prices then.

I would love to see them start to import again perhaps using online beer guides as a marketing technique , there a websites now with global top 250s that Punter and experts choose and reviews in there 1000's. I would then be tempted back, as I could work my way down the list each time and saviour the worlds best (carry the most cost effective in the top 50 only maybe). Best of British is great but not worth the money considering there is a wide wide world of beer to savour, as far as I aware none of there beers have won anything so unfortunately there just taking up pump space. There are also various beer awards each year across the globe why not carry the nominees and invite votes for fun. You could then use these votes to choose what to carry.

All in all you need to do allot more to justify how much you charge for the beer you carry.

Spoken is now my new haunt when I want to treat myself and my family. Sorry grapevine I have...

Quick note this is the first pub dining experience I've had during Covid so I will mention a bit more about the process going in

On entering the staff member at the door was very friendly we were asked to scan the NHS check in, informed of the limited menu that day and then given a choice of tables and our own menu (disposeable).

After sitting down we were approached in a respectable time to ask if we wanted drinks then again to order, all friendly and distanced.

I ordered from the vegan menu so I can't comment on the other burgers my friends had, however the vegan falafel burger or "Fallumi" was very good, also the chilli concarne topped fries, the food was some of the best vegan food I've had in a long time and arrived promptly, well presented and of course by a friendly member of the team. Also on the side note, their kitchen is open fronted so you can watch your food being prepared if you so choose.

I have been to the grapevine many times since I was a late teen and it's changed considerably since then, it still retains its traditional pub charm with lots of wood, a big bar and bottles, what I would call craft beer etc (although I use that term for anything not carlsberg or fosters etc) you can purchase, however it still has a very modern feel with nice lighting and decent furnishings.

All in all for my first pub/pub dining outing during covid it really was a nice place to be, And I was immediately put at ease.

To sum up,

Friendly staff, lovely old pub with a modern ascetic and...