Cowick Barton — Restaurant in Exeter

Phenomenal!

Absolutely truly fantastic.

I decided to treat my dad to Sunday lunch this Easter Sunday. I grew up in Cowick Lane and after moving away, I recently visited the Cowick Barton for a wake last year. I was so impressed by the quality and presentation of the buffet food, that I decided to book Easter lunch here.

This ancient building is stunning and it has a real inviting and warming vibe.

There were 4 of us today. Myself and my dad had the trio of meat (beef topside, belly pork and chicken). My daughter and husband had the beef.

We could not fault a single thing. It was honestly the nicest roast we've ever had, and we've had a fair amount of good roasts, including our own - we're keen cooks.

That Yorkshire pudding 🫨 Just amazing. All the meat was cooked to perfection and the veg was lovely. It was the best. Really flavoursome thick gravy too. The presentation was impressive.

The only slight niggle, was about the variety of beers. Dad loves a bitter but there wasn't any - just an Old Speckled Hen, which he likes and ordered, but it was gluten free! It would be nice to see some more bitters and the proper Old Speckled Hen 😊

The drinks were served really quickly, and the service overall was top! The waiting staff were really attentive and really on the ball.

Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and the whole experience was a joy.

We'll definitely be revisiting - thank you for a wonderful lunch. Most places are very underwhelming these days, and this is the quality and experience you can only imagine having. So to actually find yourself experiencing what you long for, is magic!

Massive, massive compliments to the chef, from...

Sadly a turkeyless Christmas. Booked for Christmas Day, communicated via phone, email and FB messenger to amend booking months before. Arrive on Christmas day to be told they haven’t got our preorder, along with other customers, which is because it was never requested. The reply was ‘it was in the original policy and procedures’. You would think they would reach out to customers! They had ran out of dessert that we wanted which isn’t the end of the world. Drink on arrival didn’t happen and we had to request it, to which other tables on their final course said they also haven’t had theirs. The worst part, our main course of turkey roast had a literal sprinkle of turkey on! Not a single slice! This is because we were booked at 3pm and they ran out! Ran out of turkey! For £90 a head that really isn’t ok. The food was delicious but I would really expect to have some turkey on Christmas Day! The waiter agreed and said they also should have had more staff, but this has been a reoccurring issue since new management took over. Gave the benefit of the doubt and have given constructive feedback in person and via email before but it seems stretching staff to maximise profit margins is the sole objective here. We even heard management a few nights ago saying ‘one server should be able to cover 60 people, they should thrive on this!’ Such a shame as it was such a...

First time here for ages, nice venue, very helpful & friendly staff. Not a massive lover of the current menu, although quite a bit on there, it didn't seem like a lot of variety! To book room was easy & lots of car parking which s good. Drinks are quite expensive, nice inside venue, quaint yet modern and recently done up, so looks good 🖒

I ordered a starter & pudding as there wasnt anything on the menu for a main course that I liked. My starter was nice, however I was very disappointed with my sweet which was the Eton Mess, it was nothing but cream, hardly any fruit & one tiny bit of meringue on top. When I mentioned this to the person collecting the dishes who wasn't a waiter, & looked like a manager / supervisor, he just said "oh I'll mention it to the chef". Nothing further was done....

Compared to the Pinhoe Hoard where we went the other day & had an issue with a massive delay on our food & then it was bought out cold. They refunded the meal & replaced it. Their sweets were much bigger & cheaper too....so in comarision I'd give a thumbs down to🖓 to Cowick Barton for their sweets & how they...