Route 2 Cafe Bar & Apartments — Restaurant in Exeter

Made this choice at the last minute but did not regret the decision. The Route 2 is located at the bottom of Topsham High Street as it reaches the river. The apartments are above an excellent cafe that serves great food from 8am until 5pm. Hot and cold meals as well as cafe items. The apartments are up a fairly narrow staircase so accessibility would be an issue for anyone with serious mobility issues. But it is a very old and traditional building so no access facilities can be added. Our apartment, as pictured, was just right for two and had been outfitted to an excellent standard and was really well decorated. The apartments are then right on the River Exe as it starts to open out more widely at Exmouth. Between the pub, The Lighter, across the road and the excellent cafe food below you will not be struggling for nourishment. The staff in the cafe dealt very well with my check-in and were always very hospitable and welcoming. There are some negative comments on the noise from the cafe below but we actually enjoyed them as they started not long before 8am and reminded us that we were there to walk and enjoy the scenery and not lie in bed. There is a second floor apartment which would not hear very much at all if it would bother you. Topsham itself is a very beautiful riverside town and the abundance of Dutch architecture in many of the towns buildings and houses speaks to a time when it was the second busiest port in England. Walking around and sitting on the rivers edge is a wonderful way to spend a few days. Find the Goats Walk along the river towards Exmouth as the tide is going out and you will not be disappointed. I would return to Route 2 at the earliest opportunity as we had a wonderful weekend there. There is a bicycle shop adjacent to the cafe that hires bikes if you were...

We had a lovely breakfast after a Sunday morning walk here.

As soon as we entered it was a lovely buzzing atmosphere - very busy but we thankfull found a table!

We sat and looked through the menu before going to the till to order - on paying (in advance) we were given eth option of a tip - I fidn this very strange as we had not been served yet and had to physically move to order - just feels a bit off.

That was all taht was off though - the food caem quickly and was hot and plentiful- the pancakes excellent and the bacon and freid egg as 'extras' were very reasonably priced and all very tasty - teh cuoffe hot and again orange juice, although not freshly pressed was tasty and good value.

All in all we would recommend and was a lovely stop of and reward for our walk - certainly worth checking out though without googling we could easily have missed it as it wasnt easy to spot that it was open.

I am sure we...

Ordered two coffees and two sausage sandwiches from the takeaway counter, which took over 40 minutes to arrive. Not surprising after the chefs said 20mins into the wait that they wanted to serve all tables inside first before doing the takeaway orders. Coffees were long since consumed by the time the sandwiches were ready, no sauces offered or available. Chefs were then talking loudly about "the people staring at them through the takeaway window", which was actually just the two people who were stood waiting the best part of an hour for a take away order. Would suggest staff inform customers if there is going to be a long wait, and remind the chefs that whatever is being said where they cook by the takeaway can be heard...