The Cafe — Restaurant in Exeter

It was my first time to eat at Rob Dawe's pop up restaurant in Topsham last night; friends had raved about it and we were not disappointed, it truly was some of the best food I have eaten.

The venue was light and airy, not too formal and we got their early enough to find parking easily. Bring your own meant a variety and the sound of corks popping around the room added to the excitement. We were welcomed by Rob's team, friendly, smiley, with the perfect level of attention.

The six course meal supplemented with home made bread and herby butter, 2 canapes: goats cheese on beetroot crisp and fresh Brixham crab with the addition of luxurious petite four actually made the number of courses nine.

There was no expense spared here, every dish cooked with great care and dare I say love. Truffle oil on the aracinini, elevating the flavour without overwhelming it on a bed of the most delicious straw mushrooms, all perfectly seasoned - something replicated with every course.

The chicken, ham and Black pudding terrine was moist and unctuous, the sous vide egg velvety in texture, topped with crispy chicken skin, genius. The cod with mussels and chorizo cooked to provide a flaky melt in the mouth experience, a thing of beauty. The sorbet did its job cleansing, sharp and full of fresh flavours preparing us for the most amazing main fillet of beef and beef cheek parcels: it was a pleasure to discover celeriac in the dauphinoise gratin and each vegetable a delight in and of itself.

The desserts came it a trio of different takes on apple, not too sweet, a variety of textures and complimentary flavours. Coffee and the thickest, chocolatiest petite four.

This was a fabulous meal and experience and at £45 a head exceptional value. There were no slip ups, the food was hot, the portions perfect. We left feeling appropriately full, utterly spoilt and arguing which the best dishes were.

Rob, family and team thank you for promising something great and delivering in every sense. We...

We stopped for lunch at a delightful building with a high roof called The Cafe.

Our original plan was for my husband to have the Cream Tea (fruit scones with cream and jam) and I to have the Savoury Tea (cheese scones with cheese and chutney). However, they had run out of cheese scones, so I changed my plans and ended up with something even better.

My husband had his tasty Cream Tea, which he says was delicious, the cream was fresh and the scones very fruity. He was very pleased.

I opted for a goat's cheese and bacon salad, thinking the cheese and bacon would be broken up and sprinkled through the salad. Nothing like it, this was a whole warmed cheese with lovely strips of bacon over it served with a salad, it was amazingly delicious, but not what even I would call a light lunch! Thankfully, I’m a bit greedy, so eat every bit of it with delight.

We really loved our meal and...

This was our first visit to The Cafe in Topsham and we weren’t overly impressed. We ordered cake and a pot of tea and sat down outside at the back in the sun.

The cake was very nice indeed but when I poured out the tea it was a very weak, it would have been nice if they told us to let it brew for a bit first.

It was lovely to hear the quietness whilst relaxing out there until someone came out and decided to collect tidy up. They kept waking around clearing the tables and all I could focus on was them treading on the loose stones, it was blinking annoying to say the least as they seem to take forever to finish.

Then we decided to leave but make use of the toilet first, it would have been nice if they put some more soap out as there was hardly any left.

The only real positive was the great selection of cakes. Will we go back people might ask, the answer is...