The Dartmoor Diner Ltd — Restaurant in South Hams

Booked for 5pm on the website which is looking great and was easy to book, we have visited lots in the past and always enjoyed the homely, warm, family atmosphere. On arrival it looked really nice with a refurb,new signs and newly tarmacked carpark, the restaurant was almost empty and the floor had been mopped, with a bottle of d10 cleaner sitting on the bar, wet floor sign and mop bucket out, throughout our meal staff were packing and cleaning up.There was a strong smell of cleaning fluid throughout the restaurant that almost led me to leave, and the fire escape wide open so we were freezing, the waitress did shut the door when I asked but between serving us proceeded to work on cleaning the toilets and empty bins, sweep,mop and spray fluids, if the restaurant is open until 6pm, cleaning front of house really should wait until people have finished eating, i get its Sunday and you want to go home but it's a shame as there was a definite lack of the old charm it used to have and felt more like a roadside cafe than the previous cosy little place it used to be.The prices are restaurant prices however so the service should match. The food was ok, but we just felt very rushed, management need to ensure staff are aware that a restaurant is about more than the food, and to see our waitress in her apron, putting on gloves to clean the loos in between serving us and then taking them off to bring our plates out felt really gross. She then asked how our food was whilst holding a full toilet bin bag and mop and we really felt out of place and didn't stay for coffee. If you offer tables until 5.30pm be prepared to have customers in until at least 7pm, otherwise offer your last tables at 4pm so staff can clean and get away earlier without impacting the experience. The atmosphere needs some work and should be as welcoming at 5pm as I expect...

Me and my family, 9 people in total went here for a Mothers Day meal on Sunday 30th March 2025. Having come here several times in the past we did not realise the place was now under new management, but have usually had a very positive experience in the past. Unfortunately, this time was certainly not the same experience! Although it was Mother’s Day, there were some empty tables when we arrived, but even so it took more than 20 minutes for staff to even come and take our drinks order! After we had finally ordered our food, we then waited from our 1.30pm booking to actually receiving our food at 3pm!! We ordered mostly carveries, with 1 burger and chips…and on the whole we were not impressed! The chicken was very dry and was individual chicken breasts, rather than usual carvery type roast chicken! The veg was very hard, undercooked and with hard lumpy swede. The roast potatoes on the other hand were so over cooked that they were nearly impossible to cut! When extra gravy was needed to try and counteract the dryness of the food, there was never any staff around, we ended up having to go to the bar and wait to ask for more, while the food went cold. All in all, the total bill came to over £200 for very sub standard food and service. We will definitely not be returning again, which is a real shame as the place always used to be a good experience. I hope the new owners take note of these bad review being left on here, before it’s too late and there are no...

I'm not really sure where to start! My hubby has wanted to come here for a good while so this week we dropped in for lunch. He had fish and chips and was disappointed, the batter was rather greasy and the fish not up to scratch flavour wise. I had Southern fried chicken wrap, the chicken was dry and I honestly believe it to be the cheap crap you can buy from a well known frozen food supermarket - it certainly didn't taste like southern fried as I know it, however it was smothered in chilli sauce, I assume to disguise the quality of the actual chicken 'pieces', we only knew we had chips because they looked like chips, I like mine to at least taste like potato! My milkshake was the consistency of blancmange so I had to ask for milk to make it drinkable, way too much shake powder used though some may like sucking blancmange through a straw (quite difficult 😂) Needless to say I couldn't in all honesty leave a tip as I felt that had I done so it would indicate that everything was fine. The outside area named the garden was more like a few tables and chairs plonked in a souless car park - we sat indoors! The disabled toilet was easily accessible but needed a damn good clean - the floor was very grubby and needs a good scrub and the waste bin left a lot to be desired. The whole place could do with a shake up and a facelift. We won't be...