The Farmers Arms — Restaurant in Torridge District

I would recommended but feel they seriously need to re-think their menu and rules on what menu you can eat from and where about’s in the Farmers Arms you can sit to eat it. I went last evening for a dear friends birthday for the first time as it was somewhere she has always wanted to go. I love to eat out and with a young family really appreciate the times I do! We arrived and were asked if any of us have any food allergies in which I replied I have a mild nut allergy. We were taken into the restaurant which was stunning and given the menu. I am by no means a fussy eater, it just turned out that there were only 5 options from the mains to order which were fish, lamb, mushrooms and a vegetarian fennel which was £16, all of these I would not and could not eat as some also contained nuts. When asked if I could order a main from the bar menu (the bar being less than 5 metres away from the restaurant) we were advised no, I could not! We were shocked. The waitress then proceeded to ask why I couldn’t eat anything and why I was not prepared to pay £16 for a fennel vegetarian dish....I am not vegetarian nor would I pay £16 for something I don’t want to eat just because your not going to be accommodating. She then rudely suggested that I should have looked at the menu before I arrived....shocking! I have never eaten out anywhere and not been able to order something from the menu, nor have I ever needed to look at a menu for anywhere before I left, very rude. It was clear she was not happy with us and made this obvious. This waitress got all 4 of our backs up and made it clear that she was happy for the 4 of us to not eat there at all for the sake of me not being able to order 1 main meal from the bar menu. We then had to ask if we could be moved to the bar so we could order from that menu, we were fully prepared for the answer to be no, there is no space as that was the attitude the waitress was giving off. We were eventually offered a table but still had to go through the embarrassment of having to gather all our belongings and drinks up to move, just because they were not prepared for me to order 1 meal from the bar menu?? If it was not for the the other staff who turned the evening around for us we would have all left upset and angry at the situation and the way one member of staff treated us. I still today cannot believe that what is still a local village pub would quite happily turn people away for the sake of their menu being to pretentious and not offering enough variety. What was on offer on the restaurant menu for each of the mains last night was an acquired taste and they need to offer something that is a go to dish in the eventuality that what they offer does not suit all....even if it’s just a steak. At the end of the day you can have the most stylish place, fresh ingredients and great cooks but if your not offering something for all tastes, your staff are not accommodating and are rude you are going to lose business. Out of curiosity I checked the menu on the website today, which was a sample menu and there were a couple dishes on it that I would have ordered had it been on the menu last night! No good offering a sample menu as even if I did look at it before I left, it was not correct to what was on your menu last night! Despite all of that I will say that the bar menu was fab, lots to chose from and was delicious. Just a shame your restaurant menu and 1 member of staff let you down. I personally would be wary of coming back and will be pre- warning anyone visiting of...

WORK IN PROGRESS - WATCH THIS SPACE!

It appears this eatery (in its present guise) is six months, or less old and is adopting the well trodden route of small menu; locally sourced produce; inexpensive primary and secondary ingredients, made unusual, or unique by the additional twist to what might be expected by the diners.

The venue reminds me of L'enclume and hope this project becomes a pilgrims' destiny in the years to come; however, I'm sure it's accepted there's a way to go, before the famished public beat a track to this venue.

The current menu needs to be slightly larger as, the ingredients employed within the choices are too similar to Marmite (either loved, or hated). Whilst the menu might have an objective, to force diners to venture outside their comfort zone, I feel that is something that should wait until the hordes will dine here, no matter what is on the menu.

It's good to see Vegan/Vegetarian choices available and the use of (lead-free I assume!?) pewter serving dishes is a nice touch.

All in all, this venue has got much of its thinking right and will, I'm sure, develop to become a well deserving eatery with a legendary following, with reputation to match. It needs to develop signature dishes, for which people will travel and of course these will also bring the reward of rosettes and stars.

Certainly a...

Went as one able bodied, no requirements and one full time wheelchair user, gf and df. The building itself is very accessible but parking close to the building is limited. If a member of your party is of limited mobility I would strongly suggest dropping them off in the car park to the side and then finding appropriate on street parking as the cobbles and loose drive way make for tricky navigation.

There is a toilet downstairs for disabled customers and the tables are a good height allowing for a wheelchair to sit at them as normal.

The food was superb, although we both found the portions massive. I cannot fault what we had to eat although it would have been a bit nicer to have everything on one plate as opposed to items such as potatoes and salad bolted onto the side. Although appreciate these are probably added to make people feel they are getting their money’s worth. Personally the lamb and sauce would have been enough for me. We were pleasantly surprised by the range of gluten and dairy free starters and mains, and due to it being a quieter night chef was kind enough to surprise my partner with an off menu gf, df dessert.

Atmosphere 4/5 because I felt by the end of the evening it was getting a little dark inside, but other than that superb evening and would definitely return.

Takeaway crisps...