Sometimes the simplest is the best…

Took a drive down to Sidmouth last Sunday afternoon. The weather was glorious summer sunshine and the town was busy with tourists and day-trippers, although there’s not a lot to look at apart from the sea. Sidmouth, like most of our beach resorts has been turned into a clone town with exactly the same looking cafes and gift shops as everywhere else.

 

And like everywhere else, gone are the streets full of pubs, so we headed to the far end, past the lifeboat station and yachty club to the old, working fishermans’ yard, hidden behind the public loos where crab sandwiches were to be had for a quarter of the price to be paid in the now ubiquitous gastropubs.

Munched on the beach sat on the old pipes washed up from the Napoli and breathed some fresh sea air, still to be had gratis. Pudding was some delicious fresh-baked chocolate tiffin, also from the fisherman’s shack and where we made our way back to after taking the promenade, to collect our sea-bass for tea.

Rockfish

Last week on a wet and windy Sunday in June, Tipsyscone did a little jaunt to our old stomping ground of the South Hams (and find some material to kick this little blog back into life!).

Starting with lunch at the Tower Inn in Slapton, we sheltered from the typical inclement English Summer weather. This pub has a beer garden to die for with its view of (strangely) a tower, but inside it’s equally atmospheric with low ceilings and dark, old beams. The gloom was lifted by a pint of Butcombe Ale and a glass of the local white wine, Sharpham.

Unfortunately Sunday lunch was a mediocre affair as the lack of a sous-chef meant that there was a limited choice on the menu. Tipsy (being of the pesci-veg persuasion) chose a beer battered bass fillet whereas Marcus just went for the home cooked beef – it was Sunday after all. The accompanying veggies were unusual to say the least (bright yellow cauliflower cheese) but the puddings and coffee more than made up for it.

A quick gust of fresh sea air down on the amazing shingle bank at Slapton beach woke us up a bit. This is the scene of the famous D-Day debacle, when during WWII in the run-up to the Allied invasion of France to drive out the Nazis, many servicemen were drowned in a terrible accident. An old American battle tank at Torcross commemorates this tragic incident.

After booking in to the Maitland B&B in Dartmouth we went for a soggy walk around this picturesque, historic naval town and after refreshment at some more pubs and a change of clothes we set off once more, for cocktails at the Castle Hotel. Dartmouth is a busy drinking town but on a Sunday many of the restaurants are shut, however Tipsy had a destination in mind – Mitch Tonk’s Rockfish café.

To those who don’t know, Mitch was famous for his Fishworks chain of fish restaurants and fishmongers. What even we didn’t know, but found out from the very friendly lady who served breakfast the next morning, was that Mitch hails from Weston-Super-Mare. A local lad! Rockfish, it has to be said, was fantastic – the whitebait as a starter was particularly brilliant. Tipsy’s calamari with aioli was the best she’d had outside of Spain and the chips were divine. Claire, the manageress couldn’t have been more welcoming and even though the venue was unseasonably quiet (because of the awful weather) it felt like a fish and chip experience from our childhood. Who said nostalgia is dead?! Even the young couple sat next to us were impressed and, it transpired, they were buyers from Marks & Spencers – Marcus couldn’t resist badgering the poor things about M&S’s new initiative to market street food…

Tipsy does Breakfast

Marcus had got up early to head off with the boys on an adrenalin fuelled white water canoeing trip down the Exe. Desiring a lazy weekend but knowing there was very little food in the house I opted to drive to nearby Axminster to have breakfast at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen, before heading to a nearby farm shop.

Parking in Tescos, where I could take full advantage of the free parking without having to buy anything, I bought a newspaper at a nearby newsagent and headed for River Cottage. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage shop is located in a prominent position in the square next to the church in the sleepy market town of Axminster. The Canteen is situated at the back of the shop, through an area dedicated to the sale of Hugh’s many books on cooking, growing, catching or rearing food!

The Canteen is a large airy room with plenty of natural light pouring in through the windows and the partly glass paned roof. The wooden floors, square wooden tables and mismatched wooden chairs give the place a feel of an old canteen. The theme of naturally grown and reared food is mirrored in the décor with large photos of herbs, vegetables and snuffling pigs dominating one wall. The back wall displays an artfully arranged array of aluminium colanders and kettles.

It was about 9.30 when I got there so I was starting to feel hungry and in need of a strong coffee and some buttery scrambled eggs. Checking out the menu I found it was very basic and reflected Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ethos of local food – well to a certain extent. Where are the eggs? Fearnley-Whittingstall bangs on about chickens and with eggs being a favoured breakfast ingredient I expected then to be on the menu. It’s not like he doesn’t have any eggs, River Cottage eggs are on sale in the shop. I have a sneaky suspicion that it’s down to the capability of the staff – the teenagers that seem to be running River Cottage probably don’t know how to cook an egg!!

Not eating meat I chose to ignore the Bacon Roll made from River Cottage’s own pigs and instead opted for the yoghurt, granola and poached fruit. I was a bit disappointed to discover that poached fruit was off the menu and instead I was offered a pot of yogurt that had a layer of fruit in the bottom. I was handed a pot of yoghurt along with a bowl of granola which was packed full of sunflower and pumpkin seeds with a smattering of almonds, but lacked the clusters of grains and nuts I expect from a granola it was more the consistency of muesli. The ‘River Cottage’ yoghurt is produced by Brown Cow Organics, and was a gorgeous creamy plain yoghurt which complemented the sharpness of the raspberries beneath.

A large cappuccino and the granola with yoghurt came to £5.30, so not cheap considering you can get a fry up for less, but it the portion was generous and filling and easily kept me going till lunch. So for that reason I’ll give the River Cottage Canteen breakfast 6 out 10. May be it will score higher next time when Marcus and I try out their evening menu.

Hello from Tipsy Scone.


The South West Coast Path has been in the news recently with the Country Landowners Association trying to block improved access rights to walkers. The owner of the famous Burgh Island hotel was trying to defend their stance by saying that two thirds of the island was open to the public. Whilst obviously not disputing this 'fact' we would like readers to let us know of any conflicts they have experienced when trying to negotiate access to this beautiful stretch of coast. Watch this space for more on this debate.


The recent TV show by James May & Oz Clarke 'Drink to Britain' featured Naish's cider from Glastonbury - a lovely drop from one of Tipsy Scone's favourite producers. However you may be aware that Somerset is awash with the stuff and we paid a recent visit to Perry's Cider down in South Somerset. They have a lovely shop, tea-room and, most interestingly for those of you with a thirst for more educational things, a wonderful museum of cider!

That afternoon Tips & I shared a bottle of Vintage Dry a compromise between her taste for the sweet and mine for the bone dry, a refreshing and appley flavoursome tipple that made us both yearn for spring and the blossom laden orchards basking in sunshine. We will be making much more of this wonderful drink in future blogs.

As a leaving point we'd like to repeat here the sound words of wisdom from Mr Naish himself regarding the different types of cider available. Basically there are three types and which you choose is dependent on the occasion and personality - singing cider, fighting cider and sleeping cider! Tips reminds me that in certain places they would only serve you a half-pint if they didn't know you (or a third of a pint for ladies!) in case you got to the sleeping stage too soon!

Drink Up!!

Well last week was quite busy. Tipsy Scone did a little meander around Devon.

Firstly to Exeter to check out Foodeaze. Closed again (for refurbishment) according to the poster outside. It sounds like it has managed to make links with Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food so hopefully this valuable foodie centre will be up and running once again. We had a quick lunch at Chandos Deli (Spanish Tuna baguette for Marcus and a Brie roll for Tipsy) and a snifter in Michael Caines' pub in front of the cathedral. After the snow events of last week business had picked up again and shoppers were hunting down those high street bargains.

Then the next day we were off to Exmoor where we stopped for an absolutely splendid lunch at the Hood Arms in Kilve, which is just outside the picturesque village of Dunster in West Somerset, where Marcus had the most amazingly tender rack of lamb (from the salt marsh of Steart) and I had a lovely warming soup.

Barnstaple Pannier market has over a hundred and fifty years of trading and is a vibrant and pleasing mix of stalls, some just an elderly couple with a few jars of homemade chutney and baking potatoes (15p each) and some laden with XL moleskin trousers and trapper hats. Friendly and colourful we couldn't resist some ewes milk cheese and a bag of cheap bananas.

Bought a magnificent piece of haddock in the nearby Butchers Row, very freshly caught and then landed in nearby Appledore which is one of the few success stories in the sad times we live in for our fishing communities.

Then tried to do lunch at The Quay in Ilfracombe which had just that minute opened for the Valentines Night shenanigans but instead ended up at Hunter's Lodge on Exmoor. Damien Hirst's loss was our gain as we could cross off another section of the South West Coast Path on a fantastically clear day. From the cliffs towering over Heddons Mouth we could see the snow-covered Brecon Beacons across the Bristol Channel. On Exmoor itself there were still impassable roads and slowly thawing drifts and on the inland section back to the pub we had to detour around the more stubborn patches. Warmed up in the Hunters Inn with a pint of Exmoor and a ploughmans. Both excellent.

Welcome to the Tipsy Scone blogpage.

We invite you to discover new places to eat and walk in beautiful South West England. The home of cheese and cider!

Our philosophy is the Care Free Foodie experience that combines strolling in the South West of England with visits to pubs, cafes, restaurants, farms, markets and places of cultural and historic interest.

We love to amble rather than rush. Powerwalking is for others. Sometimes we use Nordic poles when its an uphill struggle but mostly we like to take in the sights, sounds and flavours of a vanishing landscape. Explore it now with us before development and industrialisation cover it in concrete and all the food comes from supermarkets.

Come and see what we do!