Thankfully, little has changed since the current owners arrived in 2008; they run a happy ship. The wine and whisky lists remains over 200-strong, and the Devon cheese board continues to draw rural winers and diners from afar. Settles and tables are crammed into every corner, horse brasses brighten low beams, there’s a cosy inglenook glowing with logs and part of the bar dates from Tudor times. Start with a bowl of Teign mussels, move on to rack of lamb with redcurrant and rosemary jus, finish with treacle tart: the food is beautiful, imaginative and locally sourced. Or try something traditional from the bar menu. To wash all this down: Nobody Bitter served in old pint glasses. A rare dram of Islay malt might be an excellent nightcap before retiring to one of five refurbished rooms upstairs, colour-themed according to name: Violet, Rose, Bluebell, Lily and Primrose. Quirky, fun, variously sized and extremely comfortable, they have soft carpets, super beds and decanters of sherry; bathrooms, smallish, are, bar one, en suite. The village is buried down a maze of lanes but is certainly worth the detour.
