The Railway Inn, Honiton

Mediocre food, overpriced drinks - £2.80 for a pint of soda?!

We chose this place after recently moving to the area, good eateries are thin on the ground, and this place has good reviews, with an impressive website.

Because it was a first visit we both stuck to what we thought would be a safe option- fish n chips, although the menu cited a tomato sauce with it, which seemed a bit unorthodox. When the food arrived, the batter was unfortunately sodden with said "sauce" which consisted of apparently canned tomatoes, olives and capers, and did not complement fish and chips in any way imaginable. The fish inside, was pretty invisible, but what was there, was good quality and cooked nicely, but the skin had been left on, so once that was scraped off, there was very little fish in ratio to (now soggy) batter. The accompanying chips were nothing to write home about, clearly reheated, not crispy, and very floury, more resemblent of potato slices which had been cooked in an oven, than the "proper" chips which they purported to be. Their tartare sauce was great, shame about everything else.

It was £13 each for the food, pricey for the portion size and quality of the food, and the alcoholic drinks are reasonably priced, but to charge £2.80 for soda water, when every other pub in the area provides it for free, is nothing short of scandalous.

I'd like to go back to this pub, perhaps when it is less busy and see if the other options on the menu are any better. I fear that they will not be. What a shame.

9 Jul 2013 11:53