Rendezvous
38-40 Southernhay East
Exeter
EX1 1PE

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, September 26th, 2009

The Victims: Joanne, Sean

The Damage: About £25 each.

The Background: Exeter is a nice place. Joanne has been walking me up and down and around Exeter all day long. I mean really…we've been walking. And walking. And walking. (But really…it was a wonderful day. I don't regret the walking.)

But when she announces that we are going to walk back to her place before dinner, I nearly die. And I walk EVERYWHERE. (I've got to, with this hobby.) And then we try to take a taxi to dinner–cue me, curled up in fetal position on the couch saying "Please, Joanne…please….can we take a mini-cab?" We try to call one, and they're totally booked up. So we call another one, and they're totally booked too. You betcha…we're walking.

The Entrance: Never have I been so glad to enter a restaurant before. Rendezvous–which is a terrible name by the way–is full of nice big brown leather sofas. It feels lodge-like. It's also super-empty, which is amusing because when Joanne called to make the booking, she got a really hard time from the staff.

The Starters: For me, it's the field mushroom and white truffle oil soup and it is seriously delicious. You might know that I don't like mushrooms, but after being outside all day long, I wanted something warm and comforting. This was it. In spades. Thick and densely flavored…a good amount of garlic, I think. The only sad part was that they didn't toast the bread…had they grilled or toasted the bread a bit, buttered and garlicked it up, this would have been even better.

The Main: For me, it's the seabass fillet with herbed mashed potato and fine beans. Again, you have to imagine that I'd been walking for something like six hours straight at this point. This could have been the most average dish on earth and I would have thought it delicious. But really, it WAS pretty delicious and pretty competent. Nothing earth-shattering, just simple and good food. And sometimes that's all you need. Pretty good presentation too. (Sorry, been watching too much Master Chef.) Cleaned my plate, I did. And then I nearly fell asleep at the table. Nearly.

The Verdict: This was a pretty nice place. Cozy. Good service. Candlelit. Neighborhood-y. And very decent food. When I return to Exeter 5.5 years from now, I shall return.

The post Rendezvous, Exeter first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

ExeShed
18 Bedford Street
Princesshay Square
Exeter
EX1 1GJ

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Victim: Joanne

The Damage: £11 each!

The Background: I’ve known Joanne since I don’t know? Kindergarten? 1st grade? 2nd grade? It all runs together after a while, doesn’t it? She was the “English girl” in our class for years and years and years. And despite all those years in America, she and her brothers always spoke the Queen’s English. She got a lot of shit for that. Sorry, Jo!

Anyhow, Joanne and her family moved back to the U.K. when we were in our early teens. I’ve seen her exactly four times since then–once, extremely randomly late at night in a bar in Crouch End. What are the chances???

Of course, as soon as I moved to London, Joanne moved to Devon. And then she decided to just bum around the world for a while. But now she’s back and engaged to be married and here it is more than five years since I’ve moved to London and I STILL haven’t visited her in Devon. So I finally hopped a train to Exeter to explore the city and the countryside.

And of course, upon arrival, I was STARVING. And faced with a wall of chain restaurants. (Should have taken a photo of that. That was pretty funny.) ExeShed was the only place I hadn’t heard of before, so I pointed us in that direction.

The Entrance: ExeShed is large and airy and we’re led up a large staircase that passes by these very large paintings, one featuring a woman’s breasts. Lovely. Well, not really. Our server is a retro-rockabilly girl and very cheerful and friendly and helpful. Cheerful enough to make up for the sloooowwwnnnnessss of the kitchen. Because things took a while, let me tell you.

The Food: Love eating outside of London. At ExeShed, one course = £6. Two courses = £9.25. That being said, I kept my expectatons low. I ordered the smoked haddock fishcakes with courgette spaghetti and a parsley sauce. Washed down with a glass of white, as recommended by our server. (Um, I got the large glass. Joanne gets a small.)

It arrives and although I’m initially dubious about the courgette spaghetti, it kinda works. And I feel absurdly healthy eating it and then start imagining making my own courgette spaghetti at home. (That, my friends, is crazy talk.) And then I dig into the fishcakes and the first one is okay. I’ve had worse. I’ve had better. (Still thinking about the fishcakes at Plane Food!) And then I dig into the second one–the one that’s all covered in the parsley sauce. And I decide that the reason why it’s all covered in parsley sauce is because it’s just not done enough. Hmmm. So I eat around it and things work out just fine. Plus, there’s that glass of wine to enjoy.

The Verdict: Hmmm…the price sure was attractive. But I have to remember that outside London, not every main at a middle-of-the-road restaurant costs £12.95. And the courgette spaghetti was nice. But between the slow kitchen, the undercooked other fishcake, and the fact that it took me 5.5 years to get to Exeter just once, I don’t think I’ll be back a second time. Next time, I’ll do more research and try to make some suggestions to the local…if you’ve got any, pass ’em on.

The post ExeShed, Exeter first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.