Otterton Mill - East Devon

We were meeting a friend who recently had a major medical issue who we had arranged to meet. He and his friend already had a table,, there was an adjacent table reserved for 13:30, we had arrived at 12:55 and thought we would join them for a tea and leave by 13:30. We were told by this completely insensitive staff member that we had to move immediately and could not possibly stay, even though we tried to tell her that we would be gone by 13:30. How can you operate such an insensitive business —we will never visit again.

We’ve stopped here several times and can recommend the cakes as well as the bacon sandwiches. The bread is their own and it is delicious so much so that we bought a loaf to take away with us. It’s in a lovely setting by the river and has a good shop too.

My son had a day off from school so we decided to walk along the River Otter and finish at Otterton Mill for Brunch. It was a nice day so we sat in the outdoor area. After locating a nice table by the stream I went inside to place our order. It stated on the menu that breakfast was served til 11. However 2 items (including a tomato bruschetta that we were hoping to have) said they were available until 11.30am. A quick check of my watch and it was 11.33 but I thought maybe they would be able to accommodate this request as it was a quiet Friday morning. The young lady said straight away “No breakfast stops at 11.” No apology or “Really sorry but….” So I pointed to the menu and said “These 2 items say they are available til 11.30 though? It’s only an extra 3 mins past?” To which I got a very flat “No the kitchen literally stops breakfast at 11” I wanted to leave and eat elsewhere as it was just a really sucky attitude but my son was hungry so we ended up ordering the soup of the day (which at 11.30 felt a little odd) which was quite nice and the bread is lovely but the overall staff attitude somewhat soured the taste of it. Unfortunately I won’t be returning. As I said to my son it doesn’t matter how good the food is if the service is poor.

A nice place that does water mill runs twice a month which must be worth seeing. Lots of seating outside and inside and lovely food, the cream tea looked divine. We had the the triple salad which is basically everything salad with lovely bread, but no ham or cheese. The welsh rarebit was cooked well with a small bit of salad. No puddings but a great selection of cakes like flapjacks, date slices and lemon drizzle etc, also a good selection of coffee and tea. If you are pre 11am they do a lovely sounding breakfast too. Consult the menu.

We loved lunch here! The parking was a bit tricky since it was so busy and we were lucky to be able to get a table right away. The food was delicious, especially the ploughmans we ordered. There were some bees around, but thankfully they left us alone after the table nearby got their cream tea haha. It was a milling day, so that was fun and we enjoyed the shop as well as the farm store. A really great visit!