Review: The Coach House, Exmoor

Or to give it its proper title: “The Coach House by Michael Caines“. In the interest of full disclosure, this kind of thing really gets on my wick so I was likely to be skeptical going into this meal! Is it really necessary to suck people in with a name? All I can find on the website about Michael’s involvement is this: “Everything is created from scratch by our talented kitchen team, who were hand-picked by Michelin starred chef Michael Caines.” Pfff!

Och, I know, it’s just business. And the chic folk adorning the tables tonight were no doubt drawn down to Exmoor by the name. In a difficult economy and a crowded market it’s every country house hotel for themselves and thinking caps on for the marketing and PR agencies.

We were drawn down to Exmoor for a weekend of hiking, and bloody lovely it was too, but I can’t leave home without looking for an excuse to try a new restaurant, so here we are and my expectations are firmly in check. When I asked our waiter what the selection of local cheeses were, he replied “it’s a goat cheese, a brie, a blue one and a cheddar”. That’s the level we’re pitching at. So I certainly wasn’t after the tasting menu.

There’s an amuse of a decent gazpacho and then we’re onto starters. Mine is a ravioli of sweetbread with a sweet and rich sherry sauce, nice bit of braised lettuce on the side. Whaddya know? Really very, very good. Dish of the evening. Maureen’s lobster dish, strewn in bits over the plate, is just okay. Turns out mango and lobster aren’t the most brilliant of bedfellows and the “curried” lobster mayonnaise isn’t really.

You can’t go wrong with a nice bit of local beef fillet, and mine was perfectly good. Crispy little shallot rings, roast silverskins, bits of mushroom that I’m not certain deserve the “wild mushroom” label they wore on the menu, and some grainy watercress puree. All good, if absolutely 100% predictable. Special bonus marks for an accompaniment of ox heart tartare! This was ace. Maureen’s John Dory was a decent bit of fish, though the black garlic sauce was heavy on the soy and as a whole the plate was unbalanced.

Having determined that the cheese option is probably crap, I pick a banana parfait. I’m not sure why. But it certainly is a banana parfait covered in bits of candied peanut with a lime sorbet. The parfait is already melting when it reaches me, which isn’t so great. Maureen’s passionfruit souffle is much better. Nice souffle, good flavour.

So we had a decent enough meal in the end. But at £50 for three courses I can’t help thinking of all the wonderful dining pubs around Devon where you can outdo these three courses for fifteen quid less. “The Coach House by Michael Caines, is a culinary experience that will change the way you think about restaurant dining” …yeeeeeeeah, no.