**** River Cottage Goes (even more) Commercial **** (River Cottage Canteen (Axminster))

Member Name: malibu_jenny

Product:	River Cottage Canteen (Axminster)
Date:	03/10/09 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice enough for an evening out.

Disadvantages: You're on a timer and it's none too cheap; too many second rate substitutions at breakfast.

It was a cheerful evening in Devon, though not too warm. Best Friend, her brother, The Boyfriend and I were off out to dinner. Having seen the price of going to the "real" River Cottage and realising that the frizzy haired Hugh wouldn't be there to kill or pick our food, we opted instead to visit the cheaper River Cottage Canteen in Axminster.

LOCATION & RESTAURANT

The town centre location meant we were unable to park near the restaurant, but the Co-op car park a little further down the hill suited nicely and we approached the Canteen in the dusk, past a pretty church and some unusual shops. You enter through the shop, selling Hugh's books from the TV series, bottles of local beer and a deli counter of cheese. At first glance, it seems a little cramped but behind it all, a big high barn of a room opens out.

The image in my head was of a snug, old-fashioned restaurant with big fireplaces and wonky chairs. Something along the lines of a Brakspear pub before the horrendous gastro bug bit, but it couldn't have been further from the reality. The canteen is pale and pastel, with wooden stairs on one side leading out to a raised garden. It feels light, airy and modern and the cascade of battered pots and pans arranged artfully down the wall sets it off quite nicely.

DINNER

We'd booked in advance, but the restaurant was only around a third full. On being shown to our table we were reminded that we had to be out by 8:50. Apparently they'd explained this to Best Friend on the phone - you only get a set amount of time to eat. It was 7:15 by the time we were seated and at this point we weren't too concerned by the strange timetabled eating, so we started to relax and look at the drinks menu. The waitress tried to rush us straight into selecting the meal, but the menu is handwritten on chalk boards at either end of the room, so we needed some time to look.

Best Friend and I ordered the Elderflower Bubbly and The Boyfriend got a bottle of stinging nettle beer. Best Friend's brother asked for the lemonade, only to be told that they'd probably run out and he'd be lucky to get a bottle. It did seem a bit strange that they'd run out of lemonade at half past seven on a Saturday, but this 'running out' turned out to be a continuing theme with the canteen.

Our drinks came with a sweet little plate of four miniature biscuits, smothered in some kind of meat paste. Although this was a nice thought, Best Friend's Brother and I are both vegetarian. Luckily, The Boyfriend and Best Friend are carnivores, so the gesture wasn't entirely redundant. We chose our starters, Best Friend and her brother having the goats cheese toast, while The Boyfriend bravely picked pigeon and I had the courgette soup.

The starters were delicious; my soup was warm and perfectly textured and seasoned despite tasting homemade. My only criticism is that I would have loved some bread with it and instead I got a strange swirl of oil. The Boyfriend's portion of pigeon went down in seconds with a few jokes about road kill and Best Friend and her brother were just as complimentary about their Goat's Cheese.

The starter portions had been small and when the main course arrived, this didn't look any bigger. The Boyfriend loved his Sea Bass and Best Friend enjoyed her chicken. Needless to say, I didn't sample these and Best Friend's Brother and I had the only meat-free choice on the menu. This was gnocchi in a tomato sauce and was truthfully one of the best meals I have ever had in a restaurant. The gnocchi melted in my mouth, the tomatoes tasted unbelievably fresh and the cheese was mellow, soft and subtle. The whole dish was light and fluffy and graceful.

The waitress came to clear our plates and snappily demanded to know whether or not we were having pudding. I asked politely if we had time, but she pulled a face and said she'd just get the bill. With only 15 minutes left before we absolutely had to get out, we were cutting it a bit fine. So, no coffees or sweets. It was a bit of a shame as I had plenty of room and I'd been eyeing the upside down cake.

Another girl returned pretty quickly with the bill and I paid by card. For some bizarre reason she ran through this script of really insincere questions with us while handing over the receipt. "Have you eaten here before?" we shook our heads. "Are you here on holiday?" Best Friend's brother volunteered a yes. There was no interest in our answers and after we got back to the car we all commented on just how awkward that moment really was and had a good laugh about it.

The meal came to roughly £110 for all four of us, with one drink each, one starter and a main course. Compared to London prices, that's not that bad and we didn't eat out anywhere else locally to compare it to.

BREAKFAST

A couple of days later, we'd had no fresh fruit or vegetables at all, just burgers and fry-ups. We'd been bailing out the tents as the Bank Holiday monsoon lashed down around us and everyone was a little short on dry clothes and holiday spirit. It seemed like a good idea to head down to the canteen again, rather than suffer the evils of trying to light the gas camping stove in freezing fog.

The breakfast menu was short and sweet. The Boyfriend wanted the bacon roll on the menu; the description did look pretty good as it was local bacon in some kind of special roll from the local Punch and Judy Bakery. It turned up looking remarkably disgusting, apparently they had no rolls and had just used two thick slabs of shop-bought white bread to encase the bacon, which was almost entirely fat. Best Friend and I had ordered the poached fruit with granola. They had no poached fruit so they just gave us yoghurt each. The granola wasn't granola; it was a couple of spoonfuls of Dorset Cereals Muesli. The only person who got what they ordered was Best Friend's brother, who randomly had a cream tea.

In a way, I wish we'd stuck with the memories of dinner. The breakfast was pretty dire and there was no discount or apology offered, despite all the substitutions. It took ages to get a teaspoon as there were none in the self-service cutlery basket and The Boyfriend was put out at the lack of ketchup with his bacon roll, especially when we saw it brought out to the table next to us. Rather than cheering us all up, it just made us feel damp and skint. We had a look round the shop for souvenirs and gifts, but left empty handed.

Breakfast at the canteen gets a pretty low score from me; you'd do better in the nearest Wetherspoons.

TOILETS:

The Ladies consists of a single toilet, hidden behind a map on the wall at the end of the restaurant. It was somewhat grim on the night we went for dinner, poorly lit with a rustic sort of earth and concrete floor. There was toilet paper all over the place and the cramped sink wasn't something you'd want to wash your hands in. It seemed a bit wrong given the publicity surrounding this place and the number of diners. Luckily, this part of the world does public toilets brilliantly and there are warm, clean, well-lit ones with a proper sink in the Co-Op car park just down the hill from the canteen.

SUMMARY:

Overall, the food we had for dinner at the canteen was something special and made our visit worthwhile. I'd highly recommend booking an evening there, but not wasting your money on breakfast. The food (in the evening) and atmosphere are great, but the service and facilities are somewhat hit and miss. Based on a balance of these things, I'm going to give three stars. I'd probably risk going back to try the lunch menu if I'm in the area again.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

River Cottage Local Food Store & Canteen
Trinity Sq, Axminster, EX13 5AN
01297 631862

Website: http://www.rivercottage.net/Page~196/axminster.asp x

Summary: Well worth a visit for dinner if you're in the area.