The Five Bells Inn, Clyst Hydon

Following Saturday Evening Mass at Holy Ghost Church, Exmouth last night, I met Drew outside the church as it made sense to travel straight from here, and it got his step count up to walk down to meet me!

We left the church at 5.55pm and drove the short distance to Tesco's to buy some groceries and suntan lotion. We arrived at Tesco's at 6pm and were on the move again by 6:10am.

The route from Tesco's to tonight's eating place was a scenic one as highlighted in the map below:

Choosing The Five Bells Inn

Not everything on a holiday goes perfectly to plan, and the Five Bells is an example of this. When I was booking the six special meals for the holiday, the Chef at the Five Bells was Charlotte Vincent, who competed against Elly Wentworth in the Southwest Region of Great British Menu. 

Like Elly, Charlotte's food was a celebration of ingredients, rather than overly fussy, as some chefs can be, just as we like it. So, we opted to book at the Five Bells and did this on the 8th of April. 

As a review of Charlotte's cooking said:

Since taking over as head chef of Devon’s The Five Bells Inn in 2019, Charlotte Vincent has strived to make her food stand out and has been rewarded with accolades, including a place in the Top 50 Gastropubs.

However, in May this year Charlotte left the Five Bells to pursue other interests. So, we won't be getting to taste her food. 

However, all was not lost as the new Head Chef, Dan Kavanagh, was the 2011 South West Young Chef of the Year and has developed his career since, until becoming Head Chef at the Five Bells this June.

Clyst Hydon

The village of Clyst Hydon is named in part for the River Clyst which runs through it. A large number of villages in this area have the Clyst in its name, including Clyst St. Mary and Clyst St. George on the road from Exeter to Exmouth.

Clyst seems to be a corruption of the British language word clean or clear stream with the same source as the Welsh word Clydach (which as many will know is almost as common in Wales and Clyst is here.

Dinner at the Five Bells

We arrived at the Five Bells and the owner, Jamie, showed us to our table. Drew was sat at a very august chair, almost a throne.

The meal began with some fresh bread and an oil and balsamic dip, which had a sharp nutty taste and sweetness from the balsamic.

Drew's starters were Beetroot Carpaccio with Feta Cheese, Apple, Pickled Onion and Candied Walnuts, Drew says it was an attractive dish with all the items working together extremely well to set the taste buds jingling. The yellow beetroot was a sweeter taste than the more usual purple beetroot, the purple beetroot was fresh and tangy.

My starter was a Scotch Duck Egg with Black Garlic Aioli and salad leaves. The menu also offered a red onion jam, but I knew that wouldn't suit me. The scotch egg benefitted from the richer more luxurious taste of the duck egg compared to the more usual chicken egg. The Ailoli was rich with black garlic, a nice accompaniment to the sausage around the egg, but equally nice with the salad leaves and on the folk when I finished each bit of it. 

Drew's main was one of Charlotte's inventions which is still on the menu. A Dairy Cow Burger with Five Bells Burger Sauce, Triple Cooked Chips and Onion Rings. Drew reports that this was one of the better burgers he has had (and he is an aficionado, having worked for McDonalds [Co-pilot's note: I, dear readers, would like it known that whilst I appreciate a nice McDonalds as much as the next Drew, I appreciate there can be a gulf in quality between a McDonalds' burger and a fresh well-seasoned one as this was. That would be true regardless of my previous employment history.]). The seasoning was excellent and the bread was warmed and fresh. The cheese had melted perfectly, plus the extra flavour you get from the older dairy cow meat, compared to a cow bread for beef, give it an amazingly rich taste.

The chips were triple cooked, crunchy and seasoned to perfection. No spare grease they were a delight to eat. The large onion rings had a light batter and tasted perfectly of onion. 

I made an unusual choice, I was thinking of having a lamb dish, but remembered I'd had lamb for lunch, so I opted for the Pan-Roasted Beech Ridge Farm Chicken with Seasonal Vegetables and Roasted Garlic Arancini. The food looked pretty and tasted even better. The chicken skin had been seasoned to perfection with sea salt and a little pepper. The Arancini was a good blend of garlic and rice perfectly cooked in its breadcrumbs. The vegetables, cut finely by whoever had this task in the kitchen were summary and full of flavour. There was a chicken butter sauce to go with this, but it wasn't to my taste, so Drew used it for dipping his chips. 

We had sides of Mixed Leaf Salad and Seasonal Vegetables. The salad leaves were a real mix and were dressed in a light mustard vinaigrette. The summer veg were hearty and chunky and I got to taste some of the beetroot which Drew had had as his starter. 

For dessert Drew struggled to decide between a Glazed Lemon Tart with Raspberry Sorbet, Chocolate and Pistachio Crumb and an English Strawberry Shortcake with Clotted Cream Panna Cotta in the end he overcome his dilemma by deciding to employ his double dessert Drew mode and had both. He waxed lyrically about both, but I'll let him fill in the details in a co-pilot's note. [Co-pilot's note: Of the two desserts, dear readers, the Lemon Tart was my favourite, although it was a close-run thing. Both were delicious, the Lemon Tart had a really sharp bite to it and the pannacotta had an excellent heavy texture due to the clotted cream, which was enhanced by the sharp, fresh, strawberries which were with it. The raspberry sauce that was beneath the Lemon Tart offset the sharpness of the lemon and was like a special treat as it was initially hidden, this pushed it over the edge as being my favourite - but it was still a good idea to have both.]

I was also content to find the Five Bells had a Cheese and Crackers course. These were three local Cheeses – a strong Godminster Organic Cheddar, a Cricket St Thomas Brie, and a Dorset Blue Vinney. All three had a lovely flavour, but I think the Brie could have spent a little longer out of the fridge, as it was cold and bland, rather than running across the plate like a great brie will do when served in the proper conditions. 

We finished the meal with Espressos which are worth mentioning both for the lovely crockery but also for the strong, bitter coffee taste, which is just how espresso should be.

Returning Home

We left Clyst Hydon taking the opposite route to the one on which we arrived - this one being on roads with at least two lanes (one each way). A much easier drive as the sun went down than the lanes could have been.

We left the Inn at 9:05pm and got back at 9:45pm. Putting the car on to charge having only done 40.6 miles and using 28% of the battery.

I loaded the photos from the walk and went to bed at 11pm.