Review
La Mar, Exmouth

Land meets the sea at La Mar, which sits just on the edge of the marina in Exmouth. Coming up to its first birthday, La Mar has already scooped Gold in Hospitality Fine Dining at the Food Drink Devon Awards, making its mark on the culinary scene for innovation, ambience and excellent service.

We can see why. Innovation: the talented chefs use locally sourced produce to create fresh, delicious dishes (in a very small kitchen). Ambience: as you enter through the front door and look up at the ceiling above the stairs, you can admire the seaside decor and enjoy the restaurant’s shoreline-inspired vibe. Service: faultless.

I visited with my husband and knew we were in for a treat. After a warm welcome, we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the bar. The menu looked very exciting – it’s one where you want to try everything and have trouble choosing! We skipped the nibbles as we were already tucking into some just-out-of-the-oven bread with olives, caper butter and dipping oil.

I went for the crab taco for starters. Inside the dark, crunchy shell was the creamiest, tastiest crab filling, accompanied by a crispy apple and mooli slaw, along with a Romanesque-style sauce. My husband chose the beetroot cheesecake, recommended by our waitress. This crumble tart had a smooth beetroot filling, with honey and a shallot purée – a wonderful, unusual mix of flavours and textures. Blindfolded, you might think you were eating dessert!

For mains, my succulent confit chicken breast with pickled wild mushrooms was served with a smooth, creamy mash delicately flavoured with truffle and a gusty, rich jus. My husband chose the rump of beef, which was perfectly cooked, with particularly flavoursome ox cheek sausage rolls. He really enjoyed the braised carrot, and once again, the accompanying red wine jus was rich and full-bodied.

My light, dreamily creamy chocolate mousse dessert had bursts of Kirsch-laced cherry flavour. The apple frangipane was a hit with my husband, and the stem ginger ice cream was a lively addition.

After trying, tasting and very much enjoying our excellent dinner at La Mar, we both agreed it’s more than worthy of its gold award. If you haven’t been already, add this to your list of places to visit.

The restaurant is open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.