Corbyn Head Hotel & Orchid Restaurant

The hotel is English Riviera to a tee, enjoying an enviable position looking out across the bay. Its showpiece restaurant, Orchid, is up on the first floor, where those views can be enjoyed through large, curved picture windows. The dining room is smartly decorated in neutral cream, comfortably furnished, while the tables, laid with crisp white linen cloths, have plenty of space between them. Service is similarly formal and mainly French, while the food is modern and imaginative. There's a confidence to the cooking that impresses and top-notch local produce is used to good effect. Start with tian of crab and avocado, red pepper gazpacho and avocado sorbet, before moving on to pavé of turbot, herb risotto, confit fennel and vanilla foam. Finish with dessert such as warm banana cake with caramelised bananas and cookie ice cream, or Devon Blue cheese with spiced tomato chutney. Ancillaries like canapés, bread and petits fours show attention to detail and run through from start to finish.

Follow signs to Torquay seafront, turn right on seafront. Hotel on right with green canopies
Nearest station: Torquay

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