The Elephant Restaurant and Brasserie

3-4 Beacon Terrace, TORQUAY, TQ1 2BH

Nowhere on the English Riviera has done as much as the Elephant in laying to rest the ghost of a certain Mr Fawlty and establishing Torquay as a destination on the region's gastronomic map. The canary-yellow façade of the two Georgian townhouses overlooking the marina present a jaunty face to the world and has become a landmark for local foodies. As its full name suggests, the Elephant offers a two-tier dining experience: go no further than the ground-floor if the idea of uncomplicated brasserie dishes along the lines of loin of lamb with Puy lentils, salsify and roasted sweetbreads, or sea bass with basil gnocchi and tomato fondue fit the mood. Otherwise, head on upstairs to the restaurant, where smart blue leather seats at tables dressed in their best white, and eye-catching art on the walls make a stylish setting for chef Simon Hulstone's full-throttle contemporary cooking. West Country ingredients shine in dishes that really deliver the goods. A starter of local hand-dived scallops with cabbage and confit lemon risotto and mussel foam has all the taste buds standing to attention in readiness for a well-conceived main-course involving beef fillet, oxtail, cuttlefish, ramsons (wild garlic), radish and trompette mushrooms. A creamy passionfruit and vanilla cheesecake is contrasted cleverly with honeycomb and citrus flavours in a confident and classy finale.

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dined in the upstairs fine dining restaurant 'The Room' which has the 3 rosettes, different to the casual steak grill downstairs. We found the food to be some of the most intesting and original dishes for a long long time, ingredients were fresh and of the best quality. Afantastic 9 course tasting menu was breathtakingly good and i would recommend to anyone staying in torquay. Only Gripe was the room was quite warm but it was a hot day and the sun was beating in

Reviewer: kat, cheltenham
Visited: 24 May 2009

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The evening started brilliantly with Artichoke / Garlic soup and a great white wine. After this, things appeared to slip. I returned my steak twice as it was raw! There was however, no hesitation with changing the dish, although sadly the staff seemed uninterested and did not want to engage in conversation on this particular evening.

Reviewer: Ken, TORQUAY
Visited: 02 September 2008

247 of 481 people found this review helpful.
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