Restaurant Review: Pebbles Restaurant, Ladram Bay

I know you’re not accustomed to seeing restaurant reviews from me, and there’s a very good reason: I don’t really eat out much. Last week, however, I had the chance to eat at Pebbles Restaurant in Ladram Bay Holiday Park, Devon.

It’s not the kind of restaurant you’d walk past, but we enjoyed it so much we’d definitely take a bit of a detour if we happened to be driving by, to get dinner first.

First Impressions

Pebbles Restuarant has been recently refurbished and is now a cool, breezy, seaside- perfect restaurant. I don’t know what it looked like before, but if I had to draw a picture of what a restaurant in that location should look like, that’s probably what I’d have drawn. Apart from the cool, summery feel, it also has an exquisite view of the sea, and if you’re on the balcony, then of the beach and cliffs too.  Outside they have welcoming sofas that invite you to spend the afternoon sipping cocktails in the sun.

The Food

This isn’t holiday park food. It’s actually really good.  Well, the children’s menu is a little average, but I’d say it caters to what most people would order for their children. Order from the regular menu, however, and you’re in for a treat.

As we arrived they were updating the specials board and I had a Rib Eye Steak with Dauphinouis potatoes, topped with salad (£16-ish). I spent most of the meal with my eyes closed, just enjoying the handiwork of chefs Matt Wadsworth and Chris Bury. The meat is locally raised – Ben Telfer, the manager,  offered to find out the exact details of where the cow I was eating was from, but I declined. This was no supermarket own brand meat though.  The dauphinous potatoes were spectacular too – melt in the mouth, which is quite a trick for potatoes!

I had a hankering for mushrooms, so I asked for a side of garlic mushrooms, and the sauce was so good I used some of the children’s left over burger bun to sop it up with! I’m salivating just thinking about that meal.

My husband had a Big Bay Burger (£12-ish) – that was bigger than he could manage. It had was filled with rich cheese, bacon and meat and came with loads of sides too – really a mammoth meal!

Of course, it’s not dinner without desert and we had a shared desert (£7) that we had to eat as quickly as we could to stop the kids devouring it all!

On our second visit, I had the Salmon which was just as delicious. After a week of cooking and eating ‘conveniently’, I was craving some vegetables, so the carrots, potatoes and cabbage sides to a moist side of salmon with a crispy, crunchy skin was simply amazing – you know when food feels like it’s doing something for your body? It was like that. Refreshing, nutritious and absolutely delicious.

My other half went for a regular burger, which this time he bested, and thoroughly enjoyed.

The food at Pebbles Restaurant, Ladram Bay was fresh, and surprisingly delicious, definitely better than I’ve had at a holiday park before! The chefs try new recipes – I was apparently the first to have the new Rib Eye meal – and when people are being creative in their roles, I always take that as a good sign!

The Service

We popped in to Pebbles Restaurant a few times over the week – once for coffee, once for the coffee & cake offer, and twice for a meal and each time we were impressed with the service.

On the last day – a Saturday – the restaurant was very busy, but that didn’t impact on the friendliness or helpfulness of the staff. The manager, Ben, was always around, helping out, friendly. He told us that when they redesigned the kitchen, they kept the doors off  so that the chefs on duty could still see sea, rather than be stuck in a box all day. That really impressed me!

On quieter days they were ready and welcome to chat about the area, the park, anything, really – it was just a thoroughly warm experience.

Pebbles Restaurant isn’t likely to be somewhere you’d end up accidentally, since it’s located in a holiday park at the edge of the land, but if you find yourself in the East of Devon, make a detour, park up at the visitors parking, and enjoy a delicious meal with a fantastic view.

We were given a £50 voucher to review this restaurant. Opinions and thoughts are all ours.