The Pyne Arms does a fantastic Sunday roast dinner made with top-quality local produce. And the best bit? You’ll have to read on!

Why it’s on my list

I’ve been looking for somewhere new to go for a Sunday roast. A quick look on Trip Advisor suggested that The Pyne Arms near Arlington was highly rated, so a big group of us went for a special treat (my birthday!). I was looking forward to trying somewhere new that wasn’t a carvery for once!

Restaurant Information

Website: www.pynearms.co.uk

Location: Pyne Arms, East Down, near Barnstaple

Opening times: Monday-Saturday lunch 12 noon-3pm, dinner 5pm-1pm; Sunday 12 noon-10.30pm

To book: call 01271 850055

Overall verdict

Having had lots of carveries in the past, piled high of course, it was a nice change to have a served roast dinner. We certainly picked a great place to change things up – the roast dinner at The Pyne Arms is fantastic quality, and whilst they helpfully tell you where all the different ingredients have come from, in every mouthful it is clear that you are eating nothing less than top quality, local produce. Everything was cooked really well and we all left feeling very happy!

What I had

I went for the roast pork. This came with crackling and apple sauce.

Between us we also had the roast chicken and roast beef covered, so I got to see what I was missing! The roast chicken came with stuffing and the roast beef came with a Yorkshire pud and horseradish.

They brought out sides to share, which were a bowl of mixed carrots, broccoli, peas and spring greens, a huge cauliflower cheese, red cabbage and swede mash. They gave us lots of gravy jugs too.

The best

This was the best pork crackling I have ever had, hands down. It was crunchy, crispy and just melted in the mouth. Amazing.

Not the best

One drawback of a served roast is that you don’t get to sample everything. I felt a bit envious of the stuffing that came with the chicken and the Yorkshire pud that came with the beef. But the crackling was the best of the three, so I did pretty well!

The venue

It’s a bit of a drive to The Pyne Arms, but that means that you get that feeling of being in a real, rural country pub. It’s situated in a valley, with green fields and trees all around. There is a log fire and chunky wooden furniture. All in all, a great country pub.

One thing I noticed was their Trencherman’s Guide Award for Best Dining Pub 2019, which makes me want to come back again and try their regular menu.

Top tip

Definitely book, it’s a long way to go if it doesn’t work out for whatever reason.