Sidmouth's 'The Loft' restaurant receives national accolade

Sidmouth and surroundings have got some very attractive places to eat and drink 
- many winning prizes:
Futures Forum: Cream teas, Devon and Sidmouth
Futures Forum: Annings: award-winnning fruit cider from Sidmouth
Futures Forum: Sidmouth Hotels
Futures Forum: Green Tourism Business Scheme - more awards

A Sidmouth eatery has just been voted as one of the top 100 in the country:

Great Britain's Great Restaurants

(menu)

The UK’s top 100 restaurants

A combination of readers, bloggers and our nationwide team of reviewers have left 2,400 votes in our annual out-of-London survey – and the results are in.

Here we present your hundred favourite restaurants outside London, the nation's hottest dining tickets from the north, south, east and west. While many familiar names such as The Fat Duck and L’Enclume still colonise the upper echelons, the results also reveal a new generation of rising star restaurants.

Great Britain's Great Restaurants | Square Meal Feature

It is possible to eat very nicely in the town:

'Square Meal' Review of 'The Loft' 

“Great hosts, good value, lovely surroundings, and the best coffee in town”, trumpets a fan of The Loft – a casual daytime eatery and weekend bistro with dramatic black rafters, artwork for sale and reclaimed elm tables, plus a sought-after roof garden. 

Nourishing wake-up breakfasts open proceedings before the daytime menu kicks in with its bright Med-accented ideas, antipasti boards, pizzas, salads and the like. 

At lunchtime, there are more substantial dishes including chicken breast stuffed with goats’ cheese and sun-dried tomatoes or pan-fried salmon on crushed new potatoes, followed by iced chocolate parfait or apple and cinnamon cake. 

Also, don’t miss the whole local crab in season. 

On Friday and Saturday evenings, the kitchen ups the ante by offering, say, seared scallops with crispy leeks and broad bean purée, herb-crusted rack of lamb, and desserts such as pear tarte Tatin.

The Loft Devon | The Loft Restaurant Reviews, Prices and Menu

And from today's Herald:

Sidmouth restaurant in 100 best outside London

John and Katrina Lort of The Loft celebrate being in the top 100 restaurants outside London. 

Photo by Terry Ife. 

Stephen Sumner Wednesday, July 30, 2014

A Sidmouth eatery’s ‘casual but clever Med-accented cooking’ has won it a place in the 100 best restaurants outside of London.

The Loft came out a delectable 83rd in rankings compiled by foodie website Square Meal after readers, bloggers and reviewers cast their votes.

But the news caught owners John and Katrina Lort unawares – and they think the ‘organic’ response of the customers is a real testament to what they and their staff are doing.

“We don’t know how we got it – it came out of nowhere,” said Katrina. “These are genuine, legitimate reviews, completely independent.”

She added that some schemes you can sign up to are more contrived as you pay a fee to be reviewed, whereas their reviewers paid for their meal and were treated like any other customer.

Katrina hopes the listing will give the business a boost and attract more people to Sidmouth as she has already had contact with the owners of some of the other restaurants. John and Katrina opened their Old Fore Street eatery last summer after moving from Selleys in Libra Court.

The Loft is also currently rated 18th out of the 3,200 dining establishments in Devon, according to consumer review site TripAdvisor.

Sidmouth restaurant in 100 best outside London - What's on - Sidmouth Herald

Also, some views from Streetlife:
Streetlife | The Loft | Page 1
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