The Barn Owl, Exeter

My wife and I were staying overnight at the adjacent Holiday Inn Express and came here for an evening meal. To say we were disappointed is an understatement; as a vegetarian, I was faced with a choice of either a vegetarian burger or a vegetarian Sunday roast, which would have been a Ricotta, Spinach and Red Pepper tart with roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, honey roast parsnips and a selection of seasonal vegetables. I ordered the latter, only to be told a few minutes later that they had no vegetarian option left. I requested a large plate of varied seasonal vegetables with the Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes, but this was not possible as it "wasn't on the menu". I was then offered a vegetarian burger with the usual roast dinner trimmings, which I grudgingly accepted. My wife ordered a roast pork dinner. We had our starters of baked mushrooms with bread, which was perfectly acceptable. After a wait of 45 minutes, during which time other people who had ordered after us had been served their meals, our roasts finally arrived. We then knew why there had been such a long wait; both roast dinners were burnt almost beyond recognition, and had quite obviously been standing in a warming oven for some considerable time. My wife's plate consisted of roast pork, very burnt parsnips, very burnt roast potatoes, two burnt carrots and a pile of watery cabbage with a few overcooked peas mixed in. My plate was similar, except that I had an extremely burnt burger wich had a texture more like a biscuit and I had no carrots at all. Neither of us had any Yorkshire puddings. When we queried this, we were told that "we have run out of Yorkshire puddings". Our response that these could be made simply and quickly using flour, eggs and milk by and cook of even average ability was met with a blank response. Given that we were hungry and tired we attempted to eat what was served, but this proved to be as inedible as it looked. We therefore left our food and refused to pay for the main meals, complaining to our waitress ( who I must say was excellent; she was doing her best in difficult circumstances (other people were complaing as well)). She referred our complaint to her Manager who didn't bother to come and see us but just knocked 25% off the price of our starters and drinks; I'd have been happier with a simple apology. Needless to say I will not be visiting again, and I will certainly be highly unlikely to visit another pub in the Vintage Inns chain. Their claim of a fabulous spread of fresh seasonal food is at the very least incorrect, and at worst downright untruthful. An appalling experience.

We booked for my nices birthday. We were greeted by two smiling frendley staff.we orderd three roast two pork,one beef, it arrived very promt,looked good,smelt nice,but came to it, it was disapointing to find it was only just warm,witch booking for one oclock it sould be at its best. we made coment to waiter,only got a half hearted appolagy and no compensation for this.hope my comments got back to the kitchen.

Attractively presented venue run by Vintage Inns. Although a relatively new building it has a classic appearance due to the use of reclaimed building materials. The food isn’t gourmet but it’s decent quality pub grub at a fair price. I always find the staff friendly and the service is quite efficient even during busier periods. Decent beers and a fair choice of wines or if you want a soft drink try the freshly pressed fruit juices. On the edge of town near the A30/M5 junction.

The place looks OK, but very poor ingredients poorly cooked. In short, the food was - rank.

Guests from the Holiday Inn next door use it, as the Express has no restaurant. Better to go in to Exeter to eat, or even drive to a local chain restaurant, if at all feasible.

OK for a quiet pint.

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This has to be the worst pub I have ever been in. My parents had fish and chips and the fish was still frozen. I sent my meal back as the plate was filthy from the previous meal!!!!!!!! The flower tubs outside are full of cigarette butts. You would think that someone in authority would from time to time pass the fag ends and get them cleared up. Disgusting!

Absolutely appalling!

We were a table of four and as it was a Sunday so we all opted for a roast expecting it to be guaranteed to be good (as it was a sunday).Oh how wrong we were, the food all came out at different times and was cold.The meat was so tough and fatty it was almost inedible,and we waited nearly half an hour between courses despite asking where our desserts were twice!I paid £32 for two roasts,two desserts,a pint of cider and a glass of wine. I feel this is on the high side but acceptable if the food was good but good it was not.As for the service all of the staff were teenagers,and one young man aside could not care less.I will never ever go there again!

Thought we'd give the Barn Owl a second chance after a poor meal a year ago - overcooked first course and luke warm desert. This time tiny portions, tasteless food, not good value for money. Will not bother again.

Looks like a traditional drinking house but is just another chain pub.......nice but nothing special.

The Barn Owl Restaurant is situated on the Honiton Road edge of Sowton Industrial Estate, just off junction 29, or you can come in from junction 30 by driving across the Industrial Estate. It is right next to the Holiday Inn so is therefore an ideal place to stop and eat if passing through, stopping for the night.

The meals are very good, from chicken to steak to vegetarian. Once you find a table you have to go up and order your food at the food counter and it is then brought over to you when ready. At peak times (Saturday nights usually) the restaurant gets very busy, a little too busy for us, so we avoid going then! Children are allowed in to sit and eat with parents in one area away from the bar, there are no play facilities therefore no children running around to spoil your evening!

I would regard the food as Bar Food but better. The prices? You can get change from a tenner for a Main Course, so not too bad at all.