Sails Dartmouth

wow Sails is a fab place go and find out for yourselves

What a wonderful restaurant in a lovely town.

Sails restaurant really is fine dining at its very finest. First, the view is perfect: if you book or get there early you will be lucky enough to bag the window table overlooking the River Dart. Second, the food is superb. For starters, try the pan fried scallops with smoked bacon, garlic butter and a hint of cream, or salad of smoked duck and oranges, or do as I did opt for one of the specials - if the timbale of scallop and salmon with parsley mayonnaise is on - go for it. The specials board is also the place to look for the daily catches of fish and seafood - all from Brixham or Plymouth. For the main course my daughter chose roasted rump of Dartmoor Lamb with red onion and red wine gravy on a pillow of leek mash, and it was as sweet and tender as lamb should be. My son had the traditional surf n turf, which came with enormous king prawns and was cooked just the way he wanted it. I enjoyed melt-in-your-mouth medallions of Exmoor Venison with a cranberry and redcurrant compote, perfectly poached pear and parsnip crisps, which were far superior to any you could buy. The kids' favourite veg were the crispy sauteed potatoes, but equally good was the steamed red cabbage, sugar snap peas, cauliflower and carrots. For dessert, all the kids could manage was some ice cream, but I couldn't resist the amaretto cheesecake on an amaretto biscuit base, a creation of chef Malcolm Whybrow, who cooks everything to order using only fresh ingredients. We all agreed this was the best meal we had ever tasted. Sails is at the edge of the centre of town, by Bayards Cove. Dartmoor is known for its fine eating, and Sails must be among the top restaurants in town.