Dinner, Bed & Breakfast at The Bedford Hotel

Julian and I were kindly invited by Mike at The Bedford Hotel in Tavistock to stay and experience Dinner, Bed & Breakfast. Having never stayed or eaten there we jumped at the chance to try it out for you.

We checked in on a Friday evening, which actually turned out to be the night of Storm Imogen!  We were warmly greeted at reception and shown to our double room on the first floor.

This is one of their Classic Double rooms.  It was packed with charm and very cosy on this stormy evening.  It comes fully loaded with all that you would expect – desk, hospitality tray, flat screen tv, wardrobe, chest of drawers, hairdryer, telephone, free wifi and comfy chair. 

Having limited mobility due to my arthritis we had requested a room with a shower, rather than a bath, and our request was met with no problem at all.  I can manage stairs so being on the first floor was not a problem for me, however if stairs are a challenge to you they do offer ground floor rooms for those with reduced mobility.  There is a lift that provides access from the car park to the ground floor.

The ensuite shower room was contemporary and very clean.  A little on the bijoux side but had everything you needed.

After checking out the room, we freshened up for dinner and wandered downstairs, the smells wafting up the staircase were making our tastebuds tingle.

The restaurant is located at the front of the hotel and is classic and elegant in style, without being pretentious.  We were seated by the window so could watch the rain hammering down from the cosy confines of the restaurant.

Whilst we were perusing the menu we nibbled on a most appetising bread board, aptly named The Bedford bread board.  All the bread is freshly made and is served with homemade butter, basil pesto and Beetroot hummus – and it was as good as it looks…

For starters I opted for the Chicken Liver parfait, honey granola, Jail Ale toast, red onion marmalade (priced at £6.95) whilst Julian continued to nibble on the delicious bread board.  He said he was saving room for dessert!

The parfait was really light and the Jail Ale toast complemented it very well.  It is great to see all the produce is sourced locally.

For mains – Julian chose the Dartmoor venison, shallot, pancetta, mushroom, braised wellington, red wine jus (priced at £17.50)…

And he tells me it tasted as good as it looked!  I chose the Jail Ale sausages, garlic mash, onion marmalade, pancetta, scratchings, sage jus.

Apologies the photo doesn’t really do this dish justice.  The sausages were really tasty and very meaty.  This dish was priced at £12.95.  A fruity south eastern Australian Shiraz was chosen to go with our mains.  When it came to dessert we were both beginning to struggle to find space, so we choose to share a milk chocolate mousse, orange curd, honeycomb, orange sorbet (priced at £6.95).

A good choice, the sorbet was lovely and refreshing and the mousse nice and light.  The total bill for our meal was £61.95 and worth every penny.

We rounded the evening off in the hotel bar with a nightcap. Sister company to the Bedford Hotel is the Two Bridges Hotel and Princetown-based Dartmoor Brewery, so as you would expect you will find a great range of the local real ale being served here!  We would definitely sleep well tonight …

On our way up to bed we had a sneaky peak in some of the areas and private dining rooms of the hotel.

We discovered a bendy corridor, no it is not an optcal illusion

And finally time for bed

Storm Imogen did her worst through the night, but were were tucked up cosy and warm and no damge to the hotel in the morning.  Fully rested after a comfy nights sleep we were looking forward to breakfast.

What a welcome sight upon arrival to the breakfast room, a lovely buffet showcasing their Taste of the West award status.

Once again all the produce where possible is sourced locally.  I decided upon the Bedfordshire Devonshire Breakfast consisting of Howells’ local sausage, smoked back bacon, hogs pudding, sautéed potatoes, grilled tomato, field mushroom, baked beans with a choice of fried, poached or scrambled egg. (Mine was ordered minus the hogs pudding as I am not a great lover of that)

Once again it was a scrummy as it looked and really set me up for the day. Julian plumped for one of his favourites, Eggs benedict with ham – soft muffin, Howells ham or smoked salmon, poached egg, Hollandaise sauce.

Delicious!  So glad we were fully recharged with such a fabulous breakfast because the journey back home was somewhat of an adventure trying to get through the debris Storm Imogen had left as her calling card!

If you would like to experience the great hospitality on offer at The Bedford Hotel in Tavistock they currently have a great offer ‘A Taste of Spring’ for a two night break.

The Taste of Spring break includes:

1. Two nights accommodation in a classic room
2. Full Devon breakfast each morning
3. A three course dinner on your first night
4. A traditional Devon Cream Tea on arrival (this comes highly recommended by Dartmoor Accommodation, read our blog about the cream tea here)

All for just £65 per person, per night. Valid for stays up to and including 31 May 2016

To book call 01822 613221 and quote Taste of Spring