River Cottage HQ: Cookery School, Dining, and Weddings

Whilst my wife attended the vegan cheese making course down at River Cottage HQ, I set up camp at the cafe to work. I reserved a table in advance (lucky I did as its Mothers Day weekend and they are very busy), and they have allowed me to stay all day…so I have decided to try all their vegan options. Started off with the wild mushrooms, lemony hummus and sourdough toast, followed later by the chocolate and beetroot tart (oh my word! So light and refreshing!) and just finished off the Parsnip Soup, which was a thing of beauty and tasted amazing. The staff have been so lovely and welcoming and it’s been such a lovely environment to sit and work. I think I might come back next weekend, maybe with the dog.

A real ray of sunshine orange otherwise dreary wet day in East Devon. This is the genuine result of the HFW dream of local, fresh & sustainable food. Cooked & served excellently by the friendly team who must surely have some of the best jobs in hospitality. Silky beetroot hummus with this morning's sourdough, wonderful Courgettes, beautiful pork loin & confit belly finishing with a stunning blackcurrant leaf panacotta, rhubarb & berry compote. The café looked busy but we were booked on the exclusive Long Table Lunch event - exactly as it describes. Met 28 other interesting people chatting over the relaxed 3-hour lunch. Kitchen was open and conversation with staff encouraged. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Loved this place, views are stunning and was the perfect day for breakfast. Viewpoint area is great to take pics. Good food and service with a smile.

We got married at River Cottage on Saturday and it was just perfect! The kitchen team, headed up by Chiara (2024 Masterchef Finalist) were amazing. You get to design your own custom menu, which for us was vegetarian / vegan. You can also stay in the farmhouse which is absolutely beautiful and have your ceremony in the garden. The wedding planner Lucy is an absolute professional. Couldn’t recommend more!

Having driven 2,5 hour to the river café I have to say it was the most disappointing meal we have had at any of your establishments. The menu had an extremely small choice and the only meat dish was not available at midday on a Saturday, The Hake was very pleasant, although it was a very small portion with a tiny portion of kale. My wife had 4 very thin slices of courgette on toast with less than one tea spoon of ricotta cheese. It was bland with poor seasoning which .she did not even finish . We were told by friends not to expect too much but having in the past eaten at your Axminster restaurant and numerous times in Winchester and found the food ,service and atmosphere excellent , we were happy to make the trip.

Always a friendly atmosphere with lovely coffee and inspiring dishes always take away some cake here too 😋

Went to lunch on Wednesday at 1pm and half of the menu was already sold out. The venu is lovely with fantastic views. The staff were lovely. However I had ragu, half of what I was served was fat and gristle. The sour dough bread was very dry and burnt at the bottom. I watched the chef arranging food with his fingers and then keep wiping them on a dirty teatowel around his waist. He also had a nice hole in his t-shirt and his apron was filthy. He was busy all the time, but kept licking the spoons when he had finished with them. He worked in chaos and there were flies everywhere. I will say there were also cobwebs everywhere. The place felt like it needed a good clean. The skylights were particularly dirty. The constant dogs barking inside was deafening. As I ordered the rhubarb fumble on the menu, the waitress apologised to say that this was off as well. I will say the icecream was lovely. I would go back but it just needs a bit of love and more attention.

We stayed in the Gardener’s Cottage and ate at the Chef’s Table experience. It is an excellent opportunity to taste new dishes prepared to a very high standard by experts. The ingredients are locally sourced and so fresh that we saw the picking some of them on the day. At seven courses it is filling so don’t fill up on the sourdough bread. Some of the paired drinks had ‘unique’ flavours and I wouldn’t buy it if I was choosing for myself. Well worth the cost.

Took my wife and daughter to an evening at River Cottage last night and it was fantastic. Went largely because of the TV show and thought it would be interesting but it was so much more. We were late (don't trust your SatNav system to find it) so missed the tractor ride down but they promptly collected us in the car park. Started with an apple brandy aperitif and that let us know it would be a great night. I am not a big brandy fan but this was great (ended up buying two bottles), easy to drink and refreshing. Followed by two canapés. We were then given some time to walk the premises. I particularly liked the garden, where they grow different veg and herbs. And the views are beautiful Seated for dinner and two more canapés. Also had a chance to order from the bar. As I was driving, had to pass on most of the options but still wanted to try something so went with their local Cranberry drink. I am not usually a fan of fizzy soft drinks but ended up drinking two of these, it was very tasty and refreshing. First proper course was a fattoush salad, with goat cheese, tomato, cucumber and herbs. Very flavorful, it almost came to life with the herbs. Second course was a smoked hake and mashed potato dish. Very interesting, like the way the hake came through. Main course was pork loin from the farm and it was incredible. Smoked flavor but not too smokey, very tender. Accompanied by multiple vegetables. Finally, had a meringue with various fruits and sauces for dessert. Great, much better than I expected. Normally meringue is too sweet but with all the ingredients this one was complex and tasty. With coffee, they also gave us honeycomb (tasted a little burnt to me) and and a sweet made out of beetroot (very interesting). My wife can't stop raving about the experience, as she is a fan of the show and it was an experience. I can't stop raving about the food, every course was so vibrant and complex. You have to go, make a weekend out of it.

Hmmm, feel a bit torn by this review because I REALLY wanted to love it as it stood for locally grown food and is the beating heart of this business community. We thought we'd treat my parents to a lunch as we were staying in the area and everyone was pretty excited that we were actually going to a 'famous restaurant' for lunch. The place is lovely, decor is fantastic, the shelves are full of local (if a little over priced) produce and it took us a while to see that there was actually a big warehouse-style room out back. When we walked in, nobody was there to acknowledge us and had no idea who to talk to or where to go if we wanted a table. After milling around for a bit I just walked straight through past the kitchen and out back and called over a waitress to ask how this worked...she just sat us down. It smelled good, is a great open space...and, uh, where is the waitress? She was quite incompetent throughout unfortunately, she stayed professionally disingenuous and uninterested in anything we had to say. She forgot we had asked for a high-chair, she forgot one of our drinks, she took forever to take our order and the place wasn't even half full. The food was decent, not as amazing as I'd hoped it would be but good nonetheless. The service here really did let down the whole experience, we even had to wipe clean the high chair ourselves (when it finally arrived at the second time of asking) as it was covered in left-overs from the previous nipper. In short, I am glad I can tick this one off as 'done'. I will not be making an effort to come back to the restaurant, but I will most definitely come back for some of that local cheddar from the deli counter out front, that stuff was?is amazing!

We went here for a family birthday and we were feeling excited at the prospect of having a lovely meal, unfortunately we were all disappointed. It was a Sunday so we opted for the roast but what came out was very insipid looking. The meat was cooked well but the potatoes and gravy came on the plate and how they can call them roasted I will never know, they were very well boiled and that was it, there was plenty of a pale gravy in what looked like an attempt to cover the poor potatoes. Veg came out separately and was a very small portion. I was with two men with good appetites and unfortunately came out with empty tummies and even emptier wallets! Maybe their other dishes are better but we won't be going back to find out.

We had lunch at this restaurant after seeing a great writeup in the NYT last year. My spouse is from a small village in Dorset about 20 minutes drive away. This is my 10th or 12th visit to this part of the world and I can safely say this was the best West Country cooking I have ever had in a restaurant. We had lunch for GBP50 for a couple and this included: Two artichoke soups that were just right, smoked venison, pheasant and spelt stew, two side dishes (perfect chips and a salad of local greens), rhubarb crumble and raisin ice-cream and coffee. To drink we had two large bottles of organic cider (black fox and another I can't remember the name of). As you can see, GBP50 was a bargain for such a great meal. And that was the nice part, it really does feel like a canteen for locals not a tourist trap of any sort.

After a terrible experience at the Newly opened Whity's Pizza in Axminster, we decided to try the canteen. The Canteen had really nice shabby chic decor. The food was delicious and well-presented and the menu was varied. My fiancee and I were dining there to celebrate her birthday and really enjoyed our meal. A tad on the expensive side but neverthless excellent. The staff know how to treat their customers and it is this which makes for a very popular location. The tables are clean and do not suffer the sticky table syndrome. Even the menus are clean which so many are not nowadays. A choice from the main menu or specials board and neither will disappoint. Good sized portions of wonderfully home cooked food. An absolute winner. Well done to all the hard working, polite and efficient staff.

We went here for Sunday lunch today with three kids and the in laws. They are really friendly and great with kids, so highly recommended from that point of view. It was a hot day so they'd opened up the folding windows at the front of the restaurant onto the street. Nice idea, but Axminster is a busy through route to the A35, so it was hard to have a conversation across the whole table as the traffic noise was so loud. It's clearly a popular and busy restaurant - so they'd sold out of 1 of the 3 meat options by the time of our booking. We had the chicken, pork and fish and chip options. All really tasty, but the piece of fish was tiny, and the veg portion wasn't overly generous for the party size. Puddings on the other hand.... Fabulous. Brownie, chocolate tart, pannacotta, cherry posset, each one superb. £148 for a party of 7, with no wine. I think it's a bit overpriced, and I've had more generous and equally tasty Sunday lunches at some of the East Devon pubs - the Hare and Hounds in Ottery St Mary to name but one. I'd definitely go back for afternoon tea or coffee and a cake, but probably not for another roast.

The River Cottage has been brilliant for the local area it has raised the profile and brought much needed employment and people to the area that normally arrive in gas gussling Range Rovers, yummy mummies and blackberries (crackberries). The number one stop is river cottage shop and canteen. For me this is brilliant I have close friends that work for the company but i do smile at the ironic message - local organic food - sold to non local people - food miles people?? The food is ok - have not eaten a proper meal there for a while but was a bit greezy when I last went. Breakfasts are great and coffee and cake work The shop - some great produce but if you are local you will not shop there!!! Rated 5 star for what it has done for the local area.

A wonderful eatery and deli in the lovely town of Axminster which is well worth a visit if you are in the area. We visited for lunch on a weekday out of season. I had a beetroot and mozzarella tart with new potatoes and local salad. My boyfriend had a beef and mushroom pie with kale. The tart was beautiful, the beetroots lovely and sweet, nicely caramelised. The beef had obviously been stewed for hours and was very tasty. A wonderful selection of food and drink. I would not hesitate to go back. Staff are knowledgable and super friendly. The Deli has amazing produce. In fact, we visited on our way back home to stock up on some more of the fine cheeses. Nom nom nom

We recently popped in for a late breakfast, and ordered two bacon baps with coffee, and a slice of cake between us for afters. My goodness, the bap was huge -we could have even shared one - with lots of lovely slices of thick tasty bacon. Coffee was lovely. They didn't have the coffee and walnut cake that we'd asked for, but came over and apologised so nicely that we decided on chocolate cake instead and it was delicious. Total cost came to approx £15. Not cheap perhaps, but good value. It was a relaxed and friendly environment. I'd popped in a few months earlier for a quick peek to see what it was like, and the staff were lovely and helpful and ensured I went and looked at the garden area too. It's a nice place. We'll go back.

Not bad, but not really all it's cracked up to be, really. A bit of a preoccupation with beetroot in my opinion and rather too many oily fish dishes with just a single meat dish entree. If I came back here it would probably be just for a drink. Sorry Hugh FW!

Not set up for kids. Was the wife's dream to go to river cottage this was supposed to be the next best thing. Sadly not for kids. She was gutted.

Overated and disappointing, more hype than substance. There is a problem in the kitchen. The pork was raw and bloody, inedible. 'If you had told us earlier we could have done something about it' was the response and were compensated with two free coffees ! This was not the dining experience my wife and I were expecting for Sunday Lunch. Fernly needs to get some quality control in the kitchen.

One of Hugh Fernley-W's enterprises. Groovy, airy space, complete with iwantoneofthose kitchen implement wall-hanging and big photos of sheep and other Devon stuff. Cute courtyard garden with herbs/salad plants for sale. Great shop stuffed with local produce and fabby bread from the Town Mill bakery in Lyme Regis. lunch menu varies every daysoup/local sausages and mash/mackerel with lemons and new pots/tarte of salad leaves and goat's cheese/salt and pepper squid etc. Moreish cakes and ice cream for pud . Local beers/cordials/juices to drink plus wine list. Modern British cooking, served by great people who know their stuff. A friendly buzz in the restau. Children welcome. We go there for lunch once a week. Haven't made it for the more expensive evening operation (altho' bargain nights Tues/Wed main course plus glass of wine £10).

Visiting my brother in Axminster, four of us went for dinner on a Saturday evening. It was full, luckily my brother had booked a few weeks earlier. The staff welcomed us with genuine enthusiasm, and showed us to our table, like all the others bare wood with a diverse collection of chairs, including some folders. Pretentious it is not! The ham terrine I started with was quite rough and ready but delicious, then my wife and I shared a whole grey mullet baked in a bag with white wine, fennel and oranges, plus whole roasted Jerusalem aritchokes as accompaniment. We had to wait a fair time for it to be cooked, but it was huge, and we couldn't fiish it despite its deliciousness. Each main dish came exactly as described, with no additional vegetables, such as potatoes. An unstartling menu of desserts included wholesome chocolate fudge cake and Bakewell tart, and the wines were good value at around £20 a bottle, judging by our choice. The bill for four was under £130, excellent value considering the quality of the food and wine. For some reason we had to wait quite a while for the credit card machine to settle the bill, but fortunately it came before my card expired. No service was added to the bill, so I proffered cash. When the staff had been unable to find a toothpick which was requested, they actually sent someone out to buy some, so they earned their tip! Overall a very satisfying experience, a welcome contrast to those establishments which focus on "the dining experience" rather than the food.

Great value for money, and exactly what I had hoped it would be: fresh, simple dishes bursting with flavor. I had three courses and a beer for £29, and while not cheap, it shouldn't be -- you're actually getting what you pay for, and I believe they could charge more than they are and very few would bat an eye. As another reviewer noted, though, this place is for everyone, local and foreign alike.

Everyone knows about River Cottage and Hugh FW on TV and that's why I was a bit sceptical about eating at his Canteen, would the food live up to all he had promised on his TV show? I can safely say that the food I had here was some of the tastiest I have ever eaten. I really liked that there was no menu as such just a specials board which is updated daily so they can come up with recipes for whatever food is currently available. The meals, cake and drink we're all priced reasonably but at the front they have the River Cottage shop and this is not cheap. the last reviewer mentioned that locals don't shop here and I don't blame them, the prices are well out of my league. Hugh does say that the cost of food has got cheaper due to supermarkets bulk buying, I don't doubt this, but I get a local veg box delivered every week for £10! At the river cottage shop I wouldn't get a 1/4 of what I get locally. Lucky I don't live in Devon then.

Delicious local food, knowledgeable staff, great layout and wonderful local wines - this place is a gem, and very reasonably priced given its run by a TV chef. We also visited River Cottage HQ while we were in the area so had a full-on River Cottage weekend. We went there for dinner and were lucky to get a seat as there had just been a cancellation, but people travel for miles to get to this place to booking is a must. A real treat and great experience.

Comfort food at its most worthy (in a good way) I stayed with my parents in Axminster over Christmas and found myself in the shop and canteen every day for 10days! The food is really comforting and the canteen is funky and relaxed. I had a meat pasty and pork pie,both of which were hearty and perfect in every way. I can still smell the mulled cyder. We also bought chicken and bacon to cook at home - delicious.

My favourite choice for Sunday lunch - it's lighter and airier than a pub, there is always a great choice of two roasts, fish and interesting veggie dishes and one or two choices which a) you won't have seen on a menu elsewhere and b) I wouldn't try at home. Much better value than the shop - tempting, quality stuff but it makes even Washingpool Farm Shop near Bridport seem reasonable!

Great place. Very friendly, reasonable prices and good food.

We visited the Axminster River Cottage Canteen during the week and had an excellent time , friendly warm prompt service and local providers of all produce served that evening are listed on the main board in the hall and the evenings menu is also listed on another two boards for your choice. A selection of fresh warm bread with nice soft butter, not hard was presented before we ordered and drinks requests were taken. An Organic Long Island Ice Tea which was lovely and A Bottle of Stinger Ale which was lovely and crisp and a Bottle of Hip Hop Ale which had a great taste and was well recommended by the waiter. We started with the Sweetcorn Fritters which were lovely fresh and had a spicy dipping sauce to compliment with some fresh leaves this was followed by a Small Person portion of Saddle of Venison which came with roasted carrots, Curly Kale, Potato Mash and Squash Mash also this porition was 1/2 the size of the main porition which was ideal for someone who doesn't want a large meal, also the Trio of Fish was excellent we followed these meals with americano's and said our goodbye's Great night, great food, warm friendly service

We had lunch at this canteen having driven from France to hopefully enjoy the food that is splashed all across our TV screens. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY or time. We took the time to complain but their response for further discussions never took place, although our waitress said they had daily team meetings to discuss issues. I guess no one turns up. Very poor quality food and expensive I requested a bowl of their canteen chips enthused by our waitress and on TV I had better much better chips from the fast food chain in nearby Exeter. Without a doubt the most disappointed venture we have made to any restaurant and my wife and I have been to many around the world.

Just happened to be driving through Axminster at lunchtime and noticed the canteen and shop. I had a lovely light lunch - £6 for pan fried mushrooms on toast (made from locally baked bread) with a cheese whose name I can't remember. The food was beautifully presented, delicious and good value considering the quality. Atmosphere was very relaxed and staff very helpful and friendly. I will make a planned visit some time in the future.

What a let down, we drove down one sunday for lunch for 4 of us, we walked in to be ignored by 3 of the staff and stood around unsure for a few minutes, do we grab a table, do we wait to be seated ? in the end just sat down, after a few minutes the waitress came over to take our order, we asked for a menu, they dont have one, asked the difference between the back of the cafe and the front and was told the back was for sunday lunch and we couldnt go in as it was fully booked, we asked if we could still eat in the cafe and that was ok. we explained that we had not been before and we asked if they had no menu what did they do, the lady said they had sandwiches and some paninis, we had to ask what fillings and got a nonchanlent.......ham........cheese, she said they might have some pizza's, we again had to ask with what toppings, off she went and came back with a couple of toppings so we ordered 3 pizzas and one ham/cheese panini and 4 coffees, we got the 3 pizzas (I asked for the ham/onion and beetroot - the beetroot wasnt on the pizza it was in a bowl on the side !) and instead of the panini we got a ham toasted sandwich, the pizzas were served cold, we enquired with the waitress and she said they were cold because they were cooking lunch ! why not tell us at the beginning, she they mentioned they had some pies and pasties but again no offering of the fillings.....after 20 minutes the coffee arrived........we drank up and went to pay, were given no bill, just told the amount, I asked for the bill as I like to check, good job really they had overcharged us.........would I go again..........never.

Great food and service for low price (main for 10 pounds). I look forward for the opportunity to go again.

Very very good, been twice and wished we lived nearer, good value fantastic food always changing menus and not expensive, great place with great staff, nothing is to much.