The Food Lifestyle team first visited The Chagford Inn on Dartmoor a year ago. It turned out to be an unexpected adventure for two reasons. The first surprise was the fabulous cooking going on at the terracotta-hued inn. Good pub food had been the expectation, but what we encountered was a series of pitch-perfect culinary delights
A dish featuring Dartmoor rabbit, cannellini beans, kale and pickled garlic turned out to be polished restaurant fare in the shape of expertly rolled saddle, a crisp croquette of dark meat and a rich rabbit reduction on a bed of beans. The chouxbarb dessert that followed – a crumble-topped choux bun, split and filled with vanilla cream, pink forced-rhubarb and vanilla ice cream is still living rent-free in the mental culinary Rolodex.
Dinner done, the second surprise kicked in – or, more correctly, fell from the sky. Out of nowhere came a deluge of snow so total and unexpected that it marooned us on the moor for the night. Very kindly, the inn’s proprietors Ollie Vernon (chef) and Jordan Ralph (front of house) gave us the use of one of the pub’s two guestrooms, so we sampled the overnight experience too. Ollie and Jordan have recently given these rooms a major refurb to match the pub’s interior makeover, so they’re as attractive as the chef’s delicious dishes.
The night’s stay was followed by a hearty Dartmoor breakfast, which fuelled us for the snowy journey home. Now our lucky winner, plus one, will get to sample the full works at the award-winning inn for themselves.
For your chance to win a three-course dinner for two with a bottle of wine, a double room for the night and breakfast, simply answer the question below.
On which moor will you find The Chagford Inn?
