The Puffing Billy Inn

Great pub with lovely food and lovely staff too. Well worth a visit. Upmarket good pub grub

Great menu, nicely cooked, well presented, my favourite Devon beers, sensible prices, nice ambiance and locked-down service. What's not to like?

Sunday lunch was great. The place was clean and welcoming, Service was fast and friendly.

Really lovely welcome, service, food and all round experience at the Puffing Billy for Christmas Day 3 course lunch. All staff were super friendly and helpful, great relaxed atmosphere, no rush, just a brilliant experience all round. Our party of four had a varied selection from the menu and all of the food was really delicious. Would definitely visit again at another time of the year but also were thinking 'same again' for Christmas 2025! Thanks to Jamie and all of the staff. Highly recommended.

Lovely meal in a beautiful setting with attentive and friendly staff.

Had Christmas Day dinner here, everything about it was excellent, food beautifully cooked and presented, service also excellent, staff were smiling, helpful, and everything came out on time, the pub was decorated tastefully and it was lovely and warm in there. Our party of three went home happy. We would definitely go there again for Christmas, well done to everyone

Excellent food, friendly staff and very well located. We have had a raft of shocking quality and tiny meat portions, and quite frankly have been eating at home because it has been so bad. We met up with family here as it was halfway, and seemed to have some good reviews. We got there at 12.30 and it was quiet, it didn’t stay quiet for long… fortunately we ordered before it got really busy and the food came quickly. The portions are huge and excellent quality, we had starters and could barely finish the mains. The roast dinners are very generous and the pork we had was excellent. We are going to use this now as our meeting place, lots to see and do and great food too! We also had dogs, and they are very dog friendly,

Great food, lovely atmosphere, great team running the place. Will return!

Very good quality food and good service. The only issue was we were offered a desert menu and the waiter got tied up dealing with another customer and forgot to come back but excellent otherwise.

In our experience in East Devon - one of the best, and especially the most consistently good Sunday Lunch. The roast beef actually tastes like beef, like butter to cut. The roast spuds are also to die for! Great service, with a smile and a chuckle. If there's one minor down side .. it's busy. But we know why ..

Lovely atmosphere, staff were all super friendly and attentive and the food was amazing!… especially the cauliflower cheese :) would definitely return!

Had a very good lunch during the week in November. Very quiet but very warm and cosy. Open for food all day, every day. Friendly place.

Always a lovely experience. Staff are wonderful and food is always great. Jamie was a great! 5 stars all around.

Only had a Guinness whilst walking from Exeter to Exmouth. Great pint . Great pub. Friendly staff . Will certainly return 🍻

Arrived without booking for a late lunch. Food was first class. I think staff were a bit preoccupied preparing for a wake party due a little later, but I had nothing to complain about.

It has a good menu, with a good selection of quality options. The presentation is excellent. Both dishes for myself and my wife were very tasty. Both starters and main course. The service was both attentive and friendly, nice atmosphere. The food was fresh and obviously made with a puffing billy special taste.

It was a quiet night when we went, with the staff having plenty of time for us. The food was good and service unhurried. Happy to go back

Excellent!10/ 10!! superb roast beef dinner!! and relaxed Sunday vibes, love the wholesome ukulele group while we dined. Totally recommend this pub, the decor tasteful and spacious, the service- Excellent, efficient friendly and welcoming. Lovely flowered garden area.

The best Sunday Dinner I have ever eaten! I eat out a minimum of 4 times every week due to working across the country. In all The restaurants I’ve had a Sunday dinner at, this tops the lot! Every mouthful was a taste explosion!! I am a massive critic when it comes to food because I’m willing to pay the money so expect the quality! This was not only reasonably priced but the quality was exceptional, worthy of being served in any top restaurant in the uk! I’ve paid double the cost for food that isn’t up to this standard! On top of that, the staff were all so friendly. The one major disappointment is that I live 4 hours away. If I could invest in this business opening a place by me I absolutely would! Thank you all so much! Especially the chef that works behind the scenes to provide the best Sunday dinner I’ve ever eaten!! I will back and would recommend this place to anyone and everyone!

A lovely cosy and tastefully decorated pub. Staff were very friendly and welcoming. On line booking kept trying to make me place a reservation for a large party even though there was only 4 of us! Booking my phone was very easy and much quicker. Food was well presented and portions were ideal. Catch of the day from the menu was great value and there were no complaints from any of our choices. I highly recommend this pub.

Our first time dining at this village gastro pub and came well recommended and didn't disappoint. Just a two min walk from Exton 'request stop' railway station, this friendly pub has a part dog friendly restaurant however the carpeted extension is not dog friendly and is situated away from the bar. The staff were very welcoming and friendly, we were given water at the table before our meal, which was very tasty and well presented. There is a beer garden and outside seating. A pleasant surprise and is right on the cycle / walking route from Exmouth to Exeter.

Excellent stout 👍, The 2 log burners don't half push out the heat, we sat outside 🤣. If you go just for drinks you can wait a while as priority is given to food service.

Really beautiful pub with lovely quiet surroundings. It has a small playpark for small children just opposite the front. There's a beer garden to the side. The inside is beautiful and really done out nice. The restaurant area is big and atmosphere was nice. The staff were friendly and the food was delicious. (I just had bar snacks)

Great food and service was good. Short staffed due to sickness, but staff were very apologetic and a free round of drinks offered due to delay with food. Nice Christmas meal with family. Would recommend!

Popped in for lunch. It was busy (obviously popular), but the friendly staff made us aware of this and that the food might be slow in coming, but it wasn't really so all good. So shame about our ciabatta sandwiches which weren't that great. Cheese and Pickle and a Fish Finger one with a sad looking side salad and a small handful of (nice) chunky chips. Not great for £11 and £14 respectively. Ordered a large dry rosè and Sandfords cider, got a small rosè instead, in a hurry, so not too bothered and we weren't charged for the large, but still.

Thought we'd try the 'Billy " last Friday night, always really enjoyed it there but this time it was different which I'll come back to later. Firstly the food, there were 4 in our group so we sides, bread and oil, Riverside cockles & mussels (beautiful), starters Duck L'orange pate, Squid, Whitebait. Mains, Fish pie, Farmhouse pie ( homemade) Smoked chicken and bacon Linguine and I had the battered Lemon Sole it was all very good and the service was good...so back to my earlier comment...all the staff were new ( they are advertising for multiple job opportunities ?), there was only us eating normally it's a lot busier than that and it was pricey example lemon sole £18.50, Farmhouse pie £18.85 and so on ....which in my opinion for standard pub fare is expensive...and it was very..very..quiet by 9.30 on a Friday night we were the only people in there !

This pub has gone downhill from what it was. Service was slow, food was mediocre and way too expensive for what it is. The drinks menu was incorrect, my husband asked for one drink and was given a different without being asked because his original order wasn't available. Believe the recent reviews.

Came here for our valentines meal as we had been bought vouchers for Christmas. Lovely cosy pub with friendly staff. Our soup starter was lovely, pate was average. Unfortunately my steak was overdone and tough which was disappointing for a steak priced at £30. The staff were too busy running orders out to come and check on us, and we didn't manage to flag anyone down so I didn't have the chance to order anything else instead. We were given a refund for the steak and the staff member was understanding, but I think you could of done with having more waiting staff to minimise this as I did leave hungry sadly.

Lovely pub, good selection of drinks, and the staff are amazing. Unfortunately the roast dinner was just meh, it wasn't bad, but definitely not worth the price we paid. Highly recommend this place if youre just wanting a couple of drinks, but if youre looking for a Sunday roast im sure there are much better ones around.

Great roast and good that they had a smaller portion size option. Only one vegan option but it was delicious. Very friendly staff but slow service. For the price of the meal it needed to be better. £9.50 for a pudding is stretching it a bit for pub food.

Sub par as best really. Came for a meal tonight with a couple of friends. Having previously been here, I knew it was good and it's normally locally talked about as a rather good pub, but it massively fell short today. Fish and chips is what I ordered but you got the option of having it grilled or battered. I asked for grilled and shockingly it came out battered. Friend ordered blue cheese sauce and got peppercorn sauce instead yet the receipt said blue cheese sauce. We both would of complained but we waited I would say 30-40 minutes on food and it really didn't look that busy. Just seemed like there were a lot of short cuts made in our meal. The food wasn't anything special for the price paid. 18£ for fish and chips in my opinion is quite steep and the batter looked a bit burnt as it should be more if a golden colour. Don't think I'll go back unless it's for drinks passing through

First time in and unfortunately disappointing. We’ve heard so much about this pub and decided to go there for lunch. Massively overpriced and the food was average at best. I paid less for a pint in London. We’ve made the mistake to order some coffees at the end and I am not sure they really understood what a flat white is. Toilets were really bad with the tap not even properly fixed and almost impossible to turn the water on or off. We will not go back.

As I've been here before I was expecting good food and service. The food was adequate when it finally arrived, not hot. The plates were cold, which cooled the food further. We had to wait 50 mins for it to arrive, which I thought was a long time since the place wasn't busy. Service was atrocious, nobody asked if the food was ok. We finished our drinks, nobody asked if we wanted anymore. We finished our lunch, empty plate ect. After 45 mins I stacked the plates and dishes so it was obvious we had finished. Loads of staff walk by but ignored us. We sat for another 10 mins, we wanted a dessert. But nobody was interested, they were just around the bar area talking and laughing. I got up, paid the bill and left. There was hardly a word said. Really bad experience, wont go again.

Date of visit - 25th May We were really looking forward to a family get together at the Puffing Billy, which was highly recommended by my mother in law. Table booked, car parked, let the celebration begin, except…….. - A spritzer was ordered, but the soda was almost non-existent…. and flat! - very limited veggie menu, and they had run out of them ALL, so two people ended up having starters for main course! - Very small ‘large’ portion of pork (just one thick slice!), a few small roasters and a minimal vegetable offering. (Plus an enormous Yorkshire pudding which over-filled the plate so as not to leave much room!) I still can’t help wondering if we were served a regular portion and charged for a large one! - Being told ‘that’s it’ when I asked for more gravy! (Apparently they’d run out and didn’t offer to make more initially.) - Long delays after we’d eaten and were trying to; (a) order an extra drink (which never arrived) and (b) get the bill. In the end, we gave up waiting and went up to the counter to pay. Overall, an average meal that fell well short of expectations. We did point out the errors and one woman staff member was very apologetic about the problems. The male staff member was less interested in being so helpful. My wife contacted the restaurant soon after our visit to check prices (so we could reimburse the bill payer for our share) and was also asked for feedback, so she shared her experiences. She was told that the manager was out, but that he’d return her call the next day and would probably offer a free return visit. That call never happened! A few days later she called again and spoke to the Bar Manager, who put her through to the Manager. He was very apologetic, offering a free return visit when ‘we would be looked after’, or a partial refund. As my brother in law had paid the full bill he was passed the details - he’s since called to try to speak to the Manager THREE times without success. Messages have been left but, as of today there’s been no return call. The poor veggie options, small ‘large’ portions and lack of response, added to the lack of management follow up and failure to return calls has really tarnished their reputation in our eyes. Internal communications and dealing with constructive feedback really need to improve on those occasions when standards slip. We would have been willing to give them another try when we’re in East Devon again, but the lack of promised responses has made us lose confidence. Perhaps more importantly, they’ve caused embarrassment for a local resident who recommended them, and who, as a result, is now unlikely to return. Such a shame as it’s quite apparent from reviews that most others don’t have similar experiences - but from our perspective, both the staff and the management ‘must do better’!

Such a shame, been coming here in the summer for years and used to be a beautiful pub and food. After last visit we will never be going back. Food took ages to arrive, place was like a ghost town with no atmosphere, the odd staff member walking round. Food was expensive and you could make better yourself at home. Drinks ordered and never arrived. I could go on but end of the day won’t be going back, not good enough.

Clean, appears lovely but we got in about 5.30pm on a Monday evening (bank holiday). It was quiet-ish. Out of specific cider, no coke zero, then 20 minutes after we ordered, the one meal that mattered ( being my sons bday meal) we were told that they didn't have any brioche buns, only ciabatta. Sorry ive worked in kitchens, as a waitress, a barmaid, hell ive even held the licence. But who gives a kid a chicken burger with ciabatta bread. We didn't want to cop out and go maccys as he wanted to go there. The fish goujons were frozen and I found dog chews under the tables. To finish it off the window seat kept falling forward and my son could have easily knocked himself out. I doubt we will be coming back. OK if you want coffee. Didn't want to make a fuss as it was my kiddos bday and he would have known.

Booked lunch here on the back of the reviews. To me, the interior lacks character; clearly stripped back to accommodate maximum tables. Wierdly huge TV playing in the bar; style was more like a mid chain pub than top independent. Only two staff on front of house who were very much struggling to cope, and it wasn't busy. Food took too long to arrive and portions were way too small for this price point. Fish of the day was just a small fillet, with hardly any potatoes or salad. I've had a lot better fish and chips, and at £20 I would expect things like amazing batter and well cooked chips. Like alot of places I think corners are being cut in quality, service and portions. So sorry, but way overpriced.

Having eaten at the Puffing Billy several times, including organising a New Year meal there for ten people this year, I recommended it for a family meal on the late May bank holiday. We booked a table for 1730 and ordered drinks. I ordered a white wine spritzer with soda, but when it arrived it was completely flat. I queried this and it was replaced, but the replacement was no better. When we ordered our food I wanted fish, only to be told it had all gone. My daughter ordered a vegetarian burger, but the last one had just been sold. Therefore my daughter and I had to make do with a starter each for our main courses as we don’t eat meat. With very little choice on the menu my son and son-in-law ordered the pork roast. My son’s meal had just three small pieces of pork, and when my son-in-law asked for some more gravy he was told it had all gone. After he insisted, some extra gravy was finally produced. I was so embarrassed to have recommended the Puffing Billy, but my family very generously said every restaurant can have the occasional bad day, and said they wouldn’t leave a bad review. However, my daughter did phone them and was told they’d get the manager to ring her. He didn’t, so she rang him and was offered a partial refund or a free main course next time. She said she would pass the message to my son as he had paid the bill. He has now phoned them twice and been told the manager was unavailable but would phone him back. This phone call has never materialised. This is what I find unforgivable. Constant evasion, three promises to return phone calls, none of them kept, and still no redress. Too late now to offer free meals, drinks or anything else, because we will never be returning; and I shall be booking somewhere else for my group meals in future.

My family and I had a Sunday roast there on 25th May. We live in different parts of the UK, so it was one of those rare occasions when we can all get together for a catch-up. I had already booked a restaurant in Exmouth which I've been to many times, but my mum requested I change my booking to The Puffing Billy, as it's a pub she's visited previously and has enjoyed. Our table was the last booking slot at 5.30pm. There was an issue with the first drink my mum had which was returned and then further problems when we came to order our food. Half of the menu was not available, and with one of our group being vegetarian, this was problematic. As such, two people ended up ordering two starters to make up for the main they were unable to have. The first server was very apologetic and kept repeating how busy they had been. I understand that they had been busy, but if they can't accommodate a booking for 4 at 5.30pm, they shouldn't have taken it. The food I had wasn't too bad, in fact the pork was good, but there wasn't much of it. Most of the plate was filled with a massive Yorkshire, with minimal everything else. There was also an issue where my brother-in-law was told there was no more gravy when he asked. They did reluctantly overcome this problem when they were pushed further. As the pub started to empty, it felt as though we had been forgotten. The servers stopped coming to our table, when I did eventually grab someone to order another drink, the drink never appeared. I had to go and find someone to pay the bill and the staff seemed to be huddled in the bar side having their own conversation. Really terrible service and we probably would have ordered many more drinks had we been asked, despite all the problems we'd experienced throughout. I totally accept all businesses can have a bad day, but the real test is how they deal with it. The staff were definitely aware of our dissatisfaction, so an offer of goodwill on the day would have gone a long way to appeasing us. My sister did call the pub a week later and spoke to the Manager Theo. He was very apologetic and sympathetic, and offered a partial refund. However, as I paid the bill, he would need to speak to me to arrange this. I called on the pub on a Sunday to be told I would need to call back the next day as Theo was not in. I called back the next day to be told Theo doesn't work on Mondays! I was asked to call the next day. I said I would rather leave my name and number and asked if Theo could call me when he was free, since I kept missing him. I left a bit of information for the reason of my call, that we'd had an issue, the date of our visit, and that Theo had already spoken with my sister and should hopefully be expecting to talk to me. Needless to say, I never received a call back and neither did I chase anymore after this. I shouldn't really have to. Overall, extremely poor service and a non-existent complaints process.

There was no service.. all evening we went to the bar to order our drinks as no one came over to us. we waited half an hour for someone to come and take our order, then over 2 hours later we only had our starters ……after another half an hour wait our main courses came out only to find the steaks were inedible. The manager couldn’t have cared less. No real apology and an all round lack of interest. A real disappointment all round.