The Elephant Restaurant Reviews Summary

Ambience

Pros:

• "The place has a beautifully relaxed feeling, very homely and welcoming vibe."
• "The lovely historic building gives way to a surprisingly bright and modern restaurant with an inviting feel."
• "Such a beautiful restaurant, the ambience is so relaxing and the decor thoughtfully laid out to optimise each individual tables view point and enjoyment."
• "Music was played throughout the restaurant which created a nice atmosphere."
• "Considering Torquay in itself was a bit hit and miss - the restaurant felt very luxurious, with plenty of space, yet relaxed and inviting."
• "Beautiful decor and plenty of space between the tables."
• "It’s a very smart restaurant but not stuffy and even in these times of staff shortages the service was great and the staff attentive."

Cons:

• "The only downside was some other diners who wished to share their lives loudly with the rest of us, which was similar to an EastEnders episode with swearing!"
• "Ambience and acoustics disappointing as there were times when I could barely hear the person with whom I was dining."
• "The restaurant is bistro style casual dining and the tables are quite close together with hard wooden chairs, not so well suited for a multi course tasting menu."
• "It was food for ants, but in a way that felt sort of humiliating."

Service

Pros:

• "The staff are polite knowledge and very attentive."
• "The service was phenomenal. The food was superb."
• "Friendly and efficient service - the absolute perfect balance between decorum and friendliness."
• "The wait staff are wonderful; attentive but at no time overbearing."
• "Service was discreet and professional."
• "The attention to detail in service was exceptional."
• "The service was excellent from start to finish, with each and every front of house member being warm and welcoming."

Cons:

• "Our experience was marred by an inadequately trained/supervised waitress who miscommunicated our order, with the result that our dinner was not as we expected: it contained bacon when we'd asked for no bacon."
• "Service ok."
• "Service was quite rushed and not relaxed but professional."
• "However, the service, although the staff were lovely, we felt between every course that we had been forgotten."
• "The service was just basic."
• "The service was awful. Plates were being cleared away by staff whilst people were still eating."
• "Not a single smile from the wine waiter or the waitress. All very clinical."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The first course of Salcombe lobster was a perfect opener, the chicken custard was a delight with the hazelnut finish."
• "As we both love fish we were delighted to try the prawns with black garlic mayo and sour dough crisps. Very tasty!"
• "The food was heavenly."
• "Diver Scallops with a Thai coconut sauce was outstanding, as was the deconstructed black forest gateaux for dessert!"
• "Terrific tasting menu experience. Beautifully presented, delicious assortment of flavours."
• "The venison was so tender it practically fell apart and every single element of the plate worked in harmony."
• "The food was outstanding, expertly cooked and full of flavour."

Cons:

• "But what was appalling was the portion sizes."
• "We had the taster menu and the food was nice but when paying £80 per person you expect the wow factor and unfortunately it didn't have."
• "Unfortunately, the red mullet was overwhelmed by the Mussels."
• "Only comment I would have is the cod dish was a bit too salty."
• "The only slight disappointment came with a lobster starter that was over powered by a chicken custard that accompanied it."
• "The dishes we were served were not fantastic."
• "The prices are extortionate for what you got and some of the food was not even cooked properly."

Value

Pros:

• "Fantastically priced experience at a really reasonable coast."
• "Lived up to its Michelin star, worth the journey! The taster menu, as all similar menus, was pricey, but very good value if you can afford it for a celebration."
• "Elephant is well worth a visit or detour and was a very reasonably priced for the amazing food and service we received."
• "The set lunch at £29.50 for two courses offers exceptionally good value."
• "The Wine list was also commendable for a Michelin star restaurant with bottles starting from as little as £26 which we thought was very reasonable."
• "The prices are ridiculous(ly low!) for a Michelin starred restaurant."
• "A lovely meal which, given the superb quality of food and service, was great value."

Cons:

• "I would never recommend this place to anyone."
• "Sadly, I wish I’d had a good curry and spent the rest on a weekend in Cornwall or something."
• "When we went to leave the restaurant we were produced with a bill for £28, this was for the water and service charge, absolutely disgusting."
• "We left a little disappointed and underwhelmed considering the status the restaurant holds."
• "Just a glass of wine each and the bill was just shy of £200, definitely not worth it on the night."
• "Believe value for money,nil."
• "It was food for ants, but in a way that felt sort of humiliating."