Joshua's Harvest Store - East Devon

We went for lunch at Joshua's on Sunday. The staff were happy, friendly polite. The service was swift the food fresh plentiful well presented. The shop is really nice to browse around with many surprizes to find around each corner.

My husband and I decided to visit this restaurant today. We were at Ottery and the queue was quite long for food so we decided to pop over the road to try this place out. I was quite excited as I’d heard good things so I was hoping for a nice hot meal. We got to the restaurant bit and it was a small counter. One of the staff said we wouldn’t be waiting long as they were going about taking orders through to the kitchen, all good. Then a lady abruptly asked my husband what we wanted. Anyone would think that he’d insulted her the way she spoke to him. Really rude, abrupt, obviously unhappy in her job today. I won’t embarrass her by naming her or describing her, but her attitude certainly made an impression on us. We were told to find a table. All of the tables that weren’t occupied had the remains of the previous customers plates etc on them. There was a member of staff doing nothing at all, I’m sure she could see the state of the tables and just go and clear them, but no, we had to clear the table ourselves . It wasn’t busy in there, seemed to be a slow flow of customers. I luckily had some wet wipes in my bag and wiped the table top down as it had debris on. The wet wipe was grey when I lifted it up…after several wipes it was still grey, to me this shows that the tables aren’t thoroughly cleaned. I should’ve left then but I gave it a chance. We were sat waiting and this gave me a chance to look more closely at the area. The walls were dirty, as was the skirting. The nearby sofa had food under it, the sofa also needed a clean. The floors were generally unclean with lots of food debris. Dust on most surfaces, window sills etc. one family decided to sit outside as they considered it too dirty to eat in. So I’m sat there hoping the kitchen was cleaner than the dining area. I noticed a member of staff come out with a grey looking rag and spray and start to clean one of the tables, to be fair, she looked like she was really wiping the table top well..so I can’t understand why ours was dirty? Anyway, the food arrives. I ordered a cheese and leek lattice. I came with a side of some sort of relish (that was really tasty), a bit of salad with dressing on (I’m not keen on salad dressing so maybe that should be an optional thing for those of us who don’t like salad dressing) and coleslaw and a bean salad (typical tinned type). The lattice was nice, plenty of it too. The rest of the dish I wasn’t keen on. The presentation wasn’t great and the quality of it wasn’t fab but the price was good so I suppose to keep prices competitive they have to cut back on quality a little. My husband ordered a tuna mayo and cucumber sandwich. It had a bit of salad and some tube like crisps. He said the sandwich was ok, nothing special. Drinks were good. I had a chai tea (lovely), he had coffee which was also good. We ordered a piece of cake each from the coffee and walnut cake on display. That was lovely. In all, the food was average, nothing special and it all seemed quite snack based so I suppose if that’s what you’re after, a filling snack..this is the place to go. The dining area needs a deep clean that’s for certain.

We stopped here for a light lunch and ordered BLTs. These were made to order taking account of an individual request to omit butter, the bread was soft and fresh, the bacon tasty and the lettuce crunchy. We enjoyed them in the sunny meadow garden which is a calm natural space. The tables are well spaced. The staff were friendly and helpful. Lunch was very well priced in my opinion. I also enjoyed the selection of foods and healthy goods in the shop, and had to buy a few treats and gifts on the way out. Wish I lived near, it was a welcome find while on holiday.

Lunch here was absolutely lovely spiced lentil soup was delicious, warm roll, butter that wasn’t rock hard. Second time here and would thoroughly recommend.

The tea was also quite weak, even with an extra tea bag. Despite my reluctance to complain, I feel compelled to mention these issues. On a positive note, the staff in the café were pleasant, and the tables were well spaced out. They also had an outdoor seating area for those still cautious about COVID-19, with tables labeled as sanitized, which was a reassuring touch. However, I regret to say that I will not be returning for food and drinks, and I will advise my friends against doing so as well. It's a shame to see such a decline in quality.