Review: Harry's Restaurant

The Pounds family opened Harry's Restaurant in 2003 and serve good quality, honest food at affordable prices.  I have never eaten there before, but I am a fan of their sister restaurant, Harry's Grill Bar which is also in Exeter.

When we arrived I was impressed by how nice it was inside. The restaurant itself is cosy and comfortable, and we had a seat right by their signature floor to ceiling windows which were surrounded by fairy lights. It is very ambient with chilled music playing, making it a really nice place to sit in and enjoy a meal.

We decided to share a starter of baked Camembert, which is served with fresh French bread and Devon chilli jam.  It was baked to the perfect gooey consistency, and the chilli jam was the perfect compliment to the flavour along with the fresh, warm French bread.  I am glad that we shared it, as it would definitely have been too much to eat for one person.

For mains I went for a spicy chicken burrito, as I love Mexican food! It was served with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and cheese. The burrito was absolutely stuffed with the spicy chicken filling and Mexican green rice, and it was cooked perfectly.  It had a rich, smoky flavour and the chicken was tender and full of Mexican flavour.  I really enjoyed it, and am glad that I've finally found somewhere in Exeter the makes a delicious Mexican dish.

Nick went for a Jambalaya which is "a spicy chicken, chorizo, shrimp, and rice dish" similar to a Spanish paella. The smell of the dish when it was brought out was outstanding. The photo doesn't really do this dish any justice - the bowl was massive and the portion was actually huge! It wasn't really very spicy at all, but it was incredibly tasty. So often when eating Spanish food in the UK you're served cheap chorizo which is rubbery and full of grilse, but this wasn't the case here - the big chunks of chorizo tasted lovely and were perfectly cooked. The chicken also tasted beautiful, but was served on the bone under the rice. Nick said that personally, he would have preferred that it was chopped up and mixed in with the rest of the ingredients.

We weren't sure what the portion sizes would be so ordered some chips on the side, just to be sure.  They were lovely and crispy, just how we like them!  Another thing that impressed me with the meal was how perfectly timed everything was.  The gap between ordering, the starters arriving, the plates being cleared and the mains arriving was perfect with just the right amount of time between each, and a great swift service.   The staff were great, and made us feel really welcome and looked after.


Food *****  Service ***** Atmosphere *****
L x

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