The Riverbank Café, Ivybridge

As I mentioned in my previous post, Christopher and I recently went to visit our grandparents in Ivybridge, Devon. Some might say there is not much to do in Ivybridge; however, I would disagree and say there is plenty to do and it mainly involves eating! A particular food highlight of the trip there is always the Riverbank Café, a restaurant near their house. It is owned by a really friendly French man, Fabrice, which has led to us all always calling it "Fabrice's" - I think he should rename it that as it would give it a real French air!

It's always been busy when I have gone, but the service is always friendly and because my grandparents go there weekly they are well known! Our table reservation was even done on first name terms!

It's such a nice place to go in the summer because you can sit outside on the terrace by the river

You can find their website and menu here - it's very extensive and has some really nice stuff on it. I have had the crayfish and smoked salmon salad before, and the mussels are also meant to be very good!
This time I decided to choose something off the specials board - there were so many interesting things on it that I found it difficult to choose!

I was tempted by the mackerel, the "Salade Italia" and the "Petite Friture" but eventually went for the Scallops Niçoise, because I had heard from my grandparents how good the scallops always are here, and I have only had them once before!

In all its glory!

It was absolutely delicious! The scallops were perfectly cooked and went amazingly with all the other ingredients; I also particularly loved the olives and the green beans. It was a lovely light salad which was perfect for such a hot day.

Christopher went for ham, egg and chips (his usual!)

My grandad chose the steak frites (going in for a chip while I took the photo!)

And my granny chose the asparagus and parma ham special

They do excellent puddings here as well; normally we go for crepes but sadly they had run out of the batter by the time we were ready to order! I decided to go for a HUGE piece of banoffee pie instead - look at all the cream!!

The best banoffee pie I have ever had was in a restaurant in Toulouse called Café à la Une (review coming soon!) and this lived up to that one! 

Here are everyone else's puddings

Apricot Treacle Tart

Looks amazing - if only I liked cheesecake!!

Summer Pudding

We all left feeling extremely full and satisfied and I even managed to speak a bit of French to Fabrice despite the threat of Christopher being there to laugh at me. This is a really lovely little restaurant and I'm very jealous of my grandparents and their weekly visits here! I think it would do well in any city and I really wish we had one in Reading to break up the monotony of all the many chains. If you're ever in the area, definitely make sure to visit, it is definitely worth it. 

And I promise, you won't be bored in Ivybridge, you will enjoy some really delicious food!