In short
For an evening out in Crediton, book Amapola, the tapas and wine bar in the old bank on the High Street, or the Three Little Pigs on the square for home-cooked pub food. By day, Baobab on the Market Square does Middle Eastern plates. The best meals are in the villages: the Lamb Inn at Sandford, the thatched New Inn at Coleford and the Duck at Yeoford, all under fifteen minutes' drive.
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What are the best restaurants in Crediton?
Crediton is a working market town eight miles north-west of Exeter, with a long High Street, a market square and more cafés than restaurants. Its evening food is a wine bar, a handful of pubs and a curry house or two. The reason food people talk about Crediton is the ring of villages around it, where three pubs have made themselves worth a drive from the city.
This guide covers places that were trading when we checked in October 2026. We confirmed every venue against its Food Standards Agency hygiene record, then against its own website, CAMRA's pub listings, Mid Devon's licensing register or a dated local source. We haven't eaten a meal at every venue on this list, so we don't pretend to have. Where we give an opinion, we explain the reasoning: what each place does, who it suits and where it fits in a day out.
For the town itself, the church and the Tarka Line, our Crediton and Tiverton guide covers the day. This page is about where to eat.
Where should you eat in Crediton town?
Amapola Coffee & Wine Bar
Amapola is at 133 High Street in what used to be the NatWest bank. CAMRA lists it as a wine bar with a tapas menu, two hand-pumps, Utopian keg lagers and craft beer in cans and bottles, open Thursday to Saturday evenings with food from early evening. It's listed as dog friendly and family friendly.
Our verdict: the most grown-up evening in Crediton, and the right shape for a group: small plates to share, a short week, so book. It's the place to suggest when nobody wants a full pub dinner.
The Three Little Pigs
The Three Little Pigs is at 1 Parliament Street, overlooking the town square, in a Grade II listed building from about 1836 that was once the Market House Inn. CAMRA describes home-cooked food in the bar and restaurant, cooked to order with local ingredients where possible and a Sunday roast, with three ales always on, including Otter Amber. The interior is covered in memorabilia, vintage adverts and instruments.
Our verdict: the pub dinner in town. Big enough for a table of eight, characterful enough that nobody minds waiting for the food, and on the square, so it's the natural meeting point.
Baobab Cafe
Baobab is on Market Street, by the Market Square, and cooks Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food by day, Tuesday to Saturday, with a small menu, a run of specials and vegan options. It's wheelchair accessible, and there's seating inside and out on the square, which gets live music on some Friday and Saturday evenings.
Our verdict: the best lunch in Crediton, and the one to pick when the group includes a vegan. Daytime only, so plan dinner elsewhere.
Ashtons Coffee Lounge
Ashtons is at 9 Market Street, facing the square, with tables inside and out. Reviewers describe bagels, paninis, jacket potatoes and an all-day afternoon tea, and rate the coffee and the Victoria sponge.
Our verdict: the easy morning stop before a walk, or the afternoon tea on a wet day. Nothing fancy, which is the point.
Elephant on the Green
Elephant on the Green is a café at 14 St Lawrence Green, a licensed premises with Mid Devon since 2022 and a regular stop on the walking and cycling loops out of town; one cyclist's review called it excellent value, warm and welcoming, with somewhere to park the bikes.
Our verdict: the café for the start or end of a walk along the Creedy. It sits on the green at the top of town, away from the traffic.
Union Road Moto-Velo
Union Road Moto-Velo on Union Road is a family-run motorcycle dealership with a café inside, known to riders across the South West as a pit stop since it opened in 2017. Coffee, food and somewhere safe to park the bike; it also has rooms for riders staying over. Closed Mondays.
Our verdict: not a restaurant, but if anyone in your group rides, it's the Crediton stop they'll want. Good coffee among the motorbikes.
The Red Deer
The Red Deer is the Marston's pub on Joseph Locke Way, by the Tesco on the edge of town, built in 2011. CAMRA lists it as food-led, open from breakfast, with a garden, family seating, parking and full step-free access.
Our verdict: the honest answer for a large, mixed group with cars, pushchairs or wheelchairs. It's a chain pub, so you know the menu, and that's exactly why it works on a busy Sunday.
Which village pubs near Crediton are worth the drive?
Three pubs within fifteen minutes of the town, each a reason in itself.
The Lamb Inn, Sandford
The Lamb Inn stands on the square in Sandford, two miles north of Crediton: a 16th-century inn with two low-beamed bars, open fires, a tiered garden and seven rooms upstairs. The menu is short, reviewed daily and built on local produce. It's also a licensed wedding venue, so it's occasionally closed on a Saturday lunchtime; check before you go. We cover it in our Devon pubs with rooms guide too.
Our verdict: the one to book for a proper dinner, and the obvious choice if the group wants to stay over. In summer, the garden is the best outdoor table in the area.
The New Inn, Coleford
The New Inn at Coleford, three miles west, is a thatched free house that CAMRA dates to the 13th century, all beams and flagstones. Homemade West Country cooking is served for lunch and dinner seven days a week, in the Hayloft restaurant or the Bridge Bar, the oldest part of the inn, with four cask ales including Otter and Jail Ale and a long list of real ciders. There are rooms.
Our verdict: the prettiest of the three and the most reliable for a long lunch, because it serves every day. Sit in the Bridge Bar by the fire in winter.
The Duck at Yeoford
The Duck is a 19th-century village pub at Yeoford, four miles south-west, with a Good Food Guide entry. The menus change between lunch and dinner but always carry fish, a steak, a salad and a vegetarian dish; the signature is a confit leg of Creedy Carver duck cassoulet, and the Sunday roast is the thing locals book for. It's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and runs a takeaway, including fish and chips on Fridays by phone.
Our verdict: the cook's choice of the three. If you're choosing one village pub around Crediton for the food alone, this is it, and Yeoford has a station on the Tarka Line, so nobody has to drive.
Where to eat in the countryside around Crediton
Thorne's Farm Shop & Café, Stockleigh Pomeroy
Thorne's is a farm shop and café at Hawthorn Gardens, Stockleigh Pomeroy, a few miles north-east of Crediton. The Thorne family opened the shop in 1992 on a farm that grows its own soft fruit and vegetables, strawberries above all; the café does breakfasts, lunches, cakes and pastries prepared on site, and in summer you can pick your own fruit. Opening hours differ between listings, so check the farm's own site.
Our verdict: the breakfast stop and the picnic shop. Buy the strawberries, eat them on the Creedy.
The Devonshire Dumpling, Morchard Road
The Devonshire Dumpling is a roadside pub on the A377 at Morchard Road, north-west of Crediton on the way to Barnstaple. CAMRA lists good-value food using local produce at lunchtime and in the evening, a popular Sunday roast, local ales, three en-suite rooms and a dog-friendly garden. It's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Morchard Road station is a request stop on the Tarka Line, so flag the train down.
Our verdict: the pub for a group heading north: a roast on the way to the coast, or a bed if the evening runs long.
How to plan a group meal in Crediton
- Use the Tarka Line. Crediton, Yeoford and Morchard Road are all stops on the Exeter to Barnstaple line, so the Duck and the Dumpling are reachable without a car; Morchard Road is a request stop.
- Book the village pubs. The Lamb, the New Inn and the Duck are all the kind of place a table of eight needs to reserve, and the Duck and the Dumpling are closed at the start of the week.
- Do the day in town and the evening out. Lunch at Baobab or Ashtons on the square, then a short drive to Sandford, Coleford or Yeoford for dinner.
- Dogs and bikes. Amapola, the Lamb's bars and the Dumpling's garden welcome dogs; Elephant on the Green and Moto-Velo are the cyclists' and bikers' stops.
If Crediton is one stop on a longer tour, our best day trips from Exeter for groups puts it alongside the coast and the moor, and the Honiton restaurants guide covers the market town on the other side of the county.
Crediton restaurants: frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best restaurant in Crediton?
- In town, Amapola, the tapas and wine bar at 133 High Street, for an evening, and the Three Little Pigs on the square for pub food. For the best cooking in the area, drive to the Duck at Yeoford, which has a Good Food Guide entry, or the Lamb Inn at Sandford.
- Which pubs near Crediton serve good food?
- The Lamb Inn at Sandford, the thatched New Inn at Coleford and the Duck at Yeoford are the three village pubs worth the drive. In town, the Three Little Pigs on Parliament Street cooks to order with a Sunday roast, and the Red Deer on Joseph Locke Way is the family-friendly chain pub.
- Where can I get lunch or coffee in Crediton?
- Baobab on Market Street does Middle Eastern and Mediterranean plates by day, Ashtons Coffee Lounge faces the market square with bagels, paninis and afternoon tea, and Elephant on the Green on St Lawrence Green is the walkers' and cyclists' café. Thorne's Farm Shop at Stockleigh Pomeroy does breakfasts and cakes a few miles out.
- Can I reach Crediton's pubs by train?
- Yes. Crediton, Yeoford and Morchard Road are stops on the Tarka Line from Exeter to Barnstaple, so the Duck at Yeoford and the Devonshire Dumpling at Morchard Road are reachable without a car. Morchard Road is a request stop.
- Is there anywhere to stay and eat near Crediton?
- The Lamb Inn at Sandford has seven rooms, the New Inn at Coleford has rooms above its restaurant, and the Devonshire Dumpling at Morchard Road has three en-suite rooms. Union Road Moto-Velo in town has rooms for riders.
Make it a dinner with friends
The best meal around Crediton is a long one in a village pub, with the fire going and the last train still an hour off. If you'd like more evenings like that closer to home, we host dinners in Exeter where you share a table with people you haven't met yet.
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