In short
Okehampton's own food is pubs and curry: the London Inn on West Street for a Sunday roast, Rajpoot on Fore Street for a curry, the White Hart for breakfast. The meals worth planning a day around are on the moor's edge: the Oxenham Arms at South Zeal, the thatched Bearslake Inn and the eccentric Highwayman at Sourton, the Dartmoor Inn at Lydford and the Taw River Inn at Sticklepath, all within fifteen minutes' drive.
Contents7 sections
What are the best restaurants in Okehampton?
Okehampton is a working town on the northern edge of Dartmoor, back on the railway since the Dartmoor Line reopened, and it feeds walkers and cyclists rather than food tourists. In town that means curry houses, pubs and cafés that understand a post-moor appetite. The restaurants people drive to are in the villages ringing the moor, and two of them hold a national guide's attention.
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 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 castle, the Granite Way and the walk up Yes Tor, our Okehampton and West Devon guide covers the day. This page is about where to eat.
Where should you eat in Okehampton town?
The London Inn
The London Inn at 22 West Street is the town's sports-and-music pub, a local rather than a gastropub: the kitchen cooks fresh, the meat comes from an Okehampton butcher, and the Sunday roast is the reason people book. There's a function room for a group and live music that costs nothing.
Our verdict: the Sunday lunch in town, and the pub to pick when the group wants a proper local with a kitchen behind it. Book the roast.
Rajpoot
Rajpoot is the Indian restaurant at 25 Fore Street, Bridge House, by the river at the bottom of the town; listings run to the Rajpoot special and the chicken tikka, and it does takeaway. Ma'ida, further up Fore Street at number 37, is the other curry house, with a Thursday offer.
Our verdict: the evening meal after a day on the moor when nobody wants to drive again. Two curry houses within a few hundred yards means a big group can always get a table.
White Hart Hotel
The White Hart on Fore Street is a Grade II listed coaching inn from the late 17th century, now a Wetherspoon pub and hotel with 23 rooms. It opens from early morning for breakfast and serves all day.
Our verdict: the honest answer for a large group on a budget, for breakfast before the train, or for a bed in the middle of town. Everyone knows what they're getting.
Kings Arms
The Kings Arms on St James Street is the town pub with the garden: a bar that opens into a games room, a beer garden at the back, live music on Saturday evenings and a quiz twice a month. Dogs and children are welcome with a few house rules.
Our verdict: the drink after dinner, or the Saturday night. Treat it as the pub, not the restaurant.
Granite Way Cafe
The Granite Way Cafe is at YHA Okehampton, in the old railway goods shed beside the station, where the Granite Way cycle hire is. It does breakfast, hot and cold drinks, cake and snacks from early morning until mid-afternoon, with a couple of dozen seats; our cycling routes guide covers the trail itself.
Our verdict: the start and finish of the Granite Way, and the best coffee by the station. Not a lunch venue once the ride is done; for that, head into town or out to Lydford.
Which Dartmoor-edge inns are worth the drive from Okehampton?
The reason to eat around Okehampton. Five inns, none more than fifteen minutes away.
The Oxenham Arms, South Zeal
The Oxenham Arms is a historic inn in the village of South Zeal, four miles east, with a restaurant that holds an AA rosette and cooks from local produce; listings describe several dining rooms and, in summer, meals in a garden looking out to Dartmoor. There are rooms, a locally brewed house beer, and a beer festival on the second weekend of August.
Our verdict: the special-occasion dinner on this side of the moor, and the one to book first for a group of eight. The garden in summer is the table to ask for.
The Bearslake Inn, Sourton
The Bearslake Inn at Lake, near Sourton on the A386, is a thatched 13th-century Devon longhouse with rooms and a kitchen that cooks locally sourced food with a home-cooked feel; reviewers mention the haddock and chips, a risotto and a stout cake. We cover its rooms in our Devon pubs with rooms guide.
Our verdict: the prettiest building on the list, and the right choice for a long lunch after Sourton Tors. Check the current menu and payment arrangements before you go: it's card only.
The Highwayman Inn, Sourton
The Highwayman at Sourton calls itself Britain's most unusual inn, and CAMRA agrees: the entrance is an old Launceston-to-Tavistock coach, the inside is packed with curiosities, and the same family has run it for about sixty years. It opens Wednesday to Sunday for set lunch and evening sessions, is often fully booked, and has five rooms.
Our verdict: go once, for the building as much as the food, and book, because everyone else has the same idea. Not the place for a quiet business lunch.
The Dartmoor Inn, Lydford
The Dartmoor Inn on Moorside at Lydford is a 16th-century roadside gastropub with a Michelin Guide listing: small dining rooms, a menu built on local produce that has run to dry-aged moorland sirloin, gluten-free options and a separate vegan menu. It serves Wednesday to Sunday.
Our verdict: the cook's choice around Okehampton, and the one to pick if you're choosing a single meal for the food alone. Pair it with Lydford Gorge or the end of the Granite Way, and book.
Taw River Inn, Sticklepath
The Taw River Inn at Sticklepath, three miles east on the old A30, serves good-value pub food in the bar and a dining room at lunchtime and in the evening, with real ales and a cider made in the village. There's a garden with summer barbecues, and it's family friendly.
Our verdict: the family pub, and the natural lunch after Finch Foundry or a walk up the Taw. Sunday is lunch only.
Where else to eat on the way
Betty Cottles Inn, Meldon
Betty Cottles at Graddon Cross, Meldon, on the Tavistock road two miles out, is an inn with a raised restaurant area that CAMRA's North Devon branch lists for good-value food; the Food Standards Agency register shows its kitchen trading as Villa Verde since August 2026, so the menu may have changed hands. Check before you go.
Our verdict: the roadside stop between Okehampton and Lydford. Worth a look if the kitchen's new identity turns out to be Italian, as the name suggests; we'll confirm on the next review.
How to plan a group meal around Okehampton
- Take the Dartmoor Line. Trains from Exeter St Davids run to Okehampton again, so the town pubs and curry houses need no driver. The moorland inns do, or a taxi from the station.
- Book the inns. The Oxenham Arms, the Dartmoor Inn and the Highwayman are all the kind of place a table of eight needs to reserve, and two of them close at the start of the week.
- Walk first, eat second. The Granite Way to Lydford ends by the Castle Inn and the Dartmoor Inn; Sourton Tors finishes at the Bearslake; Finch Foundry at Sticklepath finishes at the Taw River Inn.
- Dogs. The Kings Arms, the Taw River Inn's garden and the moorland pubs take dogs, with house rules; ask before a big group arrives.
For the moor itself, our social guide to Dartmoor covers the pub walks from the other side, and the Devon pubs with rooms guide has the Bearslake and its neighbours for a night away. If Okehampton is one stop on a longer tour, the Crediton restaurants guide covers the next market town back towards Exeter.
Okehampton restaurants: frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best restaurant in Okehampton?
- In town, the London Inn on West Street for a Sunday roast and Rajpoot on Fore Street for a curry. For the food alone, drive to the Dartmoor Inn at Lydford, a 16th-century gastropub in the Michelin Guide, or the Oxenham Arms at South Zeal, whose restaurant holds an AA rosette.
- Which pubs near Okehampton serve good food?
- The Oxenham Arms at South Zeal, the thatched Bearslake Inn and the Highwayman at Sourton, the Dartmoor Inn at Lydford and the Taw River Inn at Sticklepath are the five moorland-edge inns worth the drive. In town, the London Inn cooks fresh with a Sunday roast and the White Hart is the Wetherspoon.
- Is there a curry house in Okehampton?
- Two. Rajpoot at 25 Fore Street by the river, and Ma'ida at 37 Fore Street, which runs a Thursday offer. Both do takeaway.
- Where can I eat near Okehampton station?
- The Granite Way Cafe at YHA Okehampton, in the old goods shed beside the station, does breakfast, drinks and cake from early morning until mid-afternoon, and the White Hart on Fore Street opens for breakfast a few minutes' walk into town.
- Can I reach the Dartmoor pubs without a car?
- The town pubs and curry houses are a short walk from Okehampton station on the Dartmoor Line. The moorland inns at South Zeal, Sourton, Lydford and Sticklepath need a car or a taxi, though the Granite Way cycle trail runs from the station to Lydford, which puts the Dartmoor Inn and the Castle Inn within a bike ride.
Make it a dinner with friends
The best meal around Okehampton is a long one in a moorland inn after a day on the tors, with wet boots by the fire and the last light going off the hills. 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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