ON an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon in October we wanted to find somewhere to sit outside and eat lunch.

We found prime seafront seats outside the Bay Leaf, which is part of the Bay Hotel, on Marine Parade in Lyme Regis.

The two choices for Sunday roast were beef and pork, with two choosing beef while I went for pork.

Our other companion couldn’t resist the sound of the Exmouth mussels, served with wild boar bacon, cider and granary bread.

There was also a full lunch menu available, with dishes including salt beef croquettes, fish pie, and Falmouth shell on prawns, as well as various omelettes, jacket potatoes and sandwiches.

There was a good choice of side dishes and a varied children’s menu, which featured wholetail scampi and tomato and basil penne.

Although the restaurant was very busy, the service was efficient and attentive and the atmosphere outside was relaxed and vibrant.

While we were waiting, the waiter informed us that there was no pork left.

This was a shame as I don’t like roast beef and had been really looking forward to a roast, so I asked if I could have sausages instead. The sausages were very tasty and a good enough substitute, probably local too.

And I was still served pork crackling, stuffing and a Yorkshire pudding.

The beef was sliced as thick as a steak and still pink – much appreciated by the two male diners.

Along with the roast potatoes on our plate we were served cauliflower cheese, cabbage, and roasted parsnips.

The waiter was only too happy to oblige when we asked him for a dish of peas too and we all nodded our approval when two full gravy boats were delivered.

As for the mussels, they were fresh and succulent and the sauce a tasty alternative to the usual white wine and garlic that you often see on menus.

We were too stuffed to eat dessert and decided instead to walk it off along the seafront and get an ice cream later, but the options included spotted dick, blackcurrant and ginger cheesecake, and blood orange posset. I also noticed that afternoon tea is served from 3pm.

  • Bay Leaf Reastaurant, Marine Parade, Lyme Regis, 01297 442059,

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