My fiancee and I had headed down to the lovely Ilfracombe to join up with friends for a wedding in the outrageously beautiful ‘Tunnels beaches’. Like everyone else we arrived a day earlier to enjoy some drinks and nibbles. We ended up at a great little restaurant, a stones throw from the sea. With the weather well and truly on our side we looked forward to relaxing with friends.

Head to Gazpacho Spanish Restaurant’s Homepage

Gazpacho is located right on the seafront as the road curves past the local museum. It has ‘glorious views overlooking the Celtic Sea’. There’s plenty of room to house 25+ people outside, and that is where we stayed all night. The service (considering they were under staffed) was top notch. Pleasant, timely, apologetic (for the extra 20 or 30 seconds wait). It’s the sort of place where you feel obliged to help stack plates, not because the service is poor but, because you want to help out the hard working staff!

Inside, the restaurant was kept clean and tidy and began to fill up as the night continued. Mediterranean style design with oranges and browns helped add to the authenticity of the place and its accompanying menu. Really good Spanish tapas. Very authentic. Very well prepared and presented. The aubergine fritters a favourite of mine (Berenjena Frita Con Miel). Oh and the crispy white bait. We were a healthy sized group and ended up ordering a real selection of tapas, all served on wooden trays, and a wonderful seafood paella.

Of course I’m a little biased on the atmosphere because I was surrounded by friends but inside certainly seemed to be housed with people enjoying the food and having fun. We planned to go back after the wedding but were unfortunately a little worse for wear! If you are heading down for a relaxing break in Devon you really should take a trip to Gazpacho.