Restaurant in Croyde, United Kingdom
North Devon's best cooking. Book ahead.
New Coast Kitchen holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025 and delivers seafood-forward Modern British cooking that stands well above the usual coastal Devon offer. At £££ it is the area's most considered option for a special dinner or a date night, with a wine list that shows genuine thought and a room that balances smart design with a relaxed coastal feel.
Yes — and if you're spending any time on the North Devon coast, this is the restaurant to plan around. New Coast Kitchen holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, carries a 4.8 Google rating from 284 reviews, and delivers modern British cooking that goes well beyond what the local holiday-town circuit typically offers. At £££, it sits in the mid-to-upper tier for the area, but the cooking justifies that positioning. Book it for a special dinner, a date night mid-holiday, or any occasion where you want something more considered than the surrounding surf-town options.
The room is compact and deliberately styled: dark walls, hanging greenery, large mirrors, low-hanging industrial lamps, and spotlights that give the space more urban energy than you'd expect from a Devon village. The atmosphere runs warm and relaxed rather than formal — this is a coastal restaurant, not a country house dining room. Service has been described as cheerful and the overall vibe is approachable, which means you won't feel out of place in a linen shirt and shorts, but the cooking demands you pay attention.
In good weather, the terrace out front opens for lunch with a small-plates menu , this is the room's most social configuration, suited to a relaxed afternoon rather than a destination dinner. Inside at night is when the kitchen shows what it can do. The energy shifts, the room fills, and the food takes centre stage.
The menu leans heavily on local and seasonal seafood, which makes sense given the location. Porthilly oysters appear as a starting point , served with apple pickle and chilli oil, or in tempura batter with wasabi tartare sauce , and the kitchen treats them as a proper course rather than an afterthought. Scallop ceviche in its shell, dressed with roquito pepper mayonnaise, sea vegetables, and tomato granita, shows the level of technique on offer: this is precise, confident cooking with flavour combinations that hold up under scrutiny.
Wild sea bass is a recurring feature when landed, often paired with Fowey scallops, herring roe, and citrus-marinated fennel. Hake has appeared with mussel mousse and miso butter sauce. Both dishes demonstrate a kitchen comfortable working across European and Japanese reference points without losing coherence. Meat dishes, such as a saddle of lamb served pink alongside a roast short rib, with courgette, basil purée, and baby turnip, confirm the kitchen is not simply coasting on the local seafood supply. Desserts are taken seriously: the confit apple terrine and vanilla cheesecake with honey and lavender ice cream have drawn consistent praise in published reviews.
The wine list includes organic options and bottles from less familiar regions , a Kardos Dry Furmint from Hungary, a Yamanashi Koshu sur lie from Japan , which signals a team that is thinking about the full meal, not just the plates. A selection of cocktails rounds out the drinks offering.
New Coast Kitchen's interior format works well for diners who want to be close to the action without committing to a formal table-for-two setup. The room's design , open, mirrored, lit with industrial lamps , creates a space where solo diners and couples can settle into the atmosphere without feeling exposed. If bar or counter seating is available (confirm at booking), this is a strong choice for solo travellers who want to eat well without the social overhead of a full table booking. The cocktail list gives you a reason to arrive early and settle in rather than rushing to the meal.
Booking difficulty is rated moderate. In summer, when the lanes around Croyde and Woolacombe fill with holidaymakers, availability at this level of cooking tightens quickly , book ahead rather than hoping for a walk-in. Lunch on the terrace may offer more flexibility. No phone number or booking URL is listed in our current data, so check directly via search for their latest booking method. Hours are not confirmed in our data; verify before travelling. For more options in the area, see our full Croyde restaurants guide, and if you're planning a longer stay, our Croyde hotels guide covers where to base yourself.
For context on what this Michelin Plate recognition means: the same guide that recognises New Coast Kitchen also lists venues like hide and fox in Saltwood, 33 The Homend in Ledbury, and further afield, full-star holders like L'Enclume in Cartmel and Moor Hall in Aughton. New Coast Kitchen does not compete with those in ambition or formality, but within its category , coastal Modern British at a mid-to-upper price point , it is executing at a level that stands up against the national reference points. If you're already visiting Devon, it also makes sense to note Gidleigh Park in Chagford as the regional benchmark for a more formal special-occasion splurge, though at a considerably higher price tier. For something similar in spirit, The Hand and Flowers in Marlow offers a useful comparison of what a Michelin-recognised pub-restaurant format can deliver at a comparable price level in a different region.
| Detail | New Coast Kitchen | Typical Croyde pub/restaurant |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | £££ | £–££ |
| Michelin recognition | Plate (2024, 2025) | None |
| Cuisine style | Modern British, seafood-forward | Pub grub / casual |
| Booking difficulty | Moderate (book ahead in summer) | Low–moderate |
| Google rating | 4.8 (284 reviews) | Varies |
| Terrace / outdoor seating | Yes (lunch small-plates format) | Often yes |
If you're building out a trip to this part of Devon, Pearl has guides across the area: Croyde bars, Croyde wineries, and Croyde experiences. For other Michelin-recognised Modern British restaurants across the UK, the Midsummer House in Cambridge, Opheem in Birmingham, and Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in Auchterarder offer reference points at a higher formality level. For London Modern British at the leading of the market, CORE by Clare Smyth and The Ritz Restaurant set the ceiling.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Coast Kitchen | With its relaxed vibe and cheerful service, this is just the kind of restaurant you want to know about when on holiday around the North Devon coast. Head for the terrace out front in good weather – a perfect spot for people watching – or sit inside surrounded by the sleek, modern décor. The adventurous cooking is executed with flair and delivers well-judged combinations of bold flavours, as with the contrast between rich butter sauce and citrus marinated fennel in a wild bass dish. Save room for dessert too, as the confit apple terrine is a highlight.; The beaches of Saunton Sands, Croyde and Woolacombe make up what has become a surfers’ paradise on this stretch of the north Devon coast, and committed surfers are here year-round. However, the winding lanes and thatched villages swell with holidaymakers in summer, often looking for something beyond pub grub – which the young team at New Coast Kitchen are more than happy to provide. The outside seating area is popular at lunch when a small-plates menu is offered, while the dark walls of this smart little restaurant abound with hanging greenery, big mirrors, spotlights and low-hanging industrial lamps. You’re at the seaside, so kick off with some Porthilly oysters, perhaps served with a delicate apple pickle and a dash of chilli oil or hot in tempura batter with a wasabi tartare sauce. There’s more seafood on the menu, including a superb scallop ceviche in its shell with a mild roquito pepper mayonnaise, sea vegetables and a refreshing tomato granita (a clever addition). Hake appears regularly (served with a mussel mousse and miso butter sauce when we visited), while wild sea bass is a treat whenever it's landed – perhaps partnered by Fowey scallops, herring roe and citrus-marinated fennel. In the mood for meat? Indulge in generously sliced saddle of lamb, served pink with a tender roast short rib alongside accompaniments of courgette and basil purée and baby turnip. At dessert, you might opt for the prettily presented vanilla cheesecake with lovely honey and lavender ice cream or chocolate ganache with poached cherries. An interesting, fairly priced wine list includes several organic and less familiar bottles including a Kardos Dry Furmint (from Hungary) and a Yamanashi Koshu sur lie (from Japan); there's also a selection of elegant cocktails.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | £££ | — |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
| The Ledbury | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | ££££ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between New Coast Kitchen and alternatives.
The restaurant is compact by design, so larger groups will need to plan carefully. The room works well for parties of two to four, but if you're travelling in a group of six or more, check the venue's official channels before assuming availability. Summer weekends in Croyde fill fast at this level of cooking, and flexibility on timing will help.
Yes, and it's one of the stronger cases for it on this stretch of the Devon coast. The Michelin Plate recognition signals cooking that punches above the holiday-town norm, the room is styled rather than casual, and the menu has the kind of considered combinations — wild sea bass, scallop ceviche, confit apple terrine — that make a meal feel considered rather than routine. Book a table inside rather than relying on terrace availability for evening occasions.
Croyde itself has limited direct competition at this level. For similar Modern British ambition on the North Devon coast, Woolacombe and Barnstaple both have options worth comparing. If you're after something more casual in Croyde — pub food rather than plated cooking — there are several options in the village, but none carry Michelin recognition. New Coast Kitchen is the clear choice if cooking quality is the priority.
Arrive knowing it's a small, smart room — dark walls, industrial lighting, hanging greenery — not a sprawling seaside brasserie. The menu leans hard into local seafood, so if you're not a fish eater, check the menu in advance; meat options exist but the kitchen's strengths are in the sea-sourced dishes. The outside terrace is popular at lunch with a small-plates format, which is a lower-commitment entry point if you want to test the cooking before committing to dinner.
The compact, styled interior and the small-plates lunch format make it a reasonable choice for solo diners. The terrace seating at lunch is the easier solo option — lower spend, no pressure to fill a table. Solo diners at dinner should book in advance; at £££ and with Michelin Plate status drawing a loyal summer crowd, walk-ins at dinner are a risk.
The venue data does not confirm a fixed tasting menu format, so this isn't something to book around with certainty. What the kitchen does offer is a dinner menu with enough range and ambition — Porthilly oysters, scallop ceviche, wild sea bass, confit apple terrine — to build a multi-course meal that justifies the £££ price point without needing a set tasting structure. Check the current menu format directly before booking if a tasting experience is the specific goal.
At £££ with a Michelin Plate, it represents fair value for the quality and location. In a North Devon holiday context, where the alternative is often pub grub or tourist-facing brasseries, the gap between New Coast Kitchen and its local competition makes the price easier to justify. The wine list is noted as fairly priced and includes less familiar bottles, which helps keep the overall spend in check.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
