A menu that arouses curiosity and gets you salivating as well

LET'S get one thing straight: comments here are not designed to offend, writes Journal editor Richard Best.

I eat out frequently in Barnstaple at perfectly respectable places. Their menus are fine, the ambience good, service generally warm and efficient. But – and there's the rub – I rarely find anything on the menus exciting or challenging.

The spare tyre around my middle attests to the fact that I like to eat. I devour cookbooks like ladies of a certain inclination do Catherine Cookson novels. And I spend a disproportionate amount of time in the kitchen. But in more than four years I can't recall walking into a restaurant in Barnstaple and seeing things on the menu that simultaneously aroused my curiosity and made me salivate.

The minute I opened the menu at The Old Custom House I knew it was either going to be exceptional or – apologies for the technical French – cack.

It was lunchtime so we chose from the tapas menu.

Tiger prawns came huge and grilled, with a light coating of sea salt, garlic and olive oil and accompanied by a bowl of fruity mayonnaise drizzled with parsley oil.

The rare-as-requested slices of local rump steak were served in a deep, rich sauce, heaped with different wild mushrooms and peppers.

My least favourite was the home-made spaghetti in a tomato sauce with parmesan. It was good, but personally I prefer the al dente resistance of dried spaghetti with a sauce like this. But this is verging on the churlish.

The crab and clam risotto, well that would have been a treat if only because it's the first time I've been able to eat fresh clams in a Barnstaple restaurant. But it was fantastic, loaded with shellfish flavour.

We reluctantly agreed to see the desserts menu – in the name of research, you understand – and, when I asked whether the puds were also tapas style I was offered the option of a dessert plate to share. Who wouldn't? Only a buffoon or someone fitted with a gastric band.

What came was a fragrant panoply of fresh ice creams (plural), different types of biscuit, lemon cream desserts with a liquid caramel top and a much appreciated chocolate fix which came in the form of a hot chocolate pud with a gooey centre. Just what the doctor ordered me to avoid. Lovely.

The Old Custom House is a rare treat of a restaurant. The food oozes classy ingredients, freshness, imagination. Chef/patron James Duckett's years in Spain come through loud and clear.

It only remains for North Devon to support him: anybody interested in food owes it to themselves to ensure the new Old Custom House is successful and thrives for us all to enjoy.

● The Old Custom House

The Strand

Barnstaple

Tel 01271 370123

● Tapas for two including extravagant desserts, soft drinks and coffee cost £31.60.

● The tapas menu is served at lunchtime while at night there is an à la carte menu.