Welcome to Arcadia, a brand new Pub and Restaurant located bang in the middle of Exeter.
Arcadia is the creation of Utopian Brewing… one of the leading brewers in the Southwest, well known for only using the very best ingredients in their extensive beer offering. This emphasis on great ingredients, high quality service and excellent value resonates through every part of Arcadia’s offering.
Arcadia’s menu follows Utopian’s “locally sourced” mantra and presents its customers with a broad offering of sharing plates in the three main categories: From the Sea, From the Farm and From the Garden… along with a good selection of appetisers and nibbles that provide a great accompaniment to Arcadia’s wide selection of beers and ciders.
For non-beer drinkers, the Utopian team have put together a confident and good value wine selection and the usual spirits and mixers are available.
Our food arrived as soon as it was cooked. The Thai Fish cakes were crispy on the outside, but beautifully soft on the inside and had fresh coriander mixed through them and the Panko king prawns with a wasabi mayo and chilli oil were perfectly spiced.
From the Farm plates we chose the chicken schnitzel with truffle oil and a parmesan and garlic butter. Basically, all the best parts of a chicken Kiev with a great hit of garlic and truffle.
Finally, from the garden plates we thought about the tender stem broccoli with garlic and lemon oil and the puy lentil dahl with roast paprika, cauliflower and spinach, but in the end settled for the more unusual padron peppers in soy and chilli flakes.
This dish was in fact a combination of padron’s and mange tout… though the dish was a little wet, the soy, provided a good Asian feel to the dish and the chilli hit was perfect.
From the nibbles and appetisers, we couldn’t resist ordering the truffle and parmesan fries, having seen them delivered to an adjacent table. They certainly didn’t disappoint and I for one will be sneaking back for a pint of chilled Utopian larger and a bowl of these moreish fries.
Clearly, the Utopian pedigree means that beers and ciders are a feature offering at Arcadia and on the drinks menu you will find 12 kegs and 4 cask offerings. So there is plenty of opportunity to sample some great regional beers and accompany them with a cheeky small plate of choice.
As for the venue itself, it’s set back from the High Street at 6 Northernhay place. The ground floor, which is welcoming to our four-legged friends, comprises a bar and a seating area that is set out to be purposely sociable with both high and low tables, with games available to add a little extra fun to the evening.
On the night, there was probably an even mix of people drinking and people eating and drinking. Often venues that try to be both pub and restaurant suffer from this split personality, but Arcadia carries it off well.
The larger upstairs space is all seated, set out in a more standard restaurant format, but nevertheless has a welcoming feel that would be great for lunch or dinner.
The Arcadia team, led by Dan, were on-point and sociable and knew their way around both the food and drink menus.
There can be no doubt that Arcadia is a much needed addition to the Exeter social scene.
@arcadia_by_utopian
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Address: 6 Northernhay Place, Exeter. EX4 3QJ