Bill's - Exeter's most Instagrammable restaurant?!

Bill’s Restaurant and Bar has recently undergone a stunning revamp, so we went along to give it a try.

The first thing you notice on arrival is the beautiful flower wall beside the entrance, which we'd already seen all over Instagram, so had to get our own picture!

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A post shared by Visit Exeter (@visitexeter) on Jun 2, 2019 at 2:30pm PDT

The interior has been given a stunning makeover, and is a fabulous representation of Bill's signature style of vibrant colour and vintage trinkets, many of which have been handpicked by founder Bill Collison. The seating is luxurious velvet - love it when restaurants have comfortable seating that allows you to sit back and chill after eating. The decor gives Bill's a real feeling of vibrancy and opulence, but it also manages to feel relaxed - with a bit of help from the friendly staff. 

Although the interior has had a revamp, the food is still at the very core of Bill’s, with a strong emphasis on fresh, seasonal produce which stems from founder Bill Collison’s days as a greengrocer and the basis of his first restaurant in Lewes.

Seasonal changes have been introduced to the menus, with some fantastic-sounding nightly specials. We started with Seared prawns with Chilli and Garlic (£7.50), which had quite a bit of kick, and were served wth a delicious smoked tomato sauce and parsley, plus Chicken and Sesame Dumplings (£6.25), served with a spicy chutney.

For our mains, we had the Steak and Eggs (£13.95) - a chargrilled minute steak with two fried eggs and fries, and the Kashmiri Lamb Shank (£15.95), which was cooked in a spicy cashew nut & tomato butter sauce with charred red onions, coconut rice & grains and a cucumber, red onion and mint salad - this tasted so good, and the portion sizes were just right. 

There was a good choice of vegetarian and vegan dishes as well, with the feel-good Glow Bowl, and a Beetroot, Lentil & Blackberry Salad, as well as the heartier Carrot, Mushroom and Cashew Nut Wellington, each priced at £11.95.

We were pretty full after our mains, but couldn't resist the amazing dessert menu, so shared an Apple and salted caramel crumble (£6.50), which was served with vanilla ice cream AND custard!

   

Bill's cocktail menu has also had an overhaul with drinks including the refreshing Hedgerow Fizz (£6.50) - Wild Sussex elderflower cordial topped with prosecco, plus some local flavours in the Apple & Elderflower Collins (£7.50) - Somerset apple brandy, elderflower, cloudy apple juice, lemon and soda. Bill's have extended their Brunch menu from 11.30am - 3pm so we're planning to return very soon for for a brunch date to try some of these cocktails!

To find out more and book a table online, visit https://bills-website.co.uk/restaurants/exeter/. Make sure you tag Bill's in your flower wall pics on Insta - @BillsExeter.