The Mason Arms Knowstone

The Mason's Arms, Knowstone This was our second visit and happily chef's Waterside pedigree shone through. The pub-style Mason's Arms is obviously more modest than the Thames-side three-star crowning glory of the Roux empire, but the quaint little mid-Devon village of Knowstone is more than adequately represented on the fine dining map by Mark Dodson's restaurant. Every dish was good and the service much improved by comparison with our previous experience here. The seared peppered tuna and oriental salad starter was something I had enjoyed before and it was still well up to standard, the pigeon breasts with a clever curried brussels sprouts purée were much appreciated, and the smoked duck salad with duck liver parfait and delicious cherry dressing also went down well. The mains continued the winning streak, the fish dish of monkfish in prosciutto with smoked mackerel croquettes and scallops almost upstaging the seasonal game offerings of local venison loin with pear done in red wine and a blue cheese gratin and partridge breast "en crépinette" beautifully balanced with caramelised apple and cranberries, both of which were first-class. Chocolate cheesecake and honeycomb ice cream was possibly justifiably the preferred dessert, although my spiced pumpkin crème brûlée matched with a lovely cinnamon ice cream definitely competed for the top of the podium. Everything considered this was an excellent meal and the icing on the cake, as it were, taking into account the aperitifs, wine and coffee, was the amazing value for money the bill represented. A most satisfactory evening.