Roma Bistro-Ristorante

Roma Bistro-Ristorante is a family-run Italian restaurant on Fore Street in Sidmouth, bright and colourful inside with the kind of warm buzz that comes from a genuinely Italian playlist and a kitchen that clearly enjoys what it does. The pizzas are wood-fired with crisp bases - Margherita, Capricciosa, Diavola, Fiorentina and Con Carne all on the list - and the pasta side runs from a straightforward Penne Carbonara or Spaghetti Bolognese up to a Tagliatelle Speziale and a Sea Trout e Funghi.

Starters include burrata, Caprese salad, salt and pepper squid and Cornish mussels, and the grill section stretches to a 10oz sirloin, monkfish and chicken Milanese, so it is not a pizza-only stop. Weekend mornings bring a breakfast menu too, Friday to Sunday 9am to 11.30am, with a full English, pancake stacks and a dish called Dirty Eggs Benny. Desserts close things out with tiramisu, panna cotta and a knickerbocker glory. It is well regarded locally, ranked among Sidmouth's best-reviewed restaurants, and the family-run feel comes through in the service as much as the food.