The Fat Pig

A Victorian corner local on John Street, just off Fore Street, that used to be the Coachmakers Arms before it was brought back to life in 2008 as Exeter's first brewpub. The Fat Pig runs an experimental brewery in its own cellar, producing beer for itself and its sister pub The Rusty Bike, and keeps around a hundred single malts behind the bar alongside Irish whiskey, bourbon and new-world whiskeys.

A wood-fired oven does a lot of the work in the kitchen, cooking pizzas, meats and vegetables, and the pub has a reputation as kings of the smokehouse - the seasonal menu leans hard on locally sourced ingredients rather than a fixed printed list. The Sunday roast is still the headline, beef or pork with all the trimmings, and the pub keeps evenings-and-weekends-only hours, so it's worth planning a visit around rather than dropping by on a weekday lunchtime.