Exhale Exmouth

Rating: 4

We ate dinner here in July 2024.

Karaage cauliflower
Calamari and chorizo
Roast pumpkin with labneh
Pork hock
Chocolate brownie

What an outstanding meal. We both absolutely loved everything that came out. And in a surprise twist, perhaps the most impressive thing was the chocolate brownie. Desserts are so often an afterthought, even at fancy tapas restaurants, but not here. This thing was so rich that it was almost fudge, and the sauces and ice cream accompanying it were simply

perfection. Add a little hint of berry and you have the best brownie we’ve had in years, possibly ever. Don’t let our gushing about the brownie outshine the other dishes either. The calamari was unlike any we’ve had before. It was flat strips of marinaded and grilled squid, soft like butter, this ain’t your usual bowl of chewy crumbed calamari rings. And the cauliflower, woo-eee, cooked but with just the right amount of bite, flavours balanced, heaps of yummy sauce, we could eat that all day. And the pork hock came on a bed of fennel, apple, coriander, chilli, star anise, and garlic. It’s not just that the meals were delicious, they were also full of creative touches, and fun textures. Literally every food item was a 4 in its own right.

It’s a real shame that the service was a bit pants. It started off well, we ordered our first round of drinks promptly and the food and drinks both came out in good time. Then we wanted to order dessert and more drinks. We waited. And waited. And waited. We suspect that they were training one of the wait staff, and that there had been some real breakdowns in communication between them all. Despite using all the international symbols for ‘we are ready for service now’ (empty cocktail glasses, empty water bottle and closed menu all lined up along the visible edge of the table), it took at least 15 minutes of the very green and frazzled waitress bussing empty tables near us before eventually she came over to ask if we wanted any more water. She promptly forgot to bring more water, and another waiter eventually took our dessert order. It took so long we had started a countdown, deciding if 10 more items came out of the kitchen before we got service that we were going to forego the dessert and second round of drinks. Thank god we didn’t, we can’t imagine a world without that brownie in it, still the service does need tightening up.

But, that food, chef’s kiss.