Press Room

This attractive, whitewashed pub stands just a few minutes drive from Exeter Airport. Its smart, traditional interior includes several rooms that are geared towards meetings and celebrations, but it is best known as a dining destination. There has been a pub on this site for several centuries, though the name is even older.

It has pagan origins associated with spring fertility celebrations, presided over by a character known as the Green Man. The area is also well known for its cider apple trees. The Parnells have been here for fourteen years and have underpinned their business with a simple philosophy: to serve real food to real people who want to eat and drink in comfortable surroundings and be served by nice people. The success of their efforts has been recognised with 2 AA rosettes for their food. Whether you're stopping by for a bar snack, or a fuller meal in the restaurant, the quality is evident in everything produced.

Start with warm belly pork with apple and frisée salad; or tea-smoked salmon with spicy oriental sauce; free range chicken supreme with portobello mushroom risotto; or pork and leek meatballs with onion gravy, creamed potatoes and fresh vegetables. Tempting desserts include rice pudding with apples and Calvados; sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and chocolate and chestnut mousse. The ground is set in four acres of grounds and gardens overlooking the east Devon countryside and in Summer you can sit outside and enjoy the view.

Relaxed pub with seriously impressive food

Over the years this place has extended from the original pub and now has plenty of space to accommodate its many fans, including a new courtyard and beer garden. The interior is till reassuringly pubby and people do come just for a drink, though food is very much at the heart of the operation. Tables are unclothed and simply laid, and there are log fires in winter and leather sofas for relaxing. Specials with understated descriptions are chalked on the board; it's the food on the plate that does the talking. Devon produce is treated with respect, as demonstrated in a sensitively cooked dish of skate with mash and spinach, and for a touch of the exotic, try a perfect pannacotta of coconut and lemongrass.

Please click here to read the full article on how we plan our menus.

After winning the Best Dining Pub in this year's Devon Life Food & Drink Awards, the Jack In The Green Inn are proud to have contributed a series of six, monthly master classes to Devon Life magazine (listed opposite).

Please click here to see the full article on Matthew.

Please click here for the article

Please click here to see the PDF of the children's visit to Quickes Cheeses with Matthew.

Please click here to read the recent interview with Paul Parnell and Matthew Mason in Devon's leading 'Food' Magazine.

You don’t quite expect what you get here. It seems like a pleasant enough place on the outside - the kind of gaff where you think you’d find decent scampi and chips - but nothing about the interior, which is pretty corporate, gets your hopes up. But the fact the place is heaving should give the game away. And then the food arrives. It is perfectly judged, full of flavour, refined. Risottos are knock out, noodle dishes terrific and the more complicated restauranty dishes - rack of lamb with artichokes, spring greens and almond tarragon dressing or sea bass with crab and braised baby gems - are spot on. Care is taken with every dish, particularly with seasoning and the use of decent ingredients. An exemplary food pub.

Diana Henry.

Manna from Devon.
It's an inn. It does heavenly food. But whatever you do, says Susy Atkins, don't go calling this place a gastropub.

The day before we were due to go to the Jack in the Green (and ages after we booked) came news that it's pastry chef had won a fancy pants award in London for 'best dessert'. Rather a surprise, given that we were headed to a roadside inn behind Exeter Airport, but most definitely an appetite-whetter. Bring on the puds! Maybe all of them, just for me, to check if the judges were any good.

This is not a gastropub. Oh no. They tell you that firmly on the menu and on their website. And I think it's a real mission here, not to be a gastropub. So, despite award-winning food, brown leather sofas and an emphasis on local, seasonal cuisine, this is just an old country boozer at heart then. Yeah, right.

The restaurant wine list is 80-strong, and includes plenty of European favourites, such as chablis and rioja, as well as bright, fruity New World numbers. We drank, by the glass, South African white, Chilean red and Australian dessert wine. Prices are eminently fair.

To the food, and we went straight for dessert, enjoying six each. Only joking. A basket of warm, bouncy bread rolls with cups of creamy bouillabaisse was a promising start. Lamb's sweetbreads with tiny diced ratatouille and black olives (£7.50) had an earthy intensity. I's crispy crottin Chavignol (£8.50) with quince marmalade and pear chutney worked well, even after he decided the round, crumbed goat's cheese 'looked like a Scotch egg'. Not this side of the bar, mate. Texture was everything here - the light crunchy shell over soft, dense cheese and cool, jellied quince.

Main courses feature plenty of Devon meat and fish, as they should (you can have a 'Totally Devon' menu for £25 if you pick carefully; we strayed). Creedy Carver ducks, from Crediton, have a happier life than most, so we ate one, or its breast, with an apple and vanilla purée and fondant potatoes (£19.50). And it was impressive - pink, tender and served in large chunks.

I's roast belly pork (£18.50) was from Talaton, a few miles away, and was so soft and tender, and accompanied by such a lovely, sweet, creamy cauliflower purée, that we almost forgot about the desserts. But then they arrived, plated on slate, and they were great.

Young Scott Paton's trophy-winning pud of chocolate mousse with strawberry and rose parfait is not yet on the menu (pant, pant), but his iced lemon parfait with raspberry mousse (£5.95) will do fine for now, the fruit flavours and vivid and clear, and a cool, light touch throughout. I's sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and almond ice-cream (£5.95) had true, concentrated flavours and an airy texture, even if the sauce was more sloppy than sticky.

Flashes of genius, we decided, in a place that is determined to be a Jack of all trades. Just don't call it a gastropub.

Stella Rating: 7.5/10

Please click here to read the full article.

Please click here for the full article.

Please click here to see the press coverage.

To view Scott's recipes that appeared in the Western Morning News on the 22/12/07 please click here.

Please click here to read the full article with Head Pastry Chef Scott Paton.

Please click here to see the recipe that Scott was asked to contribute for the Western Morning News seasonal food pages; his award winning Five Spice Pumpkin Cake.

The Jack in the Green were thrilled to have been named 'The Best Dining Pub in Devon' at a special dinner and presentation held at the 2006 Devon County Show.

The annual Taste of the West Food & Drink Awards provide a definitive guide to the very best places to eat, stay and buy quality, regional food and drink in the South West, encompassing dining pubs, restaurants, B&B’s, tea rooms and shops.

The prestigious awards, sponsored by Budgens, have this year given 9 Gold Awards, 7 Silver Awards and 7 Bronze Awards to hospitality outlets and local retail outlets in Devon following anonymous visits by a panel of industry expert judges looking for quality of food, cooking and service, ambience, evidence of local sourcing and knowledgeable staff. This September we were delighted to be awarded a Gold in the 'Best Dining Pub' for Devon category.

The pub was a finalist for the fourth year running for ‘Best Devon Dining Pub’ but this time it was Matthew who picked up an individual honour, winning 'Devon Chef of the Year' for the first time.

Please click here to view a video clip of Matthew collecting his award.

In September the team won an AA Regional Food Award for its commitment to using local produce; one of only three given out in the country.

We're thrilled to announce that Matthew recently won the Professional Class in the the region’s largest cookery competition, the South West Chef of the Year 2007.

This years competition attracted entrants from across the region, with the 12 best putting their talents to the test in the final, which took place on Saturday 24th March. The finalists battled it out cooking a two-course meal in one of three classes in the Taste of the West competition at St David’s Restaurant at Exeter College.

For his winning dishes Matthew cooked a grilled flillet of red mullet with garlic chips and parsley coulis as a starter followed by a rack of Fishleigh Estate organic lamb, sautéed sweetbreads, cos lettuce, chicken jus and hazelnuts for his main course.

At the Taste of the West Food & Drink Awards in October the restaurant retained it’s Gold for Devon Dining Pub for the second consequtive year. It was also the only pub in Devon to win a Gold.

Head Pastry Chef Scott Paton was named International Pastry Chef of the Year on the 5th October. His Milk Chocolate Mousse with Strawberry and Rosewater Parfait was described as 'incredible' and he may now be asked to judge next year's competiton.

Scott, still only 21, will travel to France on an all expenses paid trip in January to meet and work with the world renowned French Pastry Chef Pierre Hermé followed by a week in the Champagne vineyards of Duval Leroy.

We are proud to announce we have retained our two AA Rosettes for 2008/9.  It's extremely encouraging to achieve formal recognition for all the hard work our Head Chef, Matthew Mason and his dedicated team puts in on a daily basis. We are particularly proud to achieve this recognition as the Jack is one of only two pub/restaurants in Devon to achieve this award.

To gain 2 AA Rosettes a chef must show greater technical skill, more consistency and judgement in combining and balancing ingredients and a clear ambition to achieve high standards.  Inspectors will look for evidence of innovation to test the dedication of the kitchen brigade, and use of seasonal ingredients sourced from quality suppliers.

Bustle and buzz in the dark wood bar, and good local brews on tap – Otter Ale, Doom Bar, Butcombe Bitter. But this is more restaurant than pub: “For those who live to eat,” reads the sign. In a series of smart, brightly lit, blue-motif carpeted rooms, Devon Chef of the Year (2007) Matthew Mason’s bar menu goes in for modern and mouthwatering variations of tried and trusted favourites: braised faggot with creamed potato, steamed venison pudding with port and juniper jus... even the ploughman’s is impressive. More ambition on display in the restaurant, where seared fillet of salmon with sorrel and hollandaise sauce and roasted Creedy Carver duck breast with liqueur-soaked cherries make for succulent seasonal choices. Paul Parnell has been at the helm for years and he and his staff do a grand job.

At a star studded awards ceremony in London on October 12th the Jack finished 80th amongst the UK’s Top 100 restaurants. The winners were compiled and voted for by the National Restaurant Awards Academy which is made up of prominent chefs, restaurateurs and food critics. Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray came in first with Gordon Ramsay at number 11, Raymond Blanc at number 14 and Mark Hix at number 60.

On October 8th the Jack was awarded top honours by Taste of the West in their annual hospitality awards. Not only did we win gold in the ‘Best Restaurant’ in Devon category but we were also the highest points scorer in the county.

We then went forward to represent Devon in the regional finals and battle it out against the gold winners from Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. On December 1st we were absolutely thrilled to win the overall title of ‘Best Restaurant in the South West’ - an unbelievable achievement.

"An amalgam of unpretentious roadside hostelry and sophisticated contemporary restaurant, this white-painted pub by the A30 comprises a rabbit warren of print-festooned rooms plus a four-acre expanse of garden for al fresco meals. The commendably short restaurant menu is true to the region and customers can put together their own ‘totally Devon meal experience’ by pinpointing selected dishes. To start, ham hock terrine with pickled vegetables and grain mustard vies with Dartmouth smoked salmon, while mains might range from grilled sea bass with lemongrass, lime and coconut to organic Creedy Carver duck breast with fondant potato, apples and Calvados. Finish with rhubarb brûlée or Devon cheeses. Simpler dishes are available in the bar, where you can feast on faggots while quaffing pints of locally-brewed Otter Ale and other premium West Country brews. The ambitious 100-bin wine list spreads its net wide, but keeps prices in check. Most house selections are £14.50 (£3.60 a glass)."

The Jack In The Green are delighted to feature in the Michelin Red Guide for 2010. We are one of only three pubs in the South West to be accredited with a Bib Gourmand, translating to "good value and serving carefully prepared meals".

“Hungry and en route to Cornwall? Then it is worth the short diversion off the A30 to this rather unassuming roadside pub. Step inside and you'll find a traditional bar, a series of cosy, warmly lit dining rooms and modern innovative menus that bristle with seasonal Devon produce, all sourced from within 25 miles of the pub. Owner Paul Parnell and chefs Matt Mason and Craig Sampson are an impressive combo, their passion and enthusiasm for local artisan produce deep rooted. Try a mixed Devon cheese ploughmans in the bar (with a pint of Otter Ale) or settle by the wood burning stove next door for own air dried beef served with rye bread and celeriac remoulade then rack of Whimple Lamb with honey, roast garlic puree and basil mash, with a chestnut crème brûlée to finish. Wines start at £15.00.”