The Clockspire Restaurant and Bar

The Clockspire is housed in a striking former schoolhouse where vaulted oak beams, polished stone floors and soaring ceilings create one of the South West’s most distinctive dining rooms. It’s an impressive backdrop, but the cooking more than holds its own.

Chef Luke Bryant’s modern British menus continue to evolve alongside the restaurant’s expanding kitchen garden, with homegrown herbs, vegetables and edible flowers playing an important role. This close connection between garden and kitchen is reflected in dishes that are elegant without feeling overworked.

The likes of white crab tart with brown crab custard, ponzu gel and pickled kohlrabi demonstrate the kitchen’s lightness of touch, while pork tenderloin with slow-cooked bacon, cherry and miso, or lamb loin with merguez sausage, courgette, tomato jam and green olive, highlight the confident balance of British ingredients and broader influences.

Before dinner, head upstairs to the marble-topped mezzanine bar, where a thoughtfully assembled wine list has earned an AA Notable Wine List Award.