all about us | search reviews | links | message board | articles | submit review | ipod reviews | rage | top ten requested reviews | archive | double agents | best burger in London | buy | join spy | advertise on spy | local pages | oldsite | contact us
Home

Sophie's Of Exmouth

Sophie's Of Exmouth

22 Rolle St, Exmouth, EX8 1NJ

01395 222257

New Readers Start here

If you don't visit Spy's message board, the phrase "Sophie's of Exmouth" won't mean much to you. Unless you live in Exmouth of course. Even then, it may not, the nice woman in a shop 2 streets away said she'd definitely heard of it, but it was in Exeter. She kindly got her phone book out to check and said, wonderingly "No, you're right, it's here - 22 Rolle Street" So you can see the impact Sophie's has had on the town. In an attempt to drum up business, someone called Maureen posted the following on the Spy message board in early June:

Great place to eat,staff very friendly,good home cooked food,and homemade scones too,the best in the West I REALLY MEAN THAT.
Prices very competive,in other words,"EXCELLENT",REQUIRES A VISIT FROM EVERYONE.

The follow ups to this are hilarious because Maureen adopts different identities, but all sent from her computer - so if you have not been following this story, check the message board, and I'll see you back here. We get a lot of faux puffs on the website, always completely transparent and naff, and we enjoy mocking them. They don't usually come back and try to fool us a second, third and fourth time - Maureen Cohen of Whitechapel indeed !

I happened to be in the West Country this weekend, and persuaded Beloved that we should go through Exmouth and have a look at "The Best In the West". Exmouth is full of lovely and interesting places to eat, and when he saw the exterior, he wasn't keen, but I persuaded him to have a coffee in there at least. We had a cappucino each, and kept our eyes and ears open. The menu included Jacket Potato's (yes, yes, the aberrant apostrophe) with a wide variety of four fillings: Grated Cheddar Cheese; Tuna Mayo; Baked Beans (no apostrophe) and Prawns with Marie Rose sauce. The menu invited us to "See Blackboard for Today's Specials". Eventually I spotted the blackboard, on the floor beneath the counter. There was only one item on it:
"Jumbo Sausage Roll, Baked Beans and Chips - £2.99" To our eternal regret, it was too soon for our lunch, or else we'd have chosen one of these luscious platefuls. Inexplicably, a young lady who had gone for the Jacket with grated cheddar, left almost her whole meal untouched.

Mr Restaurant Spy has promised fabulous prizes for the first review, with pics, of Sophie's, and a bottle of bubbly for a picture of one or both of the Maureens. It's actually very small inside Sophie's, however, and Beloved implored me not to take any photos inside, nor to nick one of the laminated menus, as She Who I Believe to be Maureen was pretty omnipresent. Maureen is the kind of woman who can light up a room - by moving away from the window. There's enough there to make two Maureens, actually. She came over to chat to the people on the next table, and I earwigged shamelessly, hoping to hear them use her name, but no luck. She stood with her backside very close to me for about five minutes, right hand on hip. Her fingernails are strangers to the nailbrush, and her first and second fingers are nicotine stained. She was talking about the new plans for the shop - it is being entirely refurbished, and they are selling the flat upstairs for £140,000. Look, this was not a confidential conversation - everyone in the shop could hear - that was 7 people, counting us. Mr Maureen made a brief appearance, a tall thin man who probably does the cooking. Three young ladies wearing black polo shirts embroidered in red with "Sophie's" did all the work, while Maureen chatted.

So it's just an ordinary little caff then ? Not quite. One unusual feature indicates that Mr and Mrs Maureen have delusions of grandeur. It's licenced ! Yes, behind the counter is a full bar, with optics - the whole kit and caboodle. There are notices everywhere, saying you need ID if you look under 21 and offering wine by the glass. Indeed the whole shop is one big notice board, and it's quite oppressive. The British Legion meets there each week, they collect for several animal charities, jumble sales, and other local events. Seems anyone can stroll in and ask to put up a notice, just like a Community Hall. Only a very, very small one. The tables and chairs are cheap and new, the carpet is cheap and old, a seventies design which is bound to come back into fashion soon. It's not in bad nick - it's just horrible.

Our coffee took some time to arrive, one was spilt in the saucer and no napkins were available. The coffee was OK and we got a nice little biscuit with it. There's actually nothing wrong with Sophie's, it is what it is, and I'd never normally be this critical or mean. In fact, I've rated it as OK, because that's what it is. But if you've read the message board, you will understand why I've been less than kind. The Best in the West indeed ! The West in a String Vest, more like. Right next door - on a prime corner site three times the size of Sophie's - is a modern, new café, all blonde wood, and elegant, modern food. The customers were younger and better looking too, and this is where we felt we belonged, really. Much of Exmouth seems to feel the same. Poor Maureen.

Sophie's menu
 
By Daisy Middleton at 28/08/2007 - 18:22 | 2007 | Cafe/Coffee Shop/Tea Room | Devon | OK | Review | £/$ | add new comment | 84 reads