Hole-in-the-Wall Pub – Torquay

Torquay’s Oldest Pub :

Ploughman's Lunch

Torquay has many pubs around the waterfront, but the one that took our fancy is the Hole-in-the-Wall, Torquay’s oldest inn.

Built in 1540, the Hole-in-the-Wall is tucked away in Park Lane, a little side street off the Strand, the restaurant district. From the front entrance, the pub looks small, but it actually has a 70-seater restaurant which opens for dinner. There’s also live music on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

It’s lunchtime and Tony is sold on the ploughman’s lunch and traditional pumped beers.

For the ploughman’s lunch the menu indicates that you have a choice of three different cheeses – cheese, Stilton or Stilton and cheese.  Tony fancied some Stilton and assumed that the ploughman’s lunch will come with a mixture of cheddar and Stilton.  Instead, he gets the cheese ploughman’s, which is two slabs of cheddar.  He tells  the waitress that Stilton is cheese, but she said not and that cheese is cheddar!  So here’s the trick – if you don’t specify that you want Stilton, you get cheese which is cheddar only. The salad is surprisingly nice as well.

I order the soup of the day, but unfortunately, they didn’t have any. So seeing that jacket potatoes is advertised at all fast food outlets in town, I give this a try.

The Hole-in-the-Wall is a very nicely decorated pub and the food that we had is good quality pub food.  Their brochure claims that they have been serving smugglers, men of the sea, businessmen, locals and visitors for hundeds of years.  They didn’t ask us if we were smugglers or not, but I suppose from their years of experience, they know a smuggler when they see one!

If you’re looking for a Torquay pub with character and atmosphere,  the Hole-in-the-Wall Pub fits the bill.

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