Porlock Restaurants

1. Locanda on the Weir

Set in a sea-facing Georgian building on one of the West Country's most enchanting stretches of coast, this restaurant with rooms run by an Anglo-Italian husband-and-wife team offers modern reinventions of classic Italian dishes executed with consummate artistry and originality. The four-course set menu (£70; booking essential) might include such antipasti as beef carpaccio with ginger, toasted sesame, and caramelized tomato, which you might follow with risotto alla Milanese or rigatoni amatriciana, and such mains as cedar-smoked salmon or cherry wood-smoked lamb cutlets. The desserts are equally enticing, such as the raspberry sorbet and chocolate mousse. All dietary preferences are catered for, and there's a fine Italian wine list. The dining rooms are hung with flamboyant modern art, while upstairs, the four guest rooms display the same flair, combining a traditional style with modern design and restful hues.