Combe Cottage is small, low-ceilinged, pastel-painted and cosy. You sit at shiny wooden tables and are served by an attentive Paul Warren. Kate Wortley can be glimpsed conjuring up perfections in the kitchen at the back. However Combe Cottage is not a cottage; it must have been one of the Ilfracombe High Street shops.

It was nice to be back in Ilfracombe. It was choc-a-block with visitors, sunning themselves and walking around the harbour. The gardens were immaculate and the fish shop sold us the freshest of scallops.

But I need to get down to business — this shepherd's pie. It was on the today's specials menu at £6.95. There was cottage pie on the regular menu. That was made with beef mince. And, yes, the shepherd's pie did taste lamby; with, I guess, some tomato and herbs. The potato topping was itself topped by a very agreeably large quantity of melted cheese. The whole effect was quite delicious.

It was lunchtime when I went at which time of day Combe Cottage offers a wide menu — baguettes, all day breakfasts, jacket potatoes as well as larger dishes and roasts. It would have been interesting to go for dinner when the menu gets shorter but more sophisticated and you pay £12.95 for two courses or £15.95 for three. I noticed that the parmesan and thyme tart (a quiche-like thing which my wife had with chips and a salad that she was delighted to discover had watercress in it) turns up as a starter on the evening menu accompanied by red onion jam. Very nice in either style.

The dinner menu sounds totally yummy at Coombe Cottage North Devon. It has to be on my list of must visit eating places. I've been fancying some good quality quiche all day and that parmesan and thyme tart sounds perfect. After all, self-catering cottages give you plenty of excuses for eating out, as well as eating in and in North Devon there's so much to choose from.