Yeovil's best restaurants

When you think about fine dining, Yeovil may not feature at the top of your list.

There are however, some fantastic places to eat in and around the town and I thought I might tell you about the ones I like.

I will unfortunately have to exclude Domino's Pizza and McDonalds from the list, as although I am partial to a greasy slice of Mighty Meaty and delight in milkshakes so thick you can chew on them, I don't think it will make for a particularly informative article.

Top of my list has to be Mulberrys restaurant and Grill on Union Street, Yeovil.

The staff serve fresh, local cuisine cooked to an excellent standard - I like my steaks rare (to the horror of some of my friends) - and not once have I received my meat medium to well. The food is always perfectly cooked to order, and the waiters have never failed to ask my preference.

If you are a little bit adventurous with your food, this restaurant will definitely be up your street as they jump at the chance to serve exciting foreign cuisine such as Springbok and Ostrich.

The restaurant has become extremely popular and is often busy but it has a large dining area upstairs which never seems to become too cramped.

Another great favourite of mine has to be the Tamburino restaurant on South Western Terrace.

This restaurant has to be one of my favourite places to eat in Yeovil – as long as you don't mind a bit of noise.

If you go along on a Friday or Saturday the place will most likely be packed, and quite rightly so. The food is excellent and the chefs are extremely creative - there is also a decent variety of food available on the menu so all tastes can be catered to.

I would however, recommend that if, like me, you are a fairly private human being, you should not at any cost go to Tamburino on your birthday.

If you have a hankering for some birthday recognition however and fancy having tambourines bashed in your face by a throng of dancing waiters at some point during the night's proceedings, then this is the place for you.

Equally if you enjoy putting your friends through a few minutes of torture and humiliation (again, like me), take one of your mates along for a loud and silly birthday celebration. You'll definitely enjoy it even if they don't, and they can't really complain as they get a free tambourine out of it.

The next restaurant is a bit out of the way, but if you are prepared to travel 15 minutes outside of the town into Martock, you will find an exceptionally good restaurant at The Hollies Hotel.

I have only eaten there once but I enjoyed it immeasurably. The service was first-rate, the food was fresh and perfectly cooked and the staff were friendly, welcoming and extremely helpful.

The restaurant serves traditional food with no frills – by this I mean that you will find no lavender froths or chicken jellies sitting curiously on the side your plates - only simple dishes are served at this establishment and they are cooked to absolute perfection.

My only complaint with the Hollies would be the high numbers of glassware and cutlery set on the table. I am pretty sure I know which kitchenware to use for what, but as many of my friends know, I am more than little clumsy and the table was so packed I was elbowing drinks over every time I lifted my fork!

Of course if you do want to head out to this friendly local gem then you will have to rely on a sober driver, a taxi, or some sort of large tandem bike, but I really couldn't recommend the place more.

My final recommendation would be that you try the Viceroy Indian Restaurant on Middle Street.

It is close to the best Indian food I have ever tasted. Faultless combinations of aromatic spices compliment every dish and even though I've never actually been to India myself, I like to imagine the chefs are doing Asia proud.

The dishes they serve are often experimental and unusual – the chefs even use a traditional clay oven to prepare some of their dishes, and although you can find classic Kormas and Bhunas on the menu I would recommend you delve a little deeper and try some of the unique Bangladeshi specialities on offer. They will not disappoint!