City Gate

You'll find City Gate tucked right where Iron Bridge meets the Exe, in that sweet spot where Exeter's medieval centre bleeds into the quayside. It's the sort of place where you can nurse a proper pint and watch the river do its thing, without any of the self-consciousness you'd get elsewhere. The pub side is straightforward—solid ales, decent food that doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't, and the kind of crowd that's there because they genuinely want to be, not because Instagram told them to. There's a hotel upstairs if you fancy it, but most people come for the drinking and eating part.