Sunday had arrived, the weekend was over and we were on our way back from Paignton *sob.* It was a long old drive, just over 3 hours, so we needed to stop at some point to refuel and stretch our legs. As we drove along the A35 we both spotted an awesome looking sign for a Farm Shop and decided to stop even though we’d only been driving about 45 minutes. Sometimes you just have to seize these opportunities and we could tell this was going to be a corker of a motorway stop.

We’re actually quite spoiled as we’ve been to the ‘best service station in the UK‘ numerous times, the infamous Tebay Services which is on the way to Ben’s grandparents house in Cumbria. If you haven’t been to this amazing place Google it, it’s a life-changer! We always spend ages in there trying to decide what to get because there’s just so much choice – a hot buffet with soup, roast dinners, casseroles and lasagnas; a sandwich bar with freshly made baguesttes and paninis; deli counters, an olive bar and a cheese counter! Not to mention the huge shop which sells pretty much every type of organic packaged food you could ever want! It is seriously the best place to stop on any motorway EVER, a far cry from a stale Ginsters pasty and a bottle of coke!

Right I need to calm down and focus on the place we actually visited. Felicity’s Farm Shop is located, according to their website, on the A35 between Bridport and Charmouth West Dorset. We parked in the big car park outside and were immediately wowed by the incredible view. They really have got a great spot here!

We walked into what seemed to be a huge barn and I could tell we were going to love it here because they had free samples of crisps on a counter right by the entrance. Free samples = living the dream.

We just wandered around for a while checking out all the cool stuff they had. I swear I prefer looking around food shops more than clothes shops sometimes. It’s very odd.

They had lots of cute little organic and local brands that we hadn’t seen before, alongside some of the bigger, usual brands. There was a section of fresh fruit and vegetables if you wanted to do your weekly shop! Nice place to do it! They also had a garden centre attached to the shop! Seriously covering all the bases here.

There were fridges filled with local cheeses, pate, pies and cuts of meat. I spotted a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake which was pretty much all my Christmasses as once! I refrained from buying it though as few things are more diet unfriendly than peanut butter chocolate cheesecake.

We then got excited because we saw the range of ready-to-eat snacks and it was game on! We’d only had our Travelodge buffet breakfast a few hours before but it was definitely time for lunch. Ben chose a roasted vegetable pasty which was huge and delicious. He loves a good pastry-based snack and this offering was one of the best.

I chose an item from the hot counter at the back of the shop – caramelised tomato and feta tart tatin. This was under 2 pounds which I thought was very reasonable and I really fancied something warm (obviously, being a June afternoon in England, the weather was freezing.)

This surpassed all expectations though! The pastry base was buttery and flaky with just the right amount of grease seeping through the paper bag, yum! The tomatoes were INSANELY sweet, I couldn’t tell how they had been cooked but they were incredible! Maybe a tomato confit type affair? I may have to actually email Felicity herself to find out. The feta had been browned on top through the cooking process and it had taken on that nutty quality that I love in feta. Amazing how two simple flavours had transformed and worked so well together. I really would love to try and recreate this, it’s tragic that I only have my photos to remind me of the flavours!

We sat in the car cradling our goodies and spent a happy 10 minutes stuffing our faces and enjoying the spectacular views, before heading back onto the road to continue our journey home. Felicity’s is an excellent place to grab a bite to eat and a few minutes rest if you happen to be passing through that way and make sure to take in the beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.