Augustus, Taunton: ‘A classy bistro that will look after you’ – restaurant review

‘A sleek space of painted brick and bare polished floorboard softened by strategic outbreaks of foliage and drapery’: Augustus, Taunton. Photograph: Karen Robinson/The Observer

Augustus, 3 The Courtyard, St James Street, Taunton TA1 1JR (01823 324354). Starters £9-£14, mains £15-£32, desserts £6-£12, wines from £24

There are various things every town needs: a good bookshop run by people with serious reading habits; an independent mini-department store selling a seemingly random but vital collection of things for when you have to acquire both an emergency colander and a pair of leopard-print wellington boots at the same time; a well-positioned bus stop for bored teenagers to smoke in surreptitiously. And a restaurant exactly like Augustus in Taunton; a place which can serve for both special occasions, but also for an impromptu lunch with a mate; where the food is indulgent and diverting without being look-at-me showy; where the prices, while not exactly cheap, won’t make you gasp. In short, it’s a classy bistro that will look after you and make the world feel just that little bit better. You now want an Augustus in your town, don’t you? Quite right, too.