Blockley, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: Classic, “lovely” Cotswolds inn, with rooms, that’s well-reviewed in all feedback for its “good pub food”. Even those who find it dependable, however, can feel that the menu “could use some more interesting dishes”.

This “lovely, chic restaurant in a pretty and historic Worcestershire Cotswold town” offers “a great dining experience” with “some excellent dishes, beautifully served and delightfully prepared”. A new owner, Birmingham-based Roger Dudley, has taken over from Andrew & Gaynor Riley, who ran the property for 18 years, but chef George Santos and his kitchen team have carried on much as before.

James Martin is the latest in the line of c’leb chefs to have his name over the door of the barrel-vaulted dining room of this historic Tudor coaching inn (which accommodated both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell at different times during the Civil War). Iconic Luxury Hotels Group (who run Cliveden and Chewton Glen) have managed the property for some time, and pre-rebrand the feedback continued the downbeat tenor – “such a disappointment…”, “trading on its name and reputation” – of recent decades. Here’s hoping James can bring some of the magic here that’s created in Chewton Glen and that this fine space finally starts to live up to its potential.