Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Buckinghamshire
Hardens guides have spent 32 years compiling reviews of the best Buckinghamshire restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 22 restaurants in Buckinghamshire and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Buckinghamshire restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Buckinghamshire Restaurants
1. The Chequers Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Weston Turville
35 Church Lane - HP22
“A lovely destination pub in the country with a high-end restaurant serving super food that’s great value, making it a fantastic find!". Chef-owner Dritan and maître d' Ranka (husband and wife) took it over in 2010 and have turned it into something of a landmark locally.
2. Paris House
British, Modern restaurant in Woburn
Woburn Park - MK17
“An incredible location, with a fabulous driveway through herds of deer” helps set an impressive tone at this striking mock-Tudor, timber building (originally built in France in 1878), which sits in the grounds of Woburn Abbey. It’s long been known as a foodie destination, and on current form, reports acclaim “perfection in food and setting” with “slick service and food that’s to die for”. “Why that one Michelin star is so elusive to regain is a mystery. (We have been eating at Paris House since it very first opened in 1983! After the happy days of Peter Chandler it went through a difficult phase. But Phil Fanning the chef stayed with it and eventually acquired the business. He hasn’t looked back. It remains a favourite and the food and wine are superb)”.
3. The Sir Charles Napier
British, Modern restaurant in Chinnor
Spriggs Alley - OX39
“Quality you wouldn’t expect deep in the countryside” means Julie Griffith’s “charming, but off-the-beaten-track country pub/restaurant in the Chilterns” (impossible to find before the advent of satnav) is “a real treat” that’s “worth a detour” and has a big, long-term fan club extending all the way into London (from which it’s a welcome weekend ‘run out’). It’s “such a lovely building” always with “a warm and welcoming atmosphere”, bolstered by “beautiful gardens from spring to autumn; and with cosy log fires in the winter”. There’s the odd background quibble of food that “sounds great on paper but falls short at the price” or a slight feeling of “complacency”. These are drowned out for the most part though by more typical reports of “consistently good and excellent food” and a feeling that “Julie runs the place superbly”. “Never fails to impress…” – “never a disappointment here in over 27 years and possibly 60 occasions!”
4. Hawkyns by Atul Kochhar
Indian restaurant in Amersham
16 High Street - HP7
If you remember ‘Four weddings’, this very characterful, beamed sixteenth-century pub in the town centre was the filming location for the bit where Hugh and Andie first start getting it together. Its food in recent years has been overseen by star Indian chef, Atul Kochhar, and is a highly rated curry favourite in (nearly) all reports.
5. Artichoke
French restaurant in Amersham
9 Market Sq - HP7
Laurie Gear’s “exceptional restaurant nestling in Old Amersham” has been “a favourite for two decades” and – having opened in 2002 – was “belatedly awarded a Michelin star” in 2019. “The best restaurant for miles” in this part of the outer burbs, it is one of the most commented-on restaurants in our annual diners’ poll. One or two reports did include some ‘rough edges’ this year (“a return to form after a former disappointment…”; “a couple of dishes were odd, but never boring!”) but the main theme was of “divine” food, “exceptional value tasting menus” and “delightful matching wines”, all delivered by “attentive and knowledgeable staff”. “I almost hate to give a good review as more people will find this true gem!”
6. The King’s Head
British, Traditional restaurant in Aylesbury
Kings Head Passage, Market Square - HP20
2019 Review: Run by the National Trust, this Aylesbury gastroboozer occupies a gem of a Tudor building, with an oak-panelled dining room spearheaded by the Chiltern Brewery since 2005. Given its ties, the beers are a highlight, though it also wins praise for the “best duck” (living up to the town’s mallard associations).
7. Hartwell House
British, Traditional restaurant in Aylesbury
Oxford Road - HP17
“Old-school service and food” are cornerstones of this Jacobean/Georgian stately home spa hotel with grounds by Capability Brown, owned by the National Trust. “Afternoon tea in one of the ante-rooms whilst sat on a sofa is a delight” and it’s a “lovely place for a few days’ stay, too!”.
8. Crocker’s Table
British, Modern restaurant in Tring
74 High Street - HP23
“Fabulous food” (including “outstanding vegetarian options”) brings people together at chef Scott Barnard’s sociable chef’s table. “Think of sitting round a table with your friends cooking in front of you, chatting and explaining what they’re doing. When you’ve finished your 6 or 12 courses, you will have spoken to most of the guests at the same sitting as you (15 maximum)”. There’s a separate cellar bar and dining room. The spin-off restaurant-with-rooms in Henley closed down just as we went to press.
9. La Chouette
Belgian restaurant in Dinton
Westlington Grn - HP17
“A joy to eat there and service is lovely!” – Frederic Desmette’s cosy, beamed house on the village green only attracts a small volume of feedback this year, but it remains positive for his Belgian cuisine and well-kept cellar.
10. The Five Arrows
British, Modern restaurant in Waddesdon
High St - HP18
2022 Review: You can eat like a Rothschild at this gastropub on the Waddeston estate, dining on meat from the estate’s farms and vegetables from Baron Rothschild’s walled garden at Eythrope. The pub serves “really excellent food” and is set in “pleasant countryside”, with profits going to support the historic Waddesdon Manor, now owned by the National Trust while the Baron retains the estate. There is also afternoon ‘teapas’ – a selection of savoury small plates and more traditional scones and cakes.
11. The Hundred of Ashendon
British, Modern restaurant in Ashendon
Lower End - HP18
“The team is small but work incredibly hard to create beautifully presented dishes that always hit the spot” at this “lovely pub” between the Chilterns and the Cotswolds, where Matt Gill’s cuisine provides “excellent food” from an à la carte menu that, while “rustic”, bears no relation to pub grub.
12. Zaza
Italian restaurant in Berkhamsted
21-23 Lower Kings Road - HP4
2022 Review: Set in a “lovely building” with tables under a 200-year-old olive tree, this restaurant – one of eight in a local chain – is frequently packed with regulars, who come back for its “good honest Italian fare at a reasonable price”. There’s “something for everyone on the menu”.
13. The Gatsby
British, Modern restaurant in Berkhamsted
97 High St - HP4
2021 Review: “Well cooked and presented meals” – and “good value”, too – are served at this unusual venue in the foyer of the beautifully preserved 1930s Rex cinema. There’s also a cocktail bar with live pianist – and a particularly strong lunch and pre-film menu.
14. The Angel
Fish & seafood restaurant in Long Crendon
47 Bicester Rd - HP18
2021 Review: “Delicious fresh fish” is the star of the “always reliable” menu at this attractive sixteenth-century coaching inn on the Oxon-Bucks border. “Strong wine list”, too.
15. The Alford Arms
British, Modern restaurant in Frithsden
An “absolute favourite pub” – this “lovely spot” in a wooded valley just north of London is a “good local standby” that “is very popular at weekends, when booking is advisable”. “We would go back, less for the food perhaps, but certainly for the location and ambience”.
16. Mash Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Radnage
Horseshoe Rd, Bennett End - HP14
“Foraged food prepared over a fire: unbeatable?” – Nick Mash’s higgledy-piggledy village inn is “an absolute treasure of a place”, with “really interesting, special cooking” on a purpose-built wood-fired grill that helps achieve outstanding results. It’s “well worth the trip” to the Chilterns, “(and the beautiful rooms mean it’s worth the stay, too)”. We’ve rated it in the hope that it can maintain the high standards set by former chef Jon Parry, who departed in mid-2022 after five years at the helm.
17. The Pointer
British, Modern restaurant in Brill
27 Church St - HP18
2022 Review: This rural pub (complete with beams and roaring fire, and also accommodation) in a lovely Buckinghamshire village still achieves solid ratings, and – notwithstanding gripes from the occasional reporter about its takeover by Oakman Inns in late 2019 – most feedback rates the food as “very good”.
18. Tom Yum
Thai restaurant in Amersham
101 Sycamore Road - HP6
“Really good Thai cooking” inspires high ratings and positive feedback for this simple local fixture. “It’s a bit cramped when it’s full, but the take-home is good”.
19. Gilbey’s
British, Modern restaurant in Amersham
1 Market Sq - HP7
A fixture of Old Amersham for more than 30 years, this bistro from Michael Gilbey of the gin dynasty is a “fab example of old-school dining” – quite literally, given that the seventeenth-century premises were originally part of Dr Challoner’s Grammar School. Even long-time fans, though, have begun to grumble that “having been a favourite for years, it has become more ordinary – not bad but no longer worth a journey”. There’s a sister branch in Eton.
20. The Grocer at 15
British, Modern restaurant in Amersham
15 The Broadway - HP7
2022 Review: The Grocer at 91 pivoted to being a food shop during the pandemic and all the eating now happens at this intimate sibling café, whose 24 covers are expanded by three tables outside, and where the mostly vegan menu spans satisfying, well-priced salads, toasties and locally made cakes. Their Gerrards Cross branch is now under new management, operating as Huddle.
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