Coventry Restaurant Guide

'Yummy Brummie' Glynn Purnell, in partnership with Historic Coventry Trust, opened a cafe and pizzeria in the cloisters of this Grade I-listed 14th former Century Carthusian monastery in April 2023. Once fully restored, Charterhouse will be an interactive heritage and educational visitor attraction.

“Adam Bennett produces dishes of supreme quality, prepared with flair and skill” according to all reports on this “lovely” Grade II listed inn, which – aided by the profile of Andreas Antona of Birmingham star Simpson’s – has become one of the most commented-on destinations in the Midlands. All accounts say a meal here is “absolutely stunning” and “it is also very refreshing to be able to order à la carte at a Michelin-starred restaurant, rather than being forced to order a tasting menu” (although one local “would eat here more often if there were a greater variation of dishes on offer”). Service is “always friendly, attentive and competent” and “it maintains a brilliant experience”. Top Menu Tip – “the most extravagant chicken liver parfait imaginable, top venison, and a wonderful variation on île flottante”.

“A great surprise! An authentic Italian restaurant with a broad menu of very good food and wine” – “delivered with panache and generosity”. The “beautiful and romantic decor, with cherry trees garlanded with tiny lights” only adds to the appeal.

“The epitome of the proper French bistro as you would have found in France 25 years ago”, owned by acclaimed butchers, Aubrey Allen. “Pascal the patron excels at providing excellent meat and fish dishes that are always reliable, and service is friendly even when they are packed!”

2021 Review: “Pleasant and friendly” venue off the main drag: modern British dishes are “clearly made with both love and knowledge” in the semi-open kitchen, and “it’s good to interact with the chefs as they serve a course”; reasonable prices too.

2022 Review: It’s “nice to eat outside by the canal on a sunny day” at this well-run casual spot, with a useful menu of grills and sarnies.

2022 Review: This former fishmonger, butcher, casino, tailor etc. is acclaimed by locals for its “perfect fine dining in an intimate setting”. After pandemic lockdowns, it’s “back with a subtle but impactful makeover and a great new tasting menu” – now the only option, and ringing in at £65 for six courses.

2022 Review: Hilary & Barrie Cload's homage to Royal Thai cuisine (est. 2004) enjoys a “very pleasant” art gallery setting, and its “wonderful, beautifully presented” food just “never disappoints”; they also do a “great deal involving ‘lunch boxes’ which are delicious”.

Ex-Simpson’s head chef, Matt Cheal’s “smart but comfortable” venue occupies “a timbered building on Henley in Arden’s picturesque high street”. The six-course tasting menu offers a succession of dishes described in reports as “delightful” and “accurately cooked”.

Launched in early 2022, this very ‘now’ operation is built into the walls of Hampton Manor’s Victorian Garden and promises an immersive sustainable dining experience built around a fifteen-course tasting menu served from an open kitchen, where (according to the website) ‘every choice is a commitment to soil health, biodiversity, ethics and sustainability’. At the stoves, your hosts for the evening chef David Taylor with his wife Anette on FOH. There’s also the option for an overnight stay in the Walled Garden, incorporating a kitchen garden tour, a ‘bedroom lounge’ with views of the open kitchen and ‘bath time ritual that celebrates the scent of the garden designed by local organic apothecarists’. Limited feedback so far, but it’s an instant favourite for one early reporter who thought it “outstanding all-round” (and in Autumn 2022, the AA awarded it a rare four rosettes).

Launched in late 2021, an old Victorian furnace house on the edge of the Manor’s walled garden provides the venue for this relatively informal operation, where MasterChef: The Professionals winner, Stuart Deeley, cooks over coals. It was the most popular option at the property this year, although one report felt that “while the BBQ was perfectly good, it needed elevating to meet its aspirations”.

“Gerald never disappoints. No menu, just great food chosen and cooked the way he likes it and always fresh and filling”. That’s the surprise-menu formula at Gerald Maguire’s small independent, whose menu is described on its website as follows: ‘Some soup, Some Fish, Some Meat, Some Rice, Bread, Coffee…Something Sweet!’