Dorridge, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

Stop Press – in February 2023, ex-Simpson’s head chef Matt Cheal closed down his popular Henley-in-Arden venture, which was too small for his planned expansion, and upped sticks eight miles down the road to Knowle High Street, where he now co-runs things with the manager of the Jacques fine dining restaurant which previously stood in the new location. According to early reports, “the exceptional quality of Cheal’s food, not up till now as appreciated as it ought to be, has not deteriorated in its relocation”, while the new space – a former bank with a posh cocktail bar – is “comfortable” (if “a little too glitzy” for some tastes).

2022 Review: “A real gem in our local area” – this branch in the stylish, seven-strong Warwickshire-based 'Lovely Pubs' group has a lot to recommend it: “service is on the right side of friendly and very attentive”, they serve “great pub food, but restaurant quality” (including “fantastic seafood platters”), and if you stick to the main bar downstairs, there's plenty of atmosphere too.

“This must be the most ‘undiscovered’ fine-dining restaurant in the West Midlands”, say fans of this yearling from locally born and trained Rob Palmer, formerly head chef at Hampton Manor, whose debut as patron is a 26-seat open-kitchen venue in a former computer game shop. “Food and service are first-class”, and if it’s “a little pricey, it’s worth it”. In the evening, the five-course menu is £85 per person; or there’s a seven-course option for £99 per person.

“A unique setting in a building in the garden area of Hampton Manor, and a dining area that’s spacious and modern and crisp” both help inspire a wave of superlatives for this hip yearling, built into the walled Victorian garden of Hampton Manor (and, according to The FT in April 2023, an ‘epicurean delight’ that’s already ‘a byword for chic sustainability’). It didn’t win top ratings in our annual diners’ poll due to the odd accusation that “it may have grace, but definitely lacked flavour! (the surroundings were stunning but the food was not worth the trip”). That’s very much a minority view of chef David Taylor’s cuisine, though – more commonly it’s acclaimed as “an exceptional dining experience with a 15-course tasting menu for £155 per person made up of finely judged, precisely prepared, often original dishes” (“modern British cooking at its best – the mushroom broth was my favourite dish of the year”).