Great Milton Restaurant Guide

It’s the end of a storied era at this famous Oxfordshire manor house – a permanent fixture on the annual Harden’s 100 list of the UK’s best restaurants – which is to close for 18 months: from January 2026 until summer 2027. Its original founder, 75-year-old Raymond Blanc, is stepping back from his role as chef-patron to become a “lifetime ambassador” and there will be a “visionary redevelopment” by owners Belmond (part of French-owned luxury goods conglomerate LVMH) who acquired it in 2014. Opened 41 years ago, it has long been a leader of the British gastronomic scene, a training kitchen for generations of young chefs and a pioneer of sustainable cuisine. It’s a lifetime work that helped Raymond earn his Légion d’honneur in 2013 in recognition by La Patrie of his services to culinary excellence. As to the future: according to the press release: “The redevelopment will allow Le Manoir to evolve for the future, to meet the needs of the modern guest while staying true to its soul and values. It is not simply a renovation, but a reinvestment into sustainability, in creativity, and in the spirit of excellence that has defined us”.

2022 Review: Despite its weird and wonderful decor, this lavishly decked out hotel not far from Oxford – a fixture of the area for over a quarter of a century – attracts relatively little feedback nowadays. It’s all still positive though, especially when it comes to the Thai dining room (there’s also a more traditional, British one). Service is “very engaged” and the classic twelve-dish sharing menu “well presented and flavoured food that reflects the cuisine”, without being “touristy”.

“Definitely a good choice if you’re in the area” – i.e. just five miles from the dreaming spires of Oxford – this “very comfortable country pub” boasts one of the best gardens in these parts and is particularly appealing come summer. Some feel the menu is “limited” and “relatively expensive”, albeit “generally good with some unusual dishes”, much local sourcing, and a fair selection of veggie-friendly options.

“Wonderfully capable French cooking, excellent ingredients and delightful staff” make this village pub-turned-bistro “a real find for special occasions” (“we had a lovely summer lunch party for eight in the garden”) – and it’s “very close to Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, no less” (while considerably easier on the wallet). Hosts Antoine & Camille Chretien are “really friendly and knowledgeable”, and “don’t take short cuts” with their “beautifully presented” Gallic cuisine. Top Menu Tip – “the five-cheese soufflé is divine”.

Relaunched towards the start of 2025, this good-looking pub opened too late to generate any feedback in our annual diners’ poll, but has already won support in the press for offering an archetypal Cotswolds experience. In her August 2025 review, The Sunday Times’s Charlotte Ivers hailed a venue preserving “the spirit of a village pub” and ate Chicken liver parfait “thicker and richer than the ruddiest inhabitant of Chipping Norton”, and a fish finger sandwich “you could feed to a hungry farmhand or a Michelin inspector and both would be delighted”.

Open in Spring 2025 in the Crazy Bear boutique hotel – a new ’British fine dining’ restaurant under Chris Emery, former head chef at Jason Atherton’s New York outpost The Clocktower. It opened too late for survey feedback – expect a modern take on British cuisine, as this longstanding venue relaunches following a management buyout.