Little Shelford, British, Traditional - Restaurant Guide

This “reliable local favourite” (a former coaching inn on the road from London) is favoured for its “good food” and “interesting wine list from a very knowledgeable owner” .

2025 Review: The “British classics (whitebait, Barnsley chop etc)” are “all fine” – and “given its prime tourist location, much better than you might expect” – at this “pleasant” spot opposite King’s College Chapel. But do try to grab a street-level table, rather than heading “downstairs to the dark and pokey basement”.

From Alex Olivier & Sam Carter of Restaurant 22 (two doors down), this June 2025 newcomer is a new modern bistro. It aims to be a tad more relaxed than their mothership – maintaining high quality, with dishes emanating from an open kitchen, but in a less ambitious vein. Launch menus include the likes of Tempura monkfish with lemon, ginger and kombu; Norfolk salt marsh lamb rump with green sauce; and Peach and almond crumble with meadowsweet custard for dessert. The lunch set menu is £45 per person, and the dinner set menu is £65 per person (£75 per person at weekends). It opened too late for any feedback in our annual diners’ poll, but a July 2025 review from The Telegraph’s William Sitwell was full of praise, judging it “seriously sublime – the cooking without fault, delivering well-balanced dishes and the finest cheffing nicely short of too many knobs on top”.