Stanton Harcourt Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “A foodie gem”, this well-known eighteenth-century pub in a village on the outskirts of Oxford has been going through a period of flux, hence we’ve removed a rating for the time being. High-profile chef Jon Parry joined in summer 2022, after our annual diners’ poll had concluded, having made a name for himself cooking over an open fire at The Mash Inn in Buckinghamshire, and declared his ambition to ‘turn The White Hart into something really special’. Four months later, owner Baz Butcher announced his intention to sell up and retire to France.

This Oxford-fringe institution is “the perfect country pub for all seasons: thatched roof, low beams, fire, cosy interior, extensive garden” – and is just a quarter-hour walk from the city centre in a beautiful, leafy and peaceful location in Binsey, close to the Thames (known locally as the Isis) and Port Meadow. It’s not an overtly foodie destination, but “the menu has everything you’d hope for from a country pub, plus some extra surprise treats (quails eggs, pork belly and apple mustard)”.

“Everybody loves The Edge” – a relaxed albeit slightly “cramped” brunch spot offering “fabulous” and “imaginative” food (bagels, sandos, and tacos which are the stuff of legend) which has become a real local hit since Tom Pickett & Phoebe Hall opened doors during the pandemic. “Staff are friendly and efficient” and it’s “so worth the wait” to taste the food, which is also proffered at their sibling venue, ‘The Edge Deli’, located in Witney’s Hexagon Business Centre, and combining a full deli with their in-house bakery (an earlier offshoot, ‘The Edge at Lils’, having bitten the dust).