Upper Slaughter, British, Modern - Restaurant Guide

“Comfort through and through” helps characterise this luxurious Cotswolds retreat – a “lovely building and grounds” with a “gorgeous” elegant interior. Chef Charles Smith provides “superlative presentation, taste & seasoning, with every element of each dish perfectly prepared”. from a nine-course menu in the evening for £130 per person. (There’s also the simpler Dining Room where you can enjoy high quality but more straightforward dishes).

2022 Review: Limited but upbeat feedback on this relatively recent (2019) addition to the well-known Cotswolds manor house, with Charles Smith delivering a nine-course tasting menu for £95. Fans do say it’s “wonderful”, but we have to leave a rating till we have a few more reports.

2024 Review: This archetypal Cotswolds manor house, just outside Bourton on the Water, occupies a seventeenth century property that’s nowadays part of Andrew Brownsword’s hotel group. The cuisine – under chef Nik Chappell – wins a consistent thumbs-up (“we do enjoy going here... results can be a bit hit and miss, but are mostly good! while service is very good and the dining room attractive”). As well as a fairly pricey à la carte (three courses for £80) there’s a relatively affordable all-day menu served in the bar and lounges (with dishes such as omelette Arnold Bennett, steak, posh sarnies, and so on).

“Absolutely lovely” – “Tucked away down a lane”, this restored Georgian malthouse overlooking the Evenlode valley is “everything that you could want a Cotswold Pub now Restaurant with Rooms to be”: “a stunning place with real atmosphere” and high marks too to the accomplished cuisine, be it from the high quality à la carte menu, or the more ambitious seven-course tasting menu for £90 per person. It’s not a case of fancy combinations – you’re paying for high quality protein that’s been sensitively prepared.

“Really delicious, well-executed, restaurant-quality food” has established this 17th-century village pub as a Cotswold star under former Simpsons head chef Nathan Eades and Liam Goff since they took over in late 2023; although “it’s a limited space so gets noisy when busy”. The founders meanwhile have new openings nearby: The Horse and Groom at Bourton on the Hill and most recently The Hollow Bottom at Guiting Power.