Aylesbury Restaurant Guide

“Individual and with lots of character” – Frederic Desmette’s lovely little French/Belgian restaurant where “the chef greets, cooks and often serves the nicest food”. Its loyal fan club continue to enjoy it and rate it highly, saying “it‘s always a pleasure to visit!” Top Menu Tip – “best scallops ever, fabulous turbot and amazing salmon”.

“Amazing food, top-notch service” – and “the value is OK for fine dining” – such are the attractions of Scott Barnard’s polished neighbourhood restaurant, which divides between a chef’s counter operation with tasting menu and open kitchen seating just 16 people overall; and larger dining room. The latter is considerably cheaper at £60 per person: at the chef’s table the experience is £105 per person during the week, rising to £130 per person at the weekend.

Set in a “real rural location” just outside London in the Chilterns, this village pub is serious about food and offers a “good choice of very tasty dishes”. David & Becky Salisbury celebrated 25 years at the helm in January 2024.

“Very good Thai food” remains the order of the day at this “cramped” fixture of the local scene, whose extensive menu (wok dishes, curries, fresh papaya salads) represents excellent value for money. From Tuesday to Saturday there’s a lunchtime noodle bar, and they also do a swift trade as a takeaway.

“Enhanced by a pre-prandial stroll around the wonderful gardens”, a visit to Raymond Blanc’s “superlative” Oxfordshire property (actually he’s sold most of his stake to LVMH nowadays) is one of the biggest culinary treats in the country. Raymond is celebrating his 40th year in this picture-book 15th-century manor in a quiet corner of south Oxfordshire: one of the top-5 most commented-on venues outside London in our annual diners’ poll, it scored particularly strongly this year – the first full year in which head chef Luke Selby has had a full 12 months at the stoves in the lead-up. “Yes, the prices are eye-watering” – that’s noted every year – but practically all reporters this year feel “it’s worth the money” given its “culinary excellence”. “It is made even more special by the team: friendly, helpful and proud to be part of the Manoir experience”. “After a warm welcome, you are guided to the lounge for a drink and the menu before going to the table. Then on to the dining room before adjourning back to the lounge for coffee and petit fours”. The cuisine itself is “classical with flair”: you can eat a three-course à la carte meal for £205 per person, or a seven-course menu for £245 per person. “The finishing touches are what makes dining here such a pleasure” and those who stay over feel particularly well looked-after. (“The whole experience was simply sublime and rounded off our celebrations incredibly well. How do we celebrate our next anniversary so well?”).

This “lovely old pub” in the Chilterns, handy for the Harry Potter antics at Warner Bros Studio nearby, built up quite a reputation for its Anglo-French cooking over nearly two decades under husband-and-wife team Sally & Alvin Michaels. The 18th-century venue is now managed by Alvin’s former protégé Matt Jackson (and part of the growing RedCat pub company) but, on limited feedback this year, its “exceptional pub dining” still makes it a local magnet.

“Michael North delivers sublime food and Imogen North creates the perfect front-of-house ambience” according to the many fans of this well-known foodie destination, which occupies a thatched rural pub. “Mike and Imogen have maintained such high standards since the first day they opened” in 2006. You can go for the short ‘Pub Classics’ menu – which delivers superior steak or fish ’n’ chips in the bar – but our reporters are more generally interested in the seven-course tasting menu (plus bread) for £115 per person. In either case, it’s a “lovely setting” and you get “high quality every time”. (A plea from one regular though: “I hope they go back to a full à la carte menu some time soon”).

“A lovely place for morning coffee or afternoon tea” – and “the handmade chocolates are delightful” at this duo in Wendover and Thame from chocolatier and patissier Nigel Rumsey, who founded his business 34 years ago at the back of his home.

Run by husband-and-wife team Charlie (who worked at Heston Blumenthal‘s Hinds Head pub in Bray) & Arantxa, this upscale high street tapas spot is “still the buzziest place hereabouts”. There are some quibbles in reports (“the food has lost its edge a little”) but also praise for some “super” dishes, ranging from their signature acorn-fed 100% Iberian pork, to the rather ingenious ‘Patatas Invisibles’ (“invisible chips”), which have zero calories and are essentially a £4.50 charitable donation to Hospitality Action.

This “lovely” restaurant in Old Amersham is a “real cosy, friendly” spot where chef-owner Mark (a one-man band) delivers “great” small plates with punchy flavours that pick and mix from the Middle East, Asia and Europe; for the sweet-toothed, there are upscale Prosecco jam doughnuts, and for those who are never sated, on Saturdays they do a bottomless brunch.

“A real find” – “take your date here and feel the love”, say fans of Antoine & Camille Chretien’s “ex-pub turned into an unexpected and excellent French restaurant” in the village nextdoor to superstar compatriot Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons – “the food is wonderful, the service superb and the dining room just spacious enough to be comfortable”. Top Tip – “look out for the value-for-money midweek ‘Deal Days’”.