Birdlip, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“My wife and I use this as an excuse for a weekend in Cheltenham once a year!” say fans of this long-established and traditional temple of gastronomy, run by David & Helen Everitt-Matthias since 1987, for which they were amongst the few UK restaurateurs to hold two Michelin stars (which were awarded from 2000-2019, after which they were downgraded to a single star). Fans feel that “the standards here remain as high as ever with cooking that’s innovative (petit fours are always a highlight!)” and “exceptional”. But it was a mixed year in our annual diners’ poll, with some downbeat feedback from former fans (“I have had some fabulous meals at Le Champignon Sauvage, but this meal felt a little tired and I left unlikely to return. Sad because the restaurant has been an icon over the years with exciting, cutting-edge food”). Helen presides over the staff and most accounts say she has been “her usual charming self” but one or two diners felt service “made us feel like intruders”. The “low key and quiet dining room” has always received a mixed press – to critics rather dull, but to fans “comfortable” and “restful”.

2022 Review: In a prime town-centre location, this luxurious hotel (ultimately owned by Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton) is converted from a trio of Georgian townhouses. On limited feedback in this survey, the themes here are the same as in previous years: “attractive setting and good food… but all at a high price”.

2024 Review: “The rotunda is wonderful”, and “can make a visit stand out” at this branch of the ubiquitous chain, which otherwise conforms to type with “food and service that are professional, reliable and entirely anonymous” – “one could eat the same dish every day and find it unvarying, while being treated politely but distantly by the staff”.

“Refurbished and reopened by new owners last year, and a great success” – Tom Noest & Peter Creed (owners of Sherborne Arms and the Bell Inn at Langford) relaunched this central gastropub in 2024 and “there is a ‘pubby’ bit and an eating part with a similar feel (woody, cosy and convivial)”. “The cooking is interesting and ambitious, going beyond just gastropub favourites; and service is invariably friendly, helpful and efficient. It’s pretty well everything you want from a neighbourhood restaurant. I just hope Giles Coren’s recent review doesn’t spoil it!” (In his March 2025 review, The Times’s reviewer dubbed it “another glorious, unbeatable food pub… not too poncey, not too pleased with themselves, expressing the right way forward for pub food in a post-pickled eggs and pork scratchings world”).