Buntingford, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

This “very comfortable” 15th-century farmhouse half an hour from London makes an ideal setting for a hotel restaurant with a “lively, vibrant atmosphere”‚ “keen and attentive staff” and “plenty of traditional dishes” on its menu. A meal here is usually “enjoyable”, if not gastronomically distinguished.

“Locals and visitors” beat a path to this “lovely pub with top-notch food” from chef James Rix and his wife Bianca, who have transformed it into an “Interesting and exceptionally busy venue” over the past 20 years. Top Menu Tip – “dessert on a whole different level: Paris Brest, choux pastry, praline cream, hot chocolate sauce & toasted nuts of exceptional taste and quality”.

“At last, the Auberge has found its feet again and is now up and running smoothly” following its reopening in May 2023, after a three-year hiatus. While the “beautiful setting” in a hunting lodge on the Brocket Hall Estate remains unchanged, these days chef John Barber (ex-of London’s Mandarin Oriental) is at the helm, his “confident and assured” cooking more modern British than during the venue’s Gallic heyday under Jean-Christophe Novelli – and more democratic too (particularly the “good-value fixed-price lunch”). As ever, “the decor could still do with a refresh but, on a sunny day, a table out on the terrace by the lake is unbeatable”.