Chippenham Restaurant Guide

“Set in fairy woods by a sparkling stream”, Chris & Kirsty Harrod’s restaurant with rooms sits peacefully in the beautiful Wye Valley and remains one of Wales’s foremost culinary destinations. “Known for their green credentials and sustainability”: “innovative foraged and locally sourced food is prepared by a chef who knows his onions and much else to create something unique and wonderful (if not for everyday)”. “Chris and his team always make you feel at home and are hugely knowledgeable”, while the “tasting menu and wine pairing are absolutely the best”. (“In a year of notable dinners at top restaurants – Gidleigh, Lympstone, Gravetye, Morston Hall & Kota – an overnight stay at Whitebrook proved to be the highlight. Chris Harrod’s imaginative and unusual menu was a joy from start to finish. Everything was well-balanced with confident cooking throughout. Service was informal, friendly and the atmosphere completely relaxing and unpretentious”).

In a “fine old building” close to the English border, this coaching inn (“cosy old bar” plus “sophisticated restaurant”) is “consistently good”, especially if you go for one of the “good- value” set menus (featuring “some unusual selections but all very well executed”). It’s part of the growing House of Caradog family, which now spans numerous local outposts: a sibling hotel, a bakery, an art shop and café, plus inn and restaurant The Walnut Tree, two miles off. Top Tip – “lovely and plentiful” afternoon tea – “everything is handmade and elegant” with a “superb tea choice and great array of savouries and cakes”.

Name-checking the two salmon-rich rivers between which it sits, Richard & Shirley Cook’s storied smokery may have an “unassuming location and exterior”, but that “belies the excellent goods within” – the kind of goods that make them in hot demand as a supplier to royals, Fortnum’s and so (impressively) forth. Mark Stinchcombe, winner of the 2015 MasterChef: The Professionals competition, oversees the formal-ish upstairs restaurant, which remains in demand for its “delicious seafood and shellfish dishes”, and is “always busy, so book ahead unless you want to eat in the deli café” downstairs – part of a wider package that also includes an “interesting” shop.

This “innovative gastropub in a remote Welsh village, specialising in high-quality local produce” is “sensibly priced for cooking of such a high standard”. Josh & Hannah Byrne attracted some brickbats in the early days for their refusal to offer a traditional Sunday roast – but six years in nobody is complaining any more (and they’re likely to find venison on the menu anyway).

A “brilliant little place” in three smartly converted town-centre sheds that’s “what a local restaurant is all about”, turning out “great, fresh seasonal food” from a concise but “interesting menu” of small plates (that are also “great value” too). It’s a particularly “good lunch spot” but also just a great “place for a natter and catch-up” (possibly in the courtyard if the weather is clement). Sadly owners Danielle Phillips and Dan Saunders, who launched this venue in 2019, shuttered its younger Bath spin-off in mid-2024, citing low foot traffic and high rental rates.

“Locally sourced fresh produce is teased into interesting dishes” at this indie arts-centre café, with a menu of inexpensive bistro fare, alongside coffee and bakes.

This “stylish café” – directly inspired by the coffee culture experienced by founder Jess Fletcher in New Zealand – is a “lovely spot for brunch and always the best coffee”. There’s a short menu of plant-based goodies, and on Friday and Saturday evenings wine and cocktails are served.

2022 Review: A newly refurbished hotel dining room offering pub lunch favourites by day and – courtesy of seasoned head chef Krishna Bhandari – by night a “very quirky” menu of “refined Nepalese cuisine” of “consistently excellent quality”.