Cirencester Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “Excellent food” and a “lively atmosphere” can be found at this brasserie set in the Corn Hall covered market in the centre of town, that has developed over 15 years from a deli and was formerly known as Made by Bob… although the founder is James Parkinson.

2021 Review: Owned by the same folk as The Village Pub, just across the road, this “very fancy” boutique hotel turns out “solid cooking with bold flavours”, and uses “a lot of produce straight from the garden”.

Opening June 2024, in the Cotswold village of Barnsley, the first pub from the shabby-chic Pig hotel group, which has taken over boutique hotel Barnsley House across the road (also opening summer 2024). The food is a pubby version of the Pig formula, with a hearty menu based around locally sourced ingredients, served in rustic comfort.

2021 Review: A “charming, lovely and well-run village pub” that “has had its ups and downs, but seems to be on an ‘up’ at the moment”; and serving an “interesting but not over-ambitious menu”.

Founded in 2013, this farmshop meets café and drive-thru on the site of a former petrol station is a multi-tasking sort of place that makes a “great option for breakfast” or “excellent rare-breed burgers” – even if, for the fancier fare, “one pays accordingly”. Alongside the bar/dining tent, there’s plenty of outdoor seating in the meadows and a fire pit for cooler days – plus a whole gamut of events ranging from breathwork classes to folk nights and puppy meet-ups.

This “cosy” beamed village pub (fka the Plough) is these days “rather trendy”, with a “classy, comfortable atmosphere” and a “varied and interesting” menu plus an “outstanding Sunday lunch”. William & Kate were apparently regular visitors leading up to their engagement.

2022 Review: Superdry sartorial star Julian Dunkerton, behind the Lucky Onion Cotswold group, owns this “reliable and buzzing” country hotel, where “amazing local ingredients” are “beautifully cooked in a gorgeous setting”. The odd service blip but it's “overall a very memorable eating experience”.

This “beautiful traditional country pub, a favourite of Laurie Lee, has bags of atmosphere and views over the Slad Valley” – and is one of the few to offer regular tarot readings! “The food is amazing, with a real Italian twist and lots of fresh, in-season ingredients” – often just “three ingredients on a round white plate, done to perfection”. Daniel Chadwick, the landlord for 25 years, opened a spinoff bistro called Juliet in nearby Stroud in autumn 2024. Top Menu Tip – “devilled kidneys starter a must”.

2022 Review: Now that Wild Garlic nearby has converted into rooms, this ambitious and quite well-known venue is Matthew Bearshall’s main operation, wherein all guests enjoy an eight-course tasting menu in a single sitting nightly. It has a hard-to-obtain AA ranking of 3 rosettes, but we didn’t receive reports on it this year, so have left it unrated.

This five-year-old venue set in a huge stone-built former barn – part of a sprawling family-run project in the Cotswolds also incorporating a spa retreat, a pub and a beauty business – serves “reliably good food. Nothing fancy, just great local ingredients cooked to perfection. Yum”. Chef Charlie Hibbert trained under Jeremy Lee at Quo Vadis; his mother Caryn led the redevelopment of the estate. Top Tip – “if you have a meal here, make time to walk around the grounds and take in the great views”.

2022 Review: The more informal dining option at this luxe Cotswolds country-house hotel, with an elegant grey colour scheme and a garden for summer months – the British-slanted menu offers “tasty food” in “good portions”, drawing on fresh produce from the kitchen garden.

Under chef Ricki Weston, this Cotswolds country-house hotel has maintained its reputation as a significant foodie destination, with the main event in the dining room being a seven-course tasting menu at £175 per person, although there is also an à la carte menu for £120 per person. But while all feedback rates the experience as “exceptional all-round”, it was more limited this year and consequently we’ve continued to rate it quite conservatively.

2021 Review: With its “superior pub food in a delightful location” – a plush spa and hotel complex in the Cotswolds – this is far from your standard village boozer. But it has stood the test of time, and recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.

“Champignon never fails to deliver outstanding cooking and amazingly good value” and “it is remarkable how such high standards have been maintained over such a long time” – that’s the unanimous verdict this year in the good number of reports on this famous foodie Mecca: a traditional temple of gastronomy run by David & Helen Everitt-Matthias since 1987, which famously closes whenever David cannot be at the stoves. The cooking continues to be truly accomplished and shouts out the personality of the chef: qualities which remain exactly the same as those which guests have experienced for decades. Each year, reporters say that “this remains the standard to which I compare other places” – the cooking is “always original, seasonal, well judged, and carefully presented (whilst avoiding the irritating Instagrammability sometimes found elsewhere)”. “Service is both friendly and professional, and Helen presides over the room and the wine with grace”. There is a notably strong wine list and also an “amazing cheese selection”. Even fans note that “some might find the room sedate”, while adding: “I’d prefer to say serene; tables are well-spaced and the atmosphere is calm and good-humoured. If there is a better place to enjoy terrific cooking whilst having a good conversation, I’d like to know about it!”

“The Keralan cooking is always good and the service is lovely” at this popular spot from Michael Raphel (owner of Prithvi and Holee Cow), whose chef grandfather came to Britain from South India 50 years ago. “At lunchtime the thalis are a delight and exceptional value”. There’s now a spinoff branch in Oxford.

“Expensive but wonderful fine-dining Indian food that’s definitely several cuts above your average curry house” maintains Jay Rahman’s interesting venue as one of the town’s main culinary destinations. Chef Thomas Law combines subcontinental flavours and spicing with modern European culinary ideas to create “elegant” dishes that are “a real treat”. In February 2024, they announced they are on the hunt for a second site in the Cotswolds.

2021 Review: “A real pleasure” – takeover by a chain (Cardiff’s Barkby Group, at the helm as of 2018) hasn’t led to a fall in fortunes for this eighteenth century village boozer; it continues to deliver “very enjoyable”, “well-sized and well-priced” grub (including the “perfect Sunday roast”) that’s “worth travelling some way for” – and, while it “gets pretty packed, it appears the kitchen is used to that and copes admirably”.

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”.

Just off the high street, this “understated” indie from Gareth Fulford pairs sustainably caught seafood with top Cotswolds produce. In addition to their excellent-value set lunches, tasting menus and bi-monthly-changing à la carte, they’ve “just started doing a once-a-month small- plates evening” showcasing British seafood, and the results are “very tasty and enjoyable”.

“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”.