Newbury Restaurant Guide

“Just feeling right without making the appearance of a great effort” – this “busy upmarket restaurant” in a swishly converted former pub is “always worth the drive” for its large fanbase drawn from a wide swathe of Home Counties and London postcodes that extend far from its West Berkshire location. One of the top-40 most commented on restaurants outside London in our annual diners’ poll, it’s a “lovely new building” where the sum of the experience owes much to the all-round appeal of its “high quality cuisine” and “attentive service” all in a “classic and well-mannered” but modernified style.

“A long-established restaurant that has moved with the times” from classically trained chef-patron Keith Marshall and his wife Julie, who have together provided “consistent quality cooking with excellent service” for almost four decades, in a pair of elegantly converted 16th-century cottages with a beautiful garden boasting views over Watership Down.

Basque-influenced cuisine – much of it from the charcoal grill – is now the order of the day at this “beautifully situated” pub, deep in the back-of-beyond of West Berkshire (in fact quite close to the M4, though you’d never know). The days when it was famous for its game dishes are gone – today you will discover an assortment of tapas plus more substantial fare – from Catalan fish stew to ‘12 Hour Lamb Shoulder’. Fans say it’s "really lovely” and “very well executed”. On the downside, one or two old timers can’t get with it. (“I really want to like this pub, I have been coming for years and its situation and ambience is idyllic, quintessential English countryside. But the prices are expensive and the tapas-style small plates and mains to share just aren’t that inviting”).

“A charming venue in a picture-postcard village location” – this “excellent” pub-with-rooms has a “lovely bright restaurant serving superb food” with influences from around the world, and a “good range of private dining options”. Charles I is said to have dined here during the English Civil War.

This “truly exceptional” establishment near the Hampshire/Berkshire border strikes “a nice balance between a traditional pub and a gastropub, combining the best of both”. Jason King & Simon Page are notching up their 21st year here in 2025, and “the consistency of the quality over the last two decades has been great”, with “delicious food” on a blackboard menu that’s “always interesting” and “impeccable service”.

2022 Review: “This superb gastropub” – an eighteenth-century inn “two minutes from the Thames and convenient for London day-trippers” – serves “interesting food with some high gastronomy”: “all produce is locally sourced, and bread made and butter churned in-house”. Husband-and-wife patrons Nick & Mary Galer (both ex-Fat Duck Group) “clearly care about what they do and look after their diners”. Ratings dropped a notch this year amid reports of “the odd off note” – possibly they “need a bit more practice after lockdown”.

2023 Review: “A brilliant location” – on a picture-perfect stretch of lush Thames riverbank – is the justification for maintaining the listing of this Thames Valley veteran, on the fringe of Goring. On a sunny day, there are few nicer places to be. Its “classic Italian menu”? Not much commented on (nor, to be fair, criticised) and not the main point.

“A fabulous setting right on the River Thames” – a stretch of water admired by writers from HG Wells to Kenneth Graham – makes this former boathouse ideal for “al-fresco dining” – or a “superior traditional Sunday lunch”. If most reporters reckon “the cooking is OK but nothing to write home about”, it’s “still a good place to sit and just look at the view”.

This Grade II-listed gastroboozer in an Oxfordshire village risked closure post-pandemic, but a group of investors – including tennis whizz Tim Henman – served up an ace to save it. Reborn in 2022 after a slight rebrand to reflect the continuing presence of French, Roux-trained chef Olivier Bouet (who runs it alongside wife Stephanie), the food ranges from pastas to decadent desserts and there’s also a “super wine list”. Add in personable staff and it’s game, set, match.

A menu of ‘British Tapas’ “changes regularly and the wine list has loads on it to love” at this popular venue, in a very scenic townhouse, next to the bridge and overlooking the River Kennet, in the centre of the town, also praised for staff who are “always welcoming, but never stuffy”.

2023 Review: After months of restoration, this 17th century Georgian building near Newbury re-opened in January 2022 and now boasts a traditional pub, very attractive pitched-roof dining room in contemporary style and 30-bed coaching inn, as well as a covered garden terrace. No feedback as yet in our annual diners’ poll – reports please!

2023 Review: Complete with a riverside terrace, this privately owned pub near Newbury receives a good rep in our annual diners’ poll for its 40-seat dining room overlooking the river Lambourn, where chef Sam Cary aims to deliver ‘refined modern British pub food’. In an April 2022 visit, Tatler’s Fay Maschler declared it “a rare jewel of a country pub” offering “everything you want a welcome to be”.

2023 Review: “Always reliable, serving exceptional food for a village pub”, say fans of Dave Watts’s rural inn, where classic pub dishes jostle on the menu with somewhat more ambitious fare. Top Tip – “the plat du jour is unbelievable value!”