Newbury Restaurant Guide

“Who would expect to find top restaurant cuisine in a small, quaint, rural pub?” – Dom Robinson, a former head chef at Tom Aikens, returned from Dubai to imbue this village boozer with plenty of “old world charm”. His “excellent, high-quality cooking” has garnered universally high ratings from our reporters – as well as a coveted star from the French tyre outfit – and it “won’t break the bank”.

John Campbell’s “open and airy” modernised ex-pub not far from Newbury “has great interior design”, sits in a “delightful countryside location” and is establishing itself as a major destination, especially considering that “it’s in the middle of nowhere”. It offers “an excellent all-round experience” with “clever, but not too clever food that’s skilfully cooked and good value”; “outstanding cocktails (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic)”; and “superb wine” (with “unusual options from countries such as Turkey”).

“Delightful Japanese food in the centre of Newbury” is the prospect offered by this 2017 newcomer in a Georgian building next to the river, where an ex-Nobu chef serves “freshly made sushi and sashimi and a wide variety of mainly Japanese main courses”.