Oare Restaurant Guide

“Excellent pub with rooms with a superb restaurant, serving delicious food” that “shows influences from the Mediterranean to the Middle East and beyond”. “They’re the bunch who have taken over the nearby Pot Kiln gastropub, so we were bumped into the hotel… but it was a pleasant bump – great food, reasonably priced and welcoming service/surroundings”.

Reopened in June 2024 (after our diners’ poll had concluded), this well-known inn (Kate Middleton’s favourite back in the day) has been relaunched under new management and after a £750,000 refit with seven rooms for accommodation. Gone are the days of its traditional British menu: Nick Galer and his team now present Basque-influenced dishes, including tapas and cured meats, and the interior has been significantly changed, incorporating a charcoal-fired grill at the centre of a big open kitchen. There’s still a separate bar and big outside area; and they still run their popular weekly pizza nights (now on Sundays) when they fire up the big oven in the garden.

“Despite losing its Michelin star, standards at the Woodspeen remain very high” according to practically all of the many reports on this restored pub in West Berkshire, which was transformed in 2013 by top catering CEO, Alastair Storey (and which is one of the top-50 most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll). There is a variety of menus, including a sensibly priced à la carte option all served in a stylish setting (which includes a striking, high-ceilinged contemporary space added onto the original building). “I have been dining at The Woodspeen since it opened. I have seen the team develop over the years. It’s an excellently run restaurant with great food. May have lost its Michelin star but it is as great as it always has been in my view”. Top Tip – “good value for money, especially for the set lunch”.

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!