Winchcombe Restaurant Guide

“Everything is cooked to order” using “first-class local produce in wonderful flavour combinations” by chef-patron Gus Ashenford, who trained under the late Michel Roux senior and once cooked for then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin at the Kremlin. He took over this former village tea shop with his wife Kate in 2003, and fans reckon it’s still “the best restaurant for miles around”.

2022 Review: Part of a now eight-strong chain, this youthfully spirited Sri Lankan street-food venture is a laid-back and “homely” (mostly bar stool seating) spot to indulge in some “delicious” sharing plates and wacky “cocktails” – the latter sometimes on fire; best bit – it's “not pricey”, either.

2023 Review: A “country house atmosphere”, “excellent service” and “delicious food” win praise from fans of this “beautiful” Cotswolds hotel – owned by greetings card mogul Andrew Brownsword – and it “should please every romantic”. Ratings were dragged down, though, by other reporters who feel that the house is “lovely but tired”, while “the food is good-ish, but certainly could be better”.

‘British seafood, Cotswold produce’ is the promise of Gareth Fulford’s small independent near the High Street, where the evening focus is on an à la carte menu (two courses for £58 per person); and where there are also selections for a ‘light lunch’ or a tasting option of six to eight courses for £85 to £100 per person. All the cooking is acknowledged as “very inventive and tasty”.

“An exquisite modern take on Indian cuisine” – Jay Rahman’s refined establishment has pushed culinary boundaries since 2012 with “food that excites the eye in its presentation to match its thrilling flavours”. Chef Thomas Law, who has worked in top kitchens in New York and Australia, sends out imaginative meals that “feel like an unexpected five-star adventure”.

2023 Review: “What a wonderful experience” – this original of what is now a national chain (branches in Bristol, London and Solihull) serves “wonderful sushi” and other Japanese dishes that are “as good if not better since it moved to larger premises” – “the most stressful part of visiting is choosing from the menu!”. Top Tip – “the aptly named volcano roll”.

“Always hugely excited to go to Lumiere and always leave amazed” – John & Helen Lowe’s “welcoming” venue in the city-centre, finally won recognition from Michelin in 2023 – “it was a long time coming” as they opened in 2009 – and fans say that “although there are more bells and whistles since the star, the food remains divine”, always “well-designed and both execution and presentation are excellent” (“we think it’s genius, rivalling meals we’ve had in two- and three- star establishments”). You can choose from four, six and ten courses for £85, £135 and £175 per person respectively: “they are superbly balanced, novel in their combinations, minimise waste and make best use of the owners’ produce. And whilst the presentation is excellent, the focus is on the cooking not the image”. “The small room is calm and pleasant, service is enthusiastic and informative… altogether a wonderful place for a meal”.

2022 Review: Rugby World Cup AND Celebrity MasterChef winner Phil Vickery has opened his own restaurant, with his wife Jules and chef Tom Rains, after a year of running a delivery service, No.3 at Home.

2024 Review: “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”.

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”.

“My wife and I use this as an excuse for a weekend in Cheltenham once a year!” say fans of this long-established and traditional temple of gastronomy, run by David & Helen Everitt-Matthias since 1987, for which they were amongst the few UK restaurateurs to hold two Michelin stars (which were awarded from 2000-2019, after which they were downgraded to a single star). Fans feel that “the standards here remain as high as ever with cooking that’s innovative (petit fours are always a highlight!)” and “exceptional”. But it was a mixed year in our annual diners’ poll, with some downbeat feedback from former fans (“I have had some fabulous meals at Le Champignon Sauvage, but this meal felt a little tired and I left unlikely to return. Sad because the restaurant has been an icon over the years with exciting, cutting-edge food”). Helen presides over the staff and most accounts say she has been “her usual charming self” but one or two diners felt service “made us feel like intruders”. The “low key and quiet dining room” has always received a mixed press – to critics rather dull, but to fans “comfortable” and “restful”.

“Superb Keralan food” (“the lunchtime thalis are an absolute bargain”) wins nothing but praise for this outfit run by the third generation of a family that immigrated to Britain from India half a century ago; add in “lovely and helpful service” and a “very pleasant setting” (“quiet enough for easy conversation”) and “what’s not to like?”. There are two local siblings: fine-diner ‘Prithvi’ and, at the other end of the scale, burger joint ‘Holee Cow’.

2024 Review: James Martin is the latest in the line of c’leb chefs to have his name over the door of the barrel-vaulted dining room of this historic Tudor coaching inn (which accommodated both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell at different times during the Civil War). Iconic Luxury Hotels Group (who run Cliveden and Chewton Glen) have managed the property for some time, and pre-rebrand the feedback continued the downbeat tenor – “such a disappointment…”, “trading on its name and reputation” – of recent decades. Here’s hoping James can bring some of the magic here that’s created in Chewton Glen and that this fine space finally starts to live up to its potential.

“This Grande Dame still maintains standards in its main restaurant” according to most feedback on the impressive barrel-vaulted dining room of this picture-book, 600-year-old hotel in the Cotswolds, which – under TV chef James Martin – seems to have hit a more even stride in recent times with a straightforward, posh-grill house formula of steak and BBQ dishes (“best Sunday Lunch I’ve had in years in a wonderful room with very good service”).

This “unpretentious but good restaurant” serves “outstanding food for the price – much cheaper than establishments where the food is nowhere near as good”; “service is very friendly and correct”, too – which indicates that a change of ownership a couple of years back has failed to dent a consistent performance stretching back over two decades. The premises was originally the workshop of furniture designer George Russell, remembered in the name. Top Tip – “great fish ’n’ chips are found at the rear of the main restaurant” (under the same ownership).

“Comfort through and through” helps characterise this luxurious Cotswolds retreat – a “lovely building and grounds” with a “gorgeous” elegant interior. Chef Charles Smith provides “superlative presentation, taste & seasoning, with every element of each dish perfectly prepared”. from a nine-course menu in the evening for £130 per person. (There’s also the simpler Dining Room where you can enjoy high quality but more straightforward dishes).

2022 Review: Limited but upbeat feedback on this relatively recent (2019) addition to the well-known Cotswolds manor house, with Charles Smith delivering a nine-course tasting menu for £95. Fans do say it’s “wonderful”, but we have to leave a rating till we have a few more reports.

2024 Review: This archetypal Cotswolds manor house, just outside Bourton on the Water, occupies a seventeenth century property that’s nowadays part of Andrew Brownsword’s hotel group. The cuisine – under chef Nik Chappell – wins a consistent thumbs-up (“we do enjoy going here... results can be a bit hit and miss, but are mostly good! while service is very good and the dining room attractive”). As well as a fairly pricey à la carte (three courses for £80) there’s a relatively affordable all-day menu served in the bar and lounges (with dishes such as omelette Arnold Bennett, steak, posh sarnies, and so on).