Mitton, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

John & Helen Howe’s “small dining room” just “gets better and better” and is nowadays the most highly rated restaurant in the area in our annual diners’ poll. “Inspired cooking with accuracy and precision, and with an ability to produce some unlikely but amazing combinations” with “intense individual flavours” characterises the glowing feedback we receive on the “sublime, seasonal tasting menus showcasing many of their home-grown vegetables and herbs plus wine flights and a well chosen wine list”. (“A great feature is the tablet on each table which allows diners to gain further information about the various courses”). “The atmosphere is calm, friendly and welcoming” and “the small team provides a warm welcome”. It accounts for many of our reporters’ best meal of the year, and though pricey, no-one begrudges the cost: “just wish we lived closer as visits involve an overnight stay in Cheltenham… but it’s most definitely worth it”.

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”.

“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!”

“Delicious, innovative food served in an intimate setting” has been the draw at chef Gus Ashenford and his wife Kate’s former Cotswold village tearoom for 22 years. The cooking is rooted in the classical French cuisine of Gus’s mentor, the late Michel Roux senior, but the ratings were dragged down this year by a reporter who felt “the food is interesting and individual, but not as exceptional as my last visit some years ago”.

“Spectacular and panoramic views from the Malvern Hills across the Severn Valley” are a major plus at this “cosy hotel dining room”. When it comes to the victuals, one reporter cautions that “when they stick to plain stuff, it is very good but then the kitchen gets carried away and the result is sometimes disappointing”. For the most part, though, there’s nothing but praise for “chef Rob Mason’s creative dishes”, which fans say “offer pure taste delight at very reasonable prices”.

This “relaxing” brasserie on one of England’s oldest vineyards (the first vines were planted in 1973) has expanded over the years and now includes romantic, glass-walled lodges among the vines as well as bedrooms handily placed for its brasserie. The latter enjoys “great views” of the grapes, and its “tapas/small plates concept works well despite the menu not seeming to change very much (if at all!)”, with charcuterie and cheese boards sitting alongside other “fantastic” fare to help you soak up the booze – many of their own wines, of course (also available to sample on wine tours) but also ‘guest wines’ they admire. Best bit: it’s all “fairly priced”.

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).

“The cooking is really excellent here” – “the best I have ever had in a pub” – says a Putney-based fan of this Cotswolds inn from former Simpsons head chef Nathan Eades and Liam Goff. “The decor could do with a bit of money, but at least the focus is on good food and pleasant local service” – “and it isn’t yet full of Londoners like us, despite Giles Coren’s efforts!” Top Menu Tips – “the amazing celeriac pie” and the “ham hock for two”.