Aldershot, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “So quirky and friendly”, “and the food is great too” at this smart pub-with-rooms geared up for huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ in the Hampshire countryside. Top Tip: “Go for the scrumptious dessert of beer cake and apple ice cream”.

“Wow, Wow, Wow! Surpassed all expectations… loved every moment” – all reports this year are a hymn of praise to this sumptuous dining room, which has won numerous accolades over the years and where Steve Smith has been at the stoves for five years now. “Imaginative food is presented with real style” in a six-course ‘discovery’ menu for £175 per person that’s “consistently very good”. Top Menu Top – “desserts are particularly good: for example, the rhubarb and truffle chocolate is unusual, delicious and a great ending to a meal”.

2021 Review: “Upmarket pub” with a dozen bedrooms, handy for Ascot Racecourse, which was taken over by new owners (Barons Pub Company) in late 2018. Not all reporters are happy with the new ownership, but upbeat feedback praises its “well-rounded menu, relaxed style and pleasant service”. Reflecting the up-and-down reports, we’ve left a rating till the next Diners Poll.

A “glamorous” outpost of Richard Caring’s ever-growing brasserie empire set across two floors, and with a particularly scenic patio overlooking the headline attraction announced in its name. As per its siblings, the menu hops from British classics to Asian-inspired dishes and veggie options, and there’s currently a two-course ‘£19.17 Menu’ revisiting classics from the original London restaurant, from their famed shepherd’s pie to frozen berries with white chocolate sauce; also as with its siblings, not everyone is convinced by the food (“nothing to rave about”) but it remains one of the more commented-upon venues in these parts.

The second link in the growing Brucan Pubs group, set up by James Lyon Shaw and Jamie Dobbin, who met during their days at the famous Ivy. By all accounts the three-year-old venture is “surprisingly good for a somewhat unprepossessing area”, and with “good-value set menus” to boot. Top Menu Tip – “in my experience the best dishes are the slow-cooked ones”.

Set on a 400-acre estate, this converted 18th-century manor house is nowadays a 45-room hotel and promotes its commitment to sustainability, complete with its own biodynamic farm. Skye Gyngell (of London’s Spring) oversees the dining room, which receives a very mixed rep in our annual diners’ poll. Many are wowed or find the cuisine “tasty but playing it a bit safe”, while others settle for “OK, but thought it would be better”, and nobody says it’s terrible. Views diverge on the interior, too – “soulless” to some but an “exceptional” highlight to others.

“A very well-run and vast pub/restaurant which has managed to balance itself between the two”. Between the “reliable and fresh” British grub, “well-kept beers” and “friendly and efficient team” (plus a lovely garden) it’s “always a delight to visit”.

2021 Review: FKA ‘The Manor at Foxhills’: this “beautiful” dining room of a top golf course – set in an impressive Victorian manor house – “has been refurbished, with no carpets or window furnishings so it’s noisier than it used to be”. Too little feedback as yet from which to rate this new, more modern guise, but prices are not punishing and there is a menu for ‘Young Adults’. A traditional afternoon tea in the adjoining plush lounge is still an option.

“Impeccable!” – “Adam Smith has definitely added the wow factor to what was formerly the Restaurant Coworth Park” and with the Dorchester Collection’s 2023 revamp of this mansion’s main dining room – replacing its formerly bland international luxe looks with very successful, “subtle but stylish” surroundings – it is fully emerging as one of the south east’s foremost gastronomic destinations (“surely it must be heading for two Michelin stars”). “Several snacks lead into the hospitality masterclass which Adam and his team, including front of house, achieve at each visit”. “Bread is not just a side issue but a course in itself and something to be savoured” and is followed up by “exciting dishes realised with flair” and “a fantastic lightness of touch”; all “superbly presented” by the “smiling, thoughtful, nattily dressed staff”. And “the cheese room is an experience in itself”. “The best meal we have had in a long time”: “pricing has gone up quite significantly” but no-one complains about this – they say it’s “still worth it as the food is phenomenal”. “Gorgeous grounds to wander around too”.

“Set in a charming cottage” in an “attractive Surrey Hills village setting”, this red-brick restaurant is “a class act from the off”, beginning with the “warm welcome” from Jack Forrest Foster, who purchased the restaurant alongside chef Mohssine El Faddi in 2019 (the venue having been in existence for over three decades). “The modern British food has a North African influence which adds to the interest and taste” and invariably “draws you back”.

Ex-Core chef Steven Ellis & pastry-chef wife Ami’s “temple-of-gastronomy-wolf in a comfy-pub-sheep’s clothing” launched two years back and it has a particular focus on local game. The “highly distinctive and skilfully crafted cuisine” (with “venison to the fore”) plus “attentive and courteous service” place it “at the top gastropub level”. NB – while “parking is potentially tricky, one could enjoy a delightful walk in Windsor Great Park before or after a meal here”.

2021 Review: “Good Italian food in the Surrey Hills” is to be found in this substantial village pub, now operated by an Italian team that ran restaurants in Guildford for three decades. The bar menu of pizzas and pasta is complemented by a more formal menu in the restaurant.

2023 Review: “Good solid food” and a “large outdoor space for eating” makes this country pub a handy refuelling spot for visitors to the RHS gardens at nearby Wisley.

“Some outstanding food and clever twists in the tasting menu” inspired high ratings and enthusiasm levels this year in the “really special” and “intimate” dining room (just seven tables) of this stately pile, complete with Tudor fireplace and tapestries, where chef Alex Payne’s menus accounted for some reporters’ best meals of the year. Some reports include quibbles, but even a diner who was at the only occupied table at the time said “what a pleasant meal and what charming staff. Not expensive by today’s standards and definitely worth the detour”.

This comfortably decorated national chain feels akin to dining in a hotel, but minus the bedrooms; and its two London branches – near the Tower and in Putney – benefit from attractive Thames-side locations, where “it’s lovely to sit outside on a warm day by the river, or year-round in one of their igloo pods”. “There’s a warm fire inside with cosy armchairs”, too, which make the venues “fine for coffee or snacks”, although for more substantial meals “the food is only OK”.

“A well-deserved success for the RHS” – this large venue at their Wisley HQ provides a “glorious setting for lovely lunches”. The gardens are hugely popular all year round, so it’s “always advisable to book”. Top Tip – “don’t forget, you do need to pay to enter the gardens in order to eat at the restaurant” (about £20 per adult).