Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Faringdon
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Faringdon restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 19 restaurants in Faringdon and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Faringdon restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Faringdon Restaurants
1. The Old Crown Coaching Inn
restaurant in Faringdon
25 market place - SN7
Elegant, quirky and serving exquisite food alongside a beautifully renovated 4 star hotel. Escape the fast pace of everyday life with a visit to The Old Crown Coaching Inn. Located in the centre of the historic market town of Faringdon, seize the opportunity to sink into a relaxi...
2. Minster Mill
British, Modern restaurant in Minster Lovell
Old Minster - OX29
2023 Review: Limited but good all-round feedback on this handsome hotel on the fringe of the Cotswolds and a short drive from Oxford (part of Andrew Brownsword’s luxurious group), whose beautiful terrace borders the banks of the River Windrush. In the beamed, pitched-roof dining room, chef Joshua Brimmell holds a hard-to-win three AA rosettes.
3. Mollie’s Motel & Diner
American restaurant in Buckland
Shivenham Road - SN7
2022 Review: Soho House’s relatively new motel concept (which now also has a sibling in Bristol) aims at the affordable staycation market and incorporates a modern take on the classic US diner into its offering, complete with retro Americana and brunch-friendly dishes. Too few reports for a rating as yet, but the odd bit of feedback about “great burgers”.
4. The Bell Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Langford
A “beautiful village pub (with rooms) in the Cotswolds” that’s often “packed to the rafters”; local boys Peter Creed and Tom Noest took it over in 2017 – with the latter turning out “all the modern pub classics delivered with panache, along with some more unusual offerings” (“venison scrumpets”, anyone?); add in “smiling service”, and a beer garden overlooking the open countryside, and it’s an “outstanding” proposition all-round.
5. The Sparsholt
British, Modern restaurant in Sparsholt
Watery Lane - OX12
Dating from 1720, this “pub in a lovely village near Wantage” (“highly rural in the Lambourn valley”) offers a “warm welcome and superb food, backed up by a beefy wine list and high-quality service”. With a strong gastro history, it was taken over and renovated two years ago by the team behind Newbury’s highly rated Woodspeen and fans say “it has great potential”.
6. The Five Alls
British, Modern restaurant in Lechlade
Filkins - GL7
2021 Review: “A real pleasure” – takeover by a chain (Cardiff’s Barkby Group, at the helm as of 2018) hasn’t led to a fall in fortunes for this eighteenth century village boozer; it continues to deliver “very enjoyable”, “well-sized and well-priced” grub (including the “perfect Sunday roast”) that’s “worth travelling some way for” – and, while it “gets pretty packed, it appears the kitchen is used to that and copes admirably”.
7. Ox Barn at Thyme
British, Modern restaurant in Southrop
Southrop Manor Estate - GL7
Opened in 2020 after a lavish conversion, the Hibbert family’s “stunning” former barn is “one of the most stylish and delicious places to eat in the Cotswolds”, serving “interesting and top-quality ingredients, beautifully presented” by Ballymaloe-trained chef Charlie, whose mother Caryn led the 18-year-long development project which also includes a cookery school, pub and beauty business.
8. The Mason Arms
British, Modern restaurant in South Leigh
Station Road - OX29
2021 Review: It’s the picture of a traditional thatched pub, but the “cosy” interior and “heartwarming” menu have been funked up at this rural inn, which was consistently highly rated last year.
9. The Swan Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Burford
Swinbrook - OX18
2023 Review: “High-quality pub food” and a “lovely setting by the river” earn high ratings across the board for this traditional Cotswolds inn. “On a brilliant sunny bank holiday Saturday, The Swan was rammed but the amazing staff never missed a beat – the chef & kitchen churned out really delicious food, and nobody was less than delighted with their choices”. Top Tip – “the sticky toffee reaches new heights of orgasmic satisfaction”.
10. The White Hart
British, Modern restaurant in Wytham
2023 Review: “A foodie gem”, this well-known eighteenth-century pub in a village on the outskirts of Oxford has been going through a period of flux, hence we’ve removed a rating for the time being. High-profile chef Jon Parry joined in summer 2022, after our annual diners’ poll had concluded, having made a name for himself cooking over an open fire at The Mash Inn in Buckinghamshire, and declared his ambition to ‘turn The White Hart into something really special’. Four months later, owner Baz Butcher announced his intention to sell up and retire to France.
11. The Swan Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Ascott-under-Wychwood
4 Shipton Road - OX7
2021 Review: The co-founders of group that owns The Chequers in the Cotswolds and The Talbot in North Yorkshire have added another historic venue to their collection – a 16th century inn, complete with a 100-cover dining room and seven guest bedrooms. No survey feedback as yet, but press reviews are very upbeat.
12. Barnsley House
British, Modern restaurant in Barnsley
2021 Review: Owned by the same folk as The Village Pub, just across the road, this “very fancy” boutique hotel turns out “solid cooking with bold flavours”, and uses “a lot of produce straight from the garden”.
13. The Village Pub
International restaurant in Barnsley
Opening June 2024, in the Cotswold village of Barnsley, the first pub from the shabby-chic Pig hotel group, which has taken over boutique hotel Barnsley House across the road (also opening summer 2024). The food is a pubby version of the Pig formula, with a hearty menu based around locally sourced ingredients, served in rustic comfort.
14. The Perch
British, Traditional restaurant in Oxford
Binsey Ln - OX2
“In an idyllic setting in the village of Binsey, very close to Oxford but along a rural lane, and with a lovely setting by the Thames” surrounded by Port Meadow, this cosy and popular pub “offers indoor dining by the fire in the winter, plus a spacious and airy conservatory with views of the garden; and tables on the terrace outside, or pub benches on the grass, with an outdoor bar”. It serves “a good variety of dishes at reasonable prices, plus daily specials”.
15. The Punter
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
7 South St - OX2
2023 Review: This “picturesque riverside venue” on Oxford’s Osney Island (which opened in 1871 as The Waterman) is notable for its “laid-back but beautifully presented vegetarian food, full of flavours from a varied and interesting menu”. “I’m not a vegetarian myself but most definitely hope to be back”. Top Tip – “the whipped goats’ cheese”.
16. The Porterhouse
Steaks & grills restaurant in Oxford
Mill Street - OX2
2021 Review: “First class steaks” and “excellent wine pairings” help win enthusiastic reviews for this large, attractively converted pub near the train station, which opened a couple of years ago.
17. The Lamb Tavern Buckland
British, Modern restaurant in Faringdon
Poundcorner - SN7
No reports as yet on this modern retread of an ancient village boozer in the Oxfordshire countryside. It’s a new showcase for the ‘elevated gastro-pub cooking’ of chef Nathan Richardson, who took over the property from former tenants of 15 years’ standing and who previously worked at Mayfair’s acclaimed Guinea Grill. You can eat in the bar (80 covers) or the restaurant (40 covers).
18. The Edge Eatery
British, Modern restaurant in Witney
62A High Street - OX28
2023 Review: “Very San Francisco vibes here… and that’s meant as a compliment!” – this funky haunt has become “very popular”, especially for brunch. Top Tip – the “best seats are in the corner at the back!”
19. The Great Shefford
British, Modern restaurant in Great Shefford
Newbury Road - RG17
2023 Review: Complete with a riverside terrace, this privately owned pub near Newbury receives a good rep in our annual diners’ poll for its 40-seat dining room overlooking the river Lambourn, where chef Sam Cary aims to deliver ‘refined modern British pub food’. In an April 2022 visit, Tatler’s Fay Maschler declared it “a rare jewel of a country pub” offering “everything you want a welcome to be”.
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