Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Painswick
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Painswick restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 31 restaurants in Painswick and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Painswick restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Painswick Restaurants
2. Corse Lawn Hotel
British, Traditional restaurant in Corse Lawn
2023 Review: In July 2022, Baba Hine put this long-established hotel (which she started with her late husband 40 years ago, and ran by herself for 17 years) on the market, having decided it’s time to retire. Incorporating a 40-cover restaurant and similar-sized bistro, it’s too soon as yet to predict the next chapter for this well-known establishment, hence for the time being it’s unrated.
3. The Wye Inn including Upstairs at The Wye
restaurant in Dymock
2 Broad Street - GL18
A traditional pub with a twist, The Wye Inn serves up nostalgic pub classics from award-winning chef Andrew Sheridan and his team. The Wye Inn has four unique dining areas including an outdoor Terrace with wood-fired pizza menu, and Upstairs @ The Wye Inn, a fine-dining offering serving an elegant tasting menu.
4. The Woolpack Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Slad
Slad Road - GL6
2023 Review: In Gloucestershire’s lovely Slad valley, “Laurie Lee’s local has just gone from strength to strength over the years – although it’s not clear what Laurie Lee would think about it now, as while it’s still all scrubbed tables and good cider, it now also has a talented chef producing high-end pub grub”. “Sometimes the food is exceptional” (it was on Giles Coren’s June 2022 visit) – “service has been varied, but everywhere is struggling with staff… but on the right day, a visit here is magical”.
5. Jolly Nice Farm Shop
British, Traditional restaurant in Frampton Mansell
The Old White Horse Filling Station, Cirencester Road - GL6
“Just keeps getting better… it’s gone from derelict petrol station to Airstream caravan selling ice cream to a shop and drive-thru where you can buy very local produce in the shop, and eat excellent rare-breed burgers” – this converted fuel stop was quoted in a 2023 Times article as being the type of local farm store that boosts rural property prices! “Outdoor seating in the meadow is on hand for fine days; there’s a yurt with log burner on cooler days together with a covered area with a fire pit”. “The quality is always excellent and the staff unfailingly friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about what they sell”. “Great coffee and pastries for early mornings… bigger breakfasts are also available”. Top Menu Tip – “The Kentucky Fried Pheasant always goes down well”.
6. Wilder
British, Modern restaurant in Nailsworth
Market Street - GL6
2022 Review: Now that Wild Garlic nearby has converted into rooms, this ambitious and quite well-known venue is Matthew Bearshall’s main operation, wherein all guests enjoy an eight-course tasting menu in a single sitting nightly. It has a hard-to-obtain AA ranking of 3 rosettes, but we didn’t receive reports on it this year, so have left it unrated.
7. The Bell at Sapperton
British, Modern restaurant in Sapperton
2021 Review: A “charming, lovely and well-run village pub” that “has had its ups and downs, but seems to be on an ‘up’ at the moment”; and serving an “interesting but not over-ambitious menu”.
8. Severn & Wye Smokery
Fish & seafood restaurant in Westbury-on-Severn
Chaxhill - GL14
2023 Review: “Fabulous fish and seafood dishes” led by “smoked platters and whole fish of the day” are on the menu at this “small restaurant” in an “interesting setting” – above Richard & Shirley Cook’s long-established smokery on the Severn estuary. “Everything is yummy – including the wonderful desserts.” There’s also a more conventional café in the yard, the Barn.
9. Bhoomi
Indian restaurant in Cheltenham
52 Suffolk Rd - GL50
“Stylish decor, food bursting with flavour and charming staff” win consistently high ratings across the board for local restaurateur Michael Raphel’s venue, inspired by the flavours his chef-grandfather brought to the UK from South India. Fans feel “it’s less ambitious than Prithvi (same ownership) but in some ways nicer”. Top Tip – “lunchtime thali is a delightful bargain, with great tastes for a snip”.
10. Le Champignon Sauvage
British, Modern restaurant in Cheltenham
24-28 Suffolk Rd - GL50
“The yardstick against which we compare everything and few, if any, can compete with the quality and value” – an oft-repeated compliment for David & Helen Everitt-Matthias’s long-established temple of foodie pilgrimage (“it is lucky we live 2.5 hours away as if it was closer I doubt we would go anywhere else”). David’s cuisine is “always original, seasonal and well judged and – though carefully presented – avoids the irritating Instagrammability sometimes found elsewhere”. “Helen presides over the room and also the wine with grace” in a manner that’s both “friendly and professional” and the “very good list” is an attraction in itself with “the ample selection of half bottles being a bonus”; and “the cheese basket is a tour de force”. Even devotees concede that “some might find the atmosphere sedate” – a more critical view is that “excellent food and wine is let down by an overly formal approach and lack of ambience” (“the reverential tone is not where we are in 2023!”). Overall, though, the verdict is of a stalwart that’s “serene, calm, well-spaced and good humoured… if there’s a better place to enjoy terrific cooking whilst having a good conversation, I’d like to know about it!”
11. No 131
British, Modern restaurant in Cheltenham
131 Promenade - GL50
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”.
12. The Ivy Montpellier Brasserie
British, Modern restaurant in Cheltenham
Rotunda Terrace, Montpellier Street - GL50
“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”.
13. No. 3 Restaurants
British, Modern restaurant in Cheltenham
12 Royal Crescent - GL50
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.
14. Prithvi
Indian restaurant in Cheltenham
37 Bath Road - GL53
“Outstanding and imaginative cooking with an Indian twist” is key to the success of this “elegant and evolved restaurant” over the past dozen years. Locally born founder Jay Rahman worked at top-ranked Birmingham venues Lasan and Purnell’s before taking over and transforming his uncle’s traditional curry house, fka Hassan’s. In line with its evolution, “the sommelier suggests some interesting and well-thought-out wine pairings”.
15. Purslane
British, Modern restaurant in Cheltenham
16 Rodney Rd - GL50
Chef-patron Gareth Fulford’s small indie is a “friendly” location in which to dine upon sustainable seafood and Cotswolds produce – either from the “great set-price lunch”, which changes weekly, or the bi-monthly-changing à la carte. It doesn’t inspire a huge volume of feedback, but fans say it’s an “underrated” restaurant that outperforms the local competition.
16. Kibou Cheltenham
Japanese restaurant in Cheltenham
Regent Arcade, Regent Street - GL50
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”.
17. Lumière
British, Modern restaurant in Cheltenham
Clarence Parade - GL50
“At last! A well-deserved Michelin star” for John and (FOH) Helen Howe’s “small, intimate and sophisticated modern British venture” and its considerable fan club is “absolutely delighted” that it is “finally getting the recognition it deserves” (although, to be fair, the question is what took them so long, as we’ve been raving about this place for many years). “Every element is perfectly crafted” to deliver “sublime cooking and stunning presentation” (with much of the produce sourced from a relative’s farm) all “delightfully served”, combining to make Lumière “as good as it gets” – “just what a perfect restaurant should be”.
18. Gumstool Inn, Calcot Manor
British, Modern restaurant in Tetbury
2021 Review: With its “superior pub food in a delightful location” – a plush spa and hotel complex in the Cotswolds – this is far from your standard village boozer. But it has stood the test of time, and recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.
19. The Coconut Tree
International restaurant in Cheltenham
59 Saint Paul's Road - GL50
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.
20. MBB Brasserie
British, Modern restaurant in Cirencester
The Cornhall 26 Market Pl - GL7
2023 Review: “Excellent food” and a “lively atmosphere” can be found at this brasserie set in the Corn Hall covered market in the centre of town, that has developed over 15 years from a deli and was formerly known as Made by Bob… although the founder is James Parkinson.
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