Portland, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

The “personal service” provided by Adam & Martine Fellows’ “family team” for more than two decades has established their “very enjoyable” French-inspired bistro as one of the best local dining options. “Food and service are as good as ever since their move to new premises” a couple of years ago, and “the open kitchen is most entertaining”. Top Menu Tip – “very good duck”.

The more formal, oak-panelled dining room at “stunning” Georgian estate The Newt, which was launched by billionaire Koos Bekker and wife Karen, a former Elle Decoration editor, five years back. On the menu, a “sensational” three-course set (£95) which makes the most of “carefully sourced ingredients” spanning heritage-breed meats and catch from the West Country’s ports. Also on the grounds are more casual eateries the Farmyard Kitchen, in an old threshing barn, and the “pleasant” Garden Café (see also). There is the odd naysayer for whom the cuisine is more “sensible” than sensational, but there’s no denying the “atmosphere is chic”, and “after a lovely meal” you can “walk around the beautiful grounds” (“for a while, I felt I was in heaven!”).

“Excellent food in a nicely converted old bank” make this three-year-old a “very handy stopover in an attractive Somerset village off the A303”. Fans of chef-patron Nicholas Balfe’s previous projects, Salon and Levan in south London, are happy to report “it didn’t disappoint – the set lunch came at a good price and à la carte just added to the experience”: “the roast was excellent, the starters precise and pretty, and even the bread was perfect – soft, moist and warm, wrapped in a crunchy crust”.

On the high street of this trendy town, this strikingly converted listed chapel has been a staple of lifestyle mags since it opened in 2008 – not least for its bedrooms, where you wake below your own stained-glass window. Now under the Stay Original Company, the multi-tasking restaurant, artisan bakery and wine shop continues to deliver winning wood-fired pizzas and British plates with a Mediterranean twist – and, despite the odd slightly underwhelmed report of late, it remains “great after a walk at The Newt” country estate, with the Hauser + Wirth gallery also close by.

This “well-above average gastropub in a beautiful Somerset village” – from Exmoor-born chef Alasdair Clifford (ex-Chez Bruce and Harwood Arms) and his wife Victoria Collins – excels for its “refined cooking”: “Alasdair concocts amazing results from local ingredients” and from a “changing seasonal menu”. “Service is friendly and professional” and the “environment is open and spacious” – “never had a disappointing meal here”.

It’s “worth going out of your way” to find this “idyllic, picture-postcard country pub”that sits betwixt the medieval church and village hall and was launched amid much excitement in 2023 by art guru Max Wigram (aka Mr Phoebe Philo), with Margot Henderson of London’s well-known Rochelle Canteen sprinkling stardust on the kitchen. Former Six Portland Road chef Nye Smith is on day-to-day duties, delivering “delicious retro style cooking that really packs a punch”, with everything from the “gutsy” fish soup to the “amazing” sauces “just top-notch”. There’s the odd grumble – prices can seem toppish and one diner felt that “a little more attention to the finer points would help, although overall it deserves to do well”. Top Menu Tip – “The ambitious menu is unusual with items such as Venison and trotter pie or Roast pig’s head”; “amazing oysters to start followed by a gutsy flavoursome fish soup and the most fabulous dressing on a kohlrabi salad. A whole grilled plaice on the bone for two was a real treat and perfectly cooked, it came with chips and the most amazing tartare sauce which popped with tarragon”.