Sherborne, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2024 Review: “Great modern European food using locally sourced ingredients at very reasonable prices” again wins praise for this local fixture. Chef-patron Sasha Matkevich grew up in south Russia but has lived in England for 30 years.

“A remarkable place, not even in the centre of a country town” – a converted pub-with-rooms where Australian husband-and-wife team Paul & Tracey Merrony run the show, “she front of house, him in the kitchen”. “A wide range of French-style classic dishes are chalked up on the board” and you’ll find “different variations on these dishes when you visit again”. The “top quality ingredients, deliciously cooked” offer “extraordinary value for money at £28.50 for three substantial courses. What’s not to like…” – indeed a couple of best meals of the year are reported here.

2024 Review: This “newly refurbished family-owned pub with rooms” – originally a mid-Victorian cider house – in a “lovely village” near Sherborne, makes for a “perfect stop-over en route to Devon or Cornwall”, with “agreeable service” and “reliable food including interesting fish dishes”. Co-owner Doune Mackenzie-Francis has a foodie background as a former marketing manager for Leith’s School of Food & WIne.

“The Acorn Inn is a must-visit” – a “charming” and “atmospheric” spot immortalised in Hardy’s ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ as the ‘The Sow and Acorn’, and whose dining room turns out “exceptional food that celebrates the best of local Dorset produce”, balancing “hearty classics and creative dishes”. The “burgers are highly sought after”, but “guests particularly love the Exmoor venison and line-caught cod, alongside the indulgent desserts” – and there are “great local beers” to accompany the “beyond average pub fayre”. The venue is linked to the nearby Summer Lodge Hotel, both being part of the Red Carnation hotel group.

All diners award high ratings this year to Red Carnation Group’s classic country house hotel, which enjoys a fine countryside situation set in 400 acres. Its most ardent fans claim the contemporary cuisine in its rather old-fashioned looking dining room is “as good as at many Michelin star places” and it’s certainly very consistently well-rated this year in our annual diners’ poll.

“A wonderful, exclusive, if rather pricey place for a meal” – this glam hideaway is the centrepiece dining-wise of billionaire Koos Bekker and wife Karen’s luxurious estate, which they launched in 2019. With its oak panelled dining room and “attention-grabbing, glass-house courtyard add-on” it’s an “extremely pleasant environment” (“tables are well spread out within the more formal area within the original hotel building and the large glass walled and roofed extension is slightly more informal”). “Staff are so welcoming and motivated” providing service that’s “proficient and leisurely” and the food is simple but very well executed using lots of ingredients either sourced from the estate or nearby farms (including venison). Round off your meal with “a magical after-lunch stroll through the grounds… fabulous!”

This “very classy hotel, restaurant and bakery” in a snazzily converted 18th-century congregational chapel anticipated Bruton’s gastro boom by several years when it opened back in 2008, and remains “an experience not to be missed” under relatively new ownership – a menu mixing wood-fired pizza with modern British and European small plates “always comes up with the goods”, while the venue takes full advantage of its double-height ceilings and south-facing terrace for al-fresco dining.

“Every flavour is unique with dishes that are exciting, different and a real taste experience, but not in a whacky, OTT way – just letting the ingredients speak for themselves” – at Merlin Labron-Johnson’s acclaimed destination; which “has moved out of Bruton (about ten minutes down the road to the middle of the countryside)” – and now occupies a 17th-century coaching inn, offering four minimal-chic rooms named after rivers in Somerset. One first-time visitor was wowed by “a miracle of flavours from the simplest ingredients” (“it’s the vegetables and foraged herbs that stand out”), all abetted by “inspirational and creative” presentation. “One of those meals where you want to lick the saucy remains off every emptied dish, and the service is so friendly that you actually can!”. The eleven-course tasting menu is £150 per person (with lunch nine courses for £95 per person). Top Menu Tips – “fallow deer is especially good as is the fried parsnip (and I don’t like parsnips!)”. “‘Old favourite’ dishes such as a game pithivier and the squid, pigs head and black truffle are totally amazing. Beetroot taco with salted egg yoke – the flavours are just incredible. Another stand out is the meadowsweet icecream, so unusual and the most fabulous texture”.

Nicholas Balfe – who honed his art working at hip London venues like St John, Rochelle Canteen and Moro – decamped to this rural village in 2021, and has transformed a bank into a “charming” modernist dining room where you can opt to sit at the chef’s counter for added drama. The “terrific value lunch” (£35 for three courses) remains a highlight of the “interesting and inventive menu”, with added charms including the “convivial atmosphere” and beautiful rooms available if you wish to stay overnight. Reflecting the restaurant’s focus on seasonality, Balfe leads occasional foraging experiences in the fields and woodlands around the venue.

Michael Trawicki’s “popular thatched pub” serves particularly “good pub food in a nice sunny dining room” and there’s also a beautiful garden in summer. It’s not an especially ‘foodie’ operation but attracts consistent praise in our annual diners’ poll as one of the area’s better eateries.

2022 Review: Cass Titcombe's “small, cosy and friendly restaurant overlooking the village square” offers “just the perfect balance of everything”, say fans – whether that’s the much-foraged, Mediterranean-style food, or the fine interiors, courtesy of partner Louise. The duo also run an excellent shop, Brassica Mercantile, across the road, mixing homewares, foodie books and gourmet treats (including from Borough Market).

“The stunning building” – a school built in 1854 that looks like a church – underpins the appeal of this bar-restaurant deep in the West Country (part of the swish rural group incorporating The Woodspeen). Reports lacked the inconsistency of last year’s feedback, with stronger all-round praise for its high quality, if rather ambitiously priced, fare.

In this increasingly arty part of Somerset, gallery owner Max Wigram’s “destination pub” – also the first venture outside the capital for Margot Henderson of London’s Rochelle Canteen fame, with Nye Smith overseeing the retro cooking on a day-to-day basis. While the village venture attracted quite some attention on opening in 2023 (“takes your nightmare of school food and elevates it to dreamlike status”, breathed William Sitwell), feedback this year was somewhat muted (ranging from reports of “very good” fish to more “varied food standards”).