Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Bridgwater
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Bridgwater restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 5 restaurants in Bridgwater and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Bridgwater restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Bridgwater Restaurants
1. The Castle Bow Restaurant
British, Modern restaurant in Taunton
Castle Bow - TA1
2023 Review: With its Art Deco-style interior, this local landmark’s traditional dining room provides a heartily traditional environment. It has yet to reopen for lunch and dinner post-pandemic, but is currently dedicated to the service of afternoon tea, for which – on limited feedback – it comes recommended.
2. Brazz, Castle Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Taunton
Castle Bow - TA1
2023 Review: “Well-cooked and well-presented food” is served in this 70-cover brasserie at the Castle Hotel, a well-known and picturesque-looking local institution (complete with crenellations) run by three generations of the Chapman family for 72 years, although the modern decor of Brazz itself means those searching for period style should look elsewhere. “Service is charming and very helpful” and the overall package is “good value too”. In April 2022, towards the end of our annual diners’ poll, Andrew Swann took over the stoves here. One of his early innovations has been the introduction of an eye-catching £15 lunch deal.
3. Augustus
British, Modern restaurant in Taunton
3 The Courtyard, St James St - TA1
“As good as it gets in Taunton”, this “exceptional” French bistro (sleek, with a glass-walled extension) is a “gem of a place” that remains utterly “reliable” well into its awkward teenage phase (it was founded in 2011 by Richard Guest and FOH Cedric Chirrosel). It was praised this year for its “unhurried and relaxing atmosphere” and “wonderful food” – not least the prix fixe (“we were amazed when we saw the plates coming out…such generous portions and much more interesting than run-of-the-mill set menus”).
4. The Rising Sun
British, Modern restaurant in Knapp
Knapp Road - TA3
2023 Review: This 500-year-old building in a “beautiful part of Somerset” now houses an “excellent dining pub” that “serves up top-class modern British dishes using brilliant local ingredients”. Chef Olly Jackson and his manager wife Rebecca “used to run the nearby and sadly missed Langford Fivehead hotel”.
5. The Barrington Boar
British, Modern restaurant in Ilminster
Main Street - TA19
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”.
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