Holt Restaurant Guide

Set on a 400-acre estate, this converted 18th-century manor house is nowadays a 45-room hotel and promotes its commitment to sustainability, complete with its own biodynamic farm. Skye Gyngell (of London’s Spring) oversees the dining room, which receives a very mixed rep in our annual diners’ poll. Many are wowed or find the cuisine “tasty but playing it a bit safe”, while others settle for “OK, but thought it would be better”, and nobody says it’s terrible. Views diverge on the interior, too – “soulless” to some but an “exceptional” highlight to others.

2021 Review: “So quirky and friendly”, “and the food is great too” at this smart pub-with-rooms geared up for huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ in the Hampshire countryside. Top Tip: “Go for the scrumptious dessert of beer cake and apple ice cream”.

Jason King & Simon Page met in Hong Kong before coming back to these shores to take over this “quintessential country inn” on the Hampshire/Berkshire border in 2005. While the odd diner feels that “prices are on the high side”, all agree the kitchen hits “consistently high standards”, with herbs plucked from the “beautiful gardens”, and staff “doing their best to cope” amid a “pleasantly chaotic” ambience.

“Wow, Wow, Wow! Surpassed all expectations… loved every moment” – all reports this year are a hymn of praise to this sumptuous dining room, which has won numerous accolades over the years and where Steve Smith has been at the stoves for five years now. “Imaginative food is presented with real style” in a six-course ‘discovery’ menu for £175 per person that’s “consistently very good”. Top Menu Top – “desserts are particularly good: for example, the rhubarb and truffle chocolate is unusual, delicious and a great ending to a meal”.

This “Reading institution” occupying an 18th-century tollhouse in the town centre has “had a few ups and downs over the last 25 years, but this year is back on top form with a solid menu and excellent service”. Self-taught chef owner Paul Clerehugh, a former rock guitarist with Sweet, also runs the Crooked Billet music pub in Stoke Row (see also).

This “lovely restored Victorian lido” (complete with heated swimming pool and spa) has been “the best ticket in the culinary disaster of Reading for several years now”. One regular feels that the Mediterranean-style food “is still good, but the à la carte prices seem to have gone up more here than most places – still, it always feels like you’ve had a mini-holiday when you’ve been here”.

2024 Review: “Cracking Sunday lunches with football-sized Yorkshires” are the culinary highlight of this “pretty village inn” in a glorious spot just by the Thames (which gets a mention in Jerome K Jerome’s classic ‘Three Men in a Boat’). It’s a notably “stylish” and “buzzy venue” with a “lovely outdoor area” but has never been a particularly foodie destination. Local heart-throb George Clooney was rumoured to want to buy the pub when he moved into the area with his wife Amal – he told Graham Norton “it’s fantastic and we drink all kinds of pints and things”.

2021 Review: “Upmarket pub” with a dozen bedrooms, handy for Ascot Racecourse, which was taken over by new owners (Barons Pub Company) in late 2018. Not all reporters are happy with the new ownership, but upbeat feedback praises its “well-rounded menu, relaxed style and pleasant service”. Reflecting the up-and-down reports, we’ve left a rating till the next Diners Poll.

2021 Review: This smart village pub with a garden incorporates a very French dining room, ‘La Cloche’, which serves bistro classics with a nod to the hearty dishes of the southwest, along with a good selection of wine and beer.

2023 Review: “A wonderful country experience” is reported at this rural inn (‘The Hodd’), run by the Barnes family since 2015, whose concise menu aims for superior realisation of classic pub dishes.

“Absolutely superb!” – Nandana & Sharat Syamala have earned an enviable reputation for “fresh and exceptional regional Indian cuisine” that reflects their backgrounds in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh (“loads of dishes I’ve never tried before and really wanted to eat!)”. After five years, they moved into new premises in neighbouring Caversham in 2024. Top Menu Tip – “bhuna venison: mic drop. Glad for once I live in Reading”.

2022 Review: The former Land’s End pub got a new lease of life (and name) in 2018 when it was taken over by Niki & Adam Fortes, and the best man at their wedding, Colin Savory (both Colin and Adam having a pedigree at top restaurants). The “great” countryside setting is enhanced by “superbly cooked” pub staples and finer fare and “you can tell there are real chefs in the kitchen”.