Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Oxted
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Oxted restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 165 restaurants in Oxted and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Oxted restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Oxted Restaurants
1. Chez Bruce
British, Modern restaurant in Balham
2 Bellevue Rd - SW17
“Long live Chez Bruce!”. It has “a neighbourhood feel”, but Bruce Poole’s “jewel in south west London’s crown” by Wandsworth Common is one of the capital’s most revered restaurants and – for the 18th year running – is voted Londoner’s No. 1 favourite in our annual diners’ poll. Key to its appeal is the delivery of “top quality, but without the pretensions of some places”. Chef Matt Christmas has worked with Bruce for over 10 years, and the kitchen produces modern British dishes that are “very memorable”, but “without being fussy or fad-ish, nor horrendously overpriced”. “Doing simple food this well is the ultimate in difficulty, there is just nowhere to hide!” “Professional and friendly service continues to excel”, “seemingly effortlessly delivering a superb feeling of conviviality” and enlivening a space that’s “classy and understated”, but not intrinsically that special. “Bruce himself frequently still wanders around the dining room greeting and chatting informally to diners” and the whole operation practically “never puts a foot wrong”. That all this can be enjoyed “without breaking the bank” seals the “absolute pleasure of eating there”.
2. Babur
Indian restaurant in Forest Hill
119 Brockley Rise - SE23
To its many fans, this “small place” off the gastronomic track in Honor Oak Park “remains the best Indian in South London”, and its “engaging staff” delivering “very different food with panache and skill”, “after almost 40 years”. “Unless you’re local, it’s not entirely easy to get to, but it’s well worthy of a journey.”
3. Knife
Steaks & grills restaurant in Clapham
160 Clapham Park Road - SW4
This indie steakhouse on the Clapham-Brixton border “does that one thing very well, then adds a big helping of friendly service”. A former Top Steakhouse winner in the Harden’s London Restaurant Awards, it is a local favourite for Sunday roasts.
4. The Old Bank
British, Modern restaurant in Westerham
8 Market Square - TN16
Adam & Emma Turley’s converted bank in this Kent town just beyond the M25 wins high ratings all-round: “a cool place”, with “wonderful food and very good wine”, plus “a lovely engaging front of house crew”: “highly recommended”. There’s a five-course tasting menu for £75 per person, or go the whole hog and have the eight-course version for £105 per person.
5. Indian Essence
Indian restaurant in Petts Wood
176-178 Petts Wood Rd - BR5
TV chef Atul Kochhar’s smart subcontinental, in the SE London ‘burbs, is “still a joy” – the “delicious and succulent” cooking being “a far cry from the average Indian cuisine”. The two- or three-course weekend lunch attracted particular acclaim this year for its “excellent value” (“it was packed and I can see why!”).
6. Spice Village Tooting
restaurant in
121 Upper Tooting Road - SW17
At Spice Village, we claim that every meal has a story. Interestingly, Spice Village itself has a fascinating story.The story of Spice Village is a story of taste, passion, and excellence exhibited by Nasir & Suleman, two immigrant brothers who journeyed to Lo...
7. The Guildford Arms
British, Modern restaurant in Greenwich
55 Guildford Grove - SE10
Co-owner Guy Awford’s “brilliantly executed, classically inspired” cooking is well above “pub grub” standard, and has established this “well-maintained, upmarket” Georgian tavern as a leading option in Greenwich.
8. The Haycutter
British, Modern restaurant in Oxted
Tanhouse Road - RH8
2023 Review: This “lovely” mid-Victorian boozer (believed to be the only ‘Haycutter’ in the country) earns solid ratings for its “good old-fashioned pub grub” and “brilliant” all-round performance. It is now part of the Brunning & Price group.
9. Chez Vous
French restaurant in Warlingham
432 Limpsfield Rd - CR6
2022 Review: The French cuisine may not be cutting-edge, but it is both consistent and highly accomplished at this ten-year-old restaurant with rooms in north Surrey. Chef owners Laurent Pacaud and Martin Bradley ran the business as a catering company for ten years before that.
10. McDermotts Fish & Chips
Fish & chips restaurant in Croydon
5-7 The Forestdale Shopping Centre Featherbed Ln - CR0
Tony McDermott’s “great fish ’n’ chip shop” has earned an enviable reputation for its “fantastic fish and really good service” over almost 40 years – making a less-than-glamorous corner of Croydon “well worth a visit”.
11. The George & Dragon
British, Traditional restaurant in Chipstead
39 High St - TN13
This sixteenth-century pub, complete with beams, log fires and an updated interior, has a “great small menu which changes constantly”. A “lovely spot” for a meal, “whether inside in the winter or in the garden in the summer”.
12. Chapter One
International restaurant in Locksbottom
Farnborough Common - BR6
“A jeweled oasis” in the southeastern London ’burbs – this “exceptional venue continues to maintain the highest standards of hospitality” in an area a short drive from Bromley where there’s “not much competition”. Chef/Patron Andy McLeish trained under Nico Ladenis and has been at the stoves here since 2000 (with head chef Dean Ferguson joining shortly thereafter). “Reliably high-quality food” is provided in a “well-appointed” setting. Top Menu Tip – “jugged hare was a particular treat, not often seen on menus nowadays!”
13. MEATliquor
Burgers, etc restaurant in Croydon
99 George St - CR0
“The Dead Hippy burger is a dirty, dirty legend” – the best-named burger on British menus and “if not the easiest burger to eat definitely the tastiest” (especially when chased down by a boozy “hard shake”) – at the “cool” chain founded 15 years ago by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis. The expansion of recent years seems to have ground to a halt with the closure of branches in Boxpark Croydon and Clapham Old Town, with a new strategy based around boosting sales via a national network of delivery kitchens launched in 2023. Top Tip – “root beer is available if you want a bit of real Americana!”
14. Five Guys
Burgers, etc restaurant in Croydon
7-11 High Street - CR0
2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.
15. Xian
Chinese restaurant in Orpington
324 High St - BR6
“Still hitting the mark” – this family-run Cantonese flies more under the radar than once it did, but inspires nothing but positive reports from its loyal fan club (“consistently good… never had a bad meal here”).
16. Chai Naasto
Indian restaurant in Beckenham
2 - 4 Fairfield Road - BR3
This suburban subcontinental offers an unusual take on Indian street food, having been set up by three brothers keen to pay homage to their grandmother’s cooking, inflected by her travels in Africa and Saudi Arabia; its “authentic” recipes attract nothing but positive reports.
17. Bank House Wine Bar & Kitchen
British, Modern restaurant in Chislehurst
11 High Street - BR7
2021 Review: This September 2019 yearling in the heart of the town (occupying a former NatWest bank, hence the name) is notable for its owner: Stuart Gillies is the former CEO of Gordon Ramsay's restaurant group, and has launched this venture with the help of wife Cecilia. Previously a chef, Gillies has devised a ‘European small plates’ menu for the two-floor wine bar.
18. The Alma
British, Modern restaurant in Crystal Palace
95 Church Road - SE19
This “lovely food-led pub” – a carefully modernised beauty from 1854 on Crystal Palace’s thriving ‘Triangle’ – showcases chef David Yorkiston’s “really great cooking – way, way above typical gastroboozer fare”. “Controversially, it has banned kids under 10” but not everyone objects (“we think the atmosphere is all the better for it, even if it means we can’t go there as often as we’d like)”.
19. Cinnamon Culture
Indian restaurant in Chislehurst
97 High St - BR7
This contemporary curry house wins solid ratings for its food, with unusual chef’s signature dishes including a mixed grill of achari ostrich filet, chicken tikka and lamb chop. Family-run, it transferred to Chislehurst after a decade in Plaistow Lane, Bromley.
20. Gravetye Manor
British, Modern restaurant in East Grinstead
Vowels Lane - RH19
“Truly beautiful and with superb food” – “the gracious room with stunning gardens beyond (including a unique walled kitchen garden) help make for a very special experience” at this “fabulous location” – an Elizabethan country house deep in the Sussex countryside (whose grounds were laid out in the 1880s by its then-owner, a famous landscape gardener). A hotel since 1958, it was relaunched in 2018 with a new “brilliantly architecturally conceived modern dining room” – a “light and airy space” whose “gorgeous views” mean “you actually feel it’s part of the outside”. And – having largely sunk from view in terms of gastronomy – nowadays its “quietly impressive” performance under chef George Blogg is establishing itself as one of the top 10 most commented-on destinations outside the capital in our annual diners’ poll. He “has significantly upped the kitchen’s game, with a three-course menu, perfectly prepared and exquisitely presented, incorporating wonderfully fresh herbs and vegetables” backed up by a heavyweight wine list. Top Tip – stay the night and “breakfast is every bit as good as dinner!”
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