#Wytchwood the ox plus

Eggs, cheeses and beers are local, the bread is homemade, and the excellent wine list is international – although it does have English options. The menu, which changes seasonally, is packed with great combinations: gurnard with spiced lentils and tomato jam scallops with hazelnut and smoked duck and roe deer with autumn squash and black-pudding puree. The Cotswolds has no coastline but Cheltenham is hardly the Sahara, and chef-patron Gareth Fulford’s pairings of fish from Cornwall or Scotland with local vegetables makes perfect sense.

Don’t skip on pudding either – burnt cheesecake with lemon curd or fresh English cherries sur glace are dishes we’d order again.Īddress: The Double Red Duke, Bourton Road, Clanfield, Bampton OX18 2RB Telephone: +44 1367 810222 Website: /double-red-duke

#Wytchwood the ox plus

It’s ideal to share, so try mixing and matching grilled fish plus the cow pie and mash or spit roast chicken. Steak is a specialty here – Richard Turner and Richard Sandiford from Hawksmoor and Pitt and Cue are behind the open flame, but we suggest kicking off with a doughy sheep’s cheese flatbread with herbs and honey and the glossy wood roast sea scallops with garlic crumbs. Red leather bar stools, velvet fern-green banquettes, a plant-filled conservatory and fun red-and-white parasols on the terrace are picture-worthy.

In classic Cotswold style, this honey-hued 16th century building is in the pretty village of Clanfield and showcases a strong menu that focuses around an open fire, with seriously good looking interiors to boot. It’s the newest addition to the Country Creatures group, a growing collection of country pubs across the Cotswolds (The Swan at Ascott-under-Wychwood, Chequers in Churchill) and it’s already making a name for itself. The Double Red Duke is the epitome of a successful venture born out of lockdown madness. Standout dishes include platters of sashimi that dramatically arrive enfolded in plumes of smoke (the yellowtail is incredible) miso black cod, a burst of umami flavours that melts in the mouth thinly sliced flash-grilled wagyu beef topped with lotus crisps and a truffle wafu dressing, and ebi ten, shrimp in a light and crispy tempura with avocado and wasabi mayonnaise.Īddress: No.131, 131 The Promenade, Cheltenham GL50 1NW Website: /yoku Food is prepared in an open kitchen and brought to tables as and when dishes are ready. The menu pairs Japanese culinary traditions of Shun (seasonal food) and Omakase (a menu selected by the chef), in this case chosen by the hotel’s culinary director Ronnie Bonetti, former chef at London’s River Café, Soho House and COMO Hotels. In Japanese, YOKU means the art of doing things exceedingly well or skillfully, and the food certainly reflects the restaurant’s name. Chairs are covered in a deep yellow suede and royal red cushions add to the opulence bonsai trees and hand-painted vases are dotted around the room, while the walls are covered in ancient Japanese scrolls and artwork.

YOKU is an unexpected splash of decadent glamour hidden inside an unassuming townhouse on the promenade, with gold-leaf vaulted ceilings, black panelled walls and giant crystal chandeliers. 131 Cheltenham has been one of our favourite Cotswolds escapes for a while, so we’ve been waiting with bated breath for the opening of its new signature restaurant.