Eat Out

The most impressive culinary reboot of the year?

Attention South Oxon foodies! There's an incredible new chef and menu at the Leatherne Bottel in Goring. Muddy's Sascha Way gets stuck in.
Local stars

It's the accolade that all chefs want - so whose wish on a Michelin star in Bucks and Oxon came true this year?
The best inn in Bucks?

Very rare that I gush, but The Mash Inn is about to get it with two barrels for its fantastic offering for grown-ups in rolling Chiltern countryside. Go!
The Curlew, Bodiam

Beautiful food in an unstuffy atmosphere - Muddy visits one of Sussex's best restaurants, perfect for a special occasion or romantic treat
Dorset Arms, Withyham

Find Winnie-the-Pooh connections on the doorstep and great home-reared food on your plate at this Ashdown Forest pub
The Old Coastguard, Mousehole

A year-round star of the local food scene. Retreat to this west Cornwall bolthole for a leisurely lunch or cosy supper and a sleepover.
More scones, madam?

It's Afternoon Tea Week from 14-20 Aug, but we don't need any encouragement to scoff tiny cakes and drink Earl Grey. Do we know anywhere nice? Of course we do!
There’s a chef in my kitchen!

Planning a special celebration in Cornwall? Hire this brilliant private chef and let the restaurant come to you.
The Longstore, Charlestown

You had us at steaks and seafood! This Cornish harbour-side eatery was named ‘Best Restaurant’ in this year’s Muddy Awards. Here's why...
The Old Thatched Inn

There's only so many pub Sunday lunches I can wolf down in one month, so I despatched Muddy's Nicky Richardson to carb load on my behalf at this classic rural pub-restaurant.
Oxford’s Best Cocktails

Because sometimes we want something with a bit more pizzazz than a country pub, right? Make mine an Aperol Spritz, cheers.
The Belfry Hotel & Resort

Muddy tucks into a 6-course Tasting Evening at this 4* top golf, leisure and spa resort in the North Warwickshire countryside. It was definitely well above par.
The Daneway

This one-time rural boozer near Cirencester is full of rustic charm and too-good-to-miss gastro-pub inventions.
Helen Browning’s Royal Oak

Homespun charm, yummy, wholesome food and dreamy rooms to overnight in, there is NOTHING not to like here!
Worrall Thompson winner

Excellent food and service from this quirky Worrall Thompson gastro pub in South Oxfordshire, renowned for its Wagyu beef. Shall we?
15 lovely pub gardens

Here comes the sun! Get thee to a pub garden pronto, I say. Pint of lager for me and a small white wine spritzer for the husband, thanks!
Book this foodie pop up!

Henley Festival's about a posh as it gets – and Reading’s fab London Street Brasserie is popping up.
Caw blimey! The Blackbird

Tom Aiken's former head chef has opened his own place in a Berkshire country pub. Expect the unexpected (and a fab 80s tune) at Dominic Robinson's Blackbird in Bagnor.
Owzat! The Bat and Ball

Sunday lunch deluxe for families, locals, walkers and casual dropper-inners at this friendly pub near the M40 in mid-Oxfordshire.
We love The Bottle & Glass

This recently refurbished rural inn near Henley looks like your classic country pub - but the food is anything but ordinary. Table for two, please, and make it snappy!
Grey’s Brasserie

Whatley Manor’s revamped eaterie is cutting quite a swathe with its chic European interiors and innovative menu.
Superflashy newsflash

Food and booze news! Check out the latest Sussex food and drink launches and more - including a big wineries weekender, new pubs, dining experiences and tipples.
Heston’s posh pub

Elegantly eccentric – Heston's Michelin star Hind's Head is THE place to hang.
The Ivy Cheltenham

Cheltenham’s new The Ivy Montpellier Brasserie delivers on food, drinks, service and glitz. Muddy was there to review it first.
Cornwall’s Healthy Eating Haunts

12 Cornish cafes and health food shops that will help you eat better and feel positively saintly, as recommended by the experts.
185 Watling St…

Revisited this gem in Towcester - a great spot for groups of friends looking for a good bar vibe in the evening and a classy dinner. Nom!
Mullins Coffee Shop

I've hit on a great place for lunch in Dorking. Wanna know more? Yes? Huddle in, I've got lots to tell.
The Best Pub in England!

Into the winner's enclosure! A lovely village pub that's only gone and got itself the accolade of AA Best Pub in England
Race you to The Pheasant

This stylish inn nr Lambourn is an odds on favourite for scoffing and quaffing before staggering to bed.
The Inn @ West End

Take an award-winning pub in a pretty village, add stylish rooms and fab food. Add gin and book up.
The Black Horse

The newly refurbished Black Horse in Reigate is creating quite a stir locally, not least because of its Michelin starred ties.
Perfect eats in town for Mudlets

Heading to the big smoke this month? Check out our top places to feed the Mudlets
The Fat Duck, Bray

The waiting list just got longer. Heston Blumenthal's Berkshire restaurant adds another gastronomic gong to the trophy cabinet.
Spread Eagle, Midhurst

Fancy preparing for layer removal with a spa day, or holing up and fine dining in cosy surrounds? The Spread Eagle Hotel at Midhurst has you covered either way and it's so historic Elizabeth I stayed here!
The Stanwick Hotel

This Muddy is a regular visitor to The Stanwick Hotel, (formerly The Courtyard Hotel), as I have a monthly networking group I go to that's hosted there (never networked? You haven't lived ; ) Also they're a Muddy Award winner, so I thought you guys could probably do with a peek inside too!
The Potager Garden & Café

This idyllic cafe near Falmouth serves up delicious, organic, veggie food, fresh juices and gluten-free cakes - you can't help but feel good here.
The George Townhouse

Officially Warwickshire's Best Pub (and who knows what will happen at the National Pub & Bar Awards grand final), this Shipston-on-Stour inn is a winner.
5 Artisan Gins from Hants

Read on for Hampshire's finest.
New spa & afternoon tea

A cosy new spa in an old seafront cellar and a show-stopping afternoon tea at the stylish Brighton Harbour Hotel
Sundays At The Star & Garter

An amazing slow-cooked Sunday roast and stunning waterside views await at this gastro pub on Falmouth's old high street.
Muddy Eats: Perfect pizzas at the Henry VI in Eton

Sharing your name with England’s youngest ever king (who, by the way, also founded Eton College) puts a ton of royal expectation on a pub. One doesn’t want to let the side down – or ‘orf with their heads’. The Henry VI is back after a full refurb, creating a warm, unpretentious, family-centric experience – and I […]
Chic sleeps and Sunday roasts at Rathfinny Wine Estate

Ever keeled over on a settee hugging a bottle of Pinot Noir? No, me neither <cough>. Anyway, here’s a much more sophisticated way to sleep with wine. Rathfinny vineyard perched in the South Downs has some gorgeous cosy-yet-stylish accommodation in the Flint Barns on site. It’s perfect for either a house party or a rejuvinating […]
Funky new Brighton cafe

I’m not saying I’m a jinx but my two favourite Brighton & Hove cafes have closed in the last year. Farm just down from Wagamama did the BEST carrot cake (and believe me I’ve done extensive research) while little Pic-nics up an alley off the Hove seafront was my go-to place for a big breakfast […]
Tea at Gran’s? Edith’s House, Rye

There’s no shortage of places to get tea and cake in achingly pretty Rye but when Edith’s House popped up as one of our Muddy Awards nominees this year I was much tickled by the concept and vowed to give it a try when I was next over. It doesn’t look like much of a theme cafe […]
Muddy eats: The Garibaldi – Northampton

Driving into a chilly Northampton today I was reminded of our first ever Pub review… In the Garibaldi blurb it says where the pub stands (on the corner of Ash Street and Bailiff Street) was a renowned meeting point for women of the night, blaggards and general wrongdoers of all persuasions. It seemed appropriate […]
Muddy Eats: The Green Welly, Ditchling

Handily situated for post walk or cycle refuelling this new family-friendly cafe sits at the crossroads in dinky Ditchling, just down from the Beacon (and if you’re about to tackle that in the upward direction you’re really going to need to fill your boots here first!) It’s been up and running a few months and […]
Bistrot Pierre, Weston-super-Mare

Over the half term, the Muddies and I made a deal. We would all go to Weston-super-Mare and I would endure an hour of hell amongst the amusements on the pier if we all went for a bracing walk on the flat, flat sands. I didn’t know of any good places to eat round in […]
Eat here: The Milk Shed, nr Bicester Village

You probably don’t need another excuse to break for the border and head to Bicester (Bicester Village for a bit of early Christmas present shopping anyone?!) but I’m feeling generous so I’ll give you one anyway. I had a meeting at Bicester Village last week (by which I mean coffee with my friend Jude at Villandry) and […]
Let’s Ensemble in Wells

I chanced upon Ensemble in Wells last Saturday, when I was Googling something completely different (possibly killer clowns). The restaurant's only been open since June and as I always love trying out somewhere new, I quickly nabbed a friend and we popped ourselves over there to catch the tail end of lunch. Come and see what we found...
Sunday roast heaven at The Newbury

At long last! I finally made it to The Newbury a few weeks ago – the winner of Best Casual Dining in this year’s Muddy Stilettos Berkshire Awards. Pete Lumber the landlord and I had been trying to get a date sorted so I could come with the whole Muddy clan to enjoy the full family lunch […]
Muddy Eats: Skyfall, Hove

NOTE: SKYFALL HAS NOW SADLY CLOSED AS OF SUMMER 2017 Nope, not a chance of seeing Daniel Craig here – at least not until he reads my review and finds out how good it is. Nothing at all to do with 007 except a little homage in the phone number but it does give you […]
Muddy Eats: The Alford Arms rises from the ashes

The fire that closed The Alford Arms in Frithsden earlier this year left good food and beer lovers across this end of the county howling and bereft. And understandably so. But it's back -- and it's just as lovely, as welcoming, as comfortable, and as popular as it ever was...
Cole Manor Tea Rooms, nr Bruton

Do your bit to support National Afternoon Tea Week by stuffing yourself silly with tea and cake as often as possible from now until next Sunday. I started supporting our Great British institution early by taking the Muddy Ma for afternoon tea in the stunning gardens of the Cole Manor Tea Rooms at the weekend. […]
Salt & Malt, Chew Valley Lake

A former tearoom enjoys the golden (crisp, lightly battered) touch of Somerset’s Super Chef Josh Eggleton to become the Salt & Malt fish cafe, restaurant and tearoom. It’s in a fab location overlooking the Chew Valley Lake – actually the largest artificial reservoir in the west country – in north Somerset. Josh Eggleton (of Michelin-starred […]
Take me to church

I’ve driven past The Church loads of times. I see it, nod and say to Mr M, we really must try it there, it’s meant to be very good. Well it must be pretty special, because it won the Muddy Stilettos Awards for best restaurant, and of course, I had to go and see what […]
The Firehouse, Curry Rivel

Just checked out the new kid on the rural block: the newly opened The Firehouse, a pub and restaurant in the village of Curry Rivel, just a few miles to the west of Langport. Located off the main drag, in what was previously the Old Forge Inn, the old village pub has had a complete […]
The Queen’s Arms, Corton Denham

Popped in for lunch with some friends last week to the The Queen’s Arms in Corton Denham, a gastropub with eight en suite rooms, nestled in the hills on the Somerset/Dorset border, just three miles from Sherborne. It’s won loads of awards for its food, drink and accommodation: 5 star AA inn, 2 AA rosettes, […]
Muddy meets: Devine Betty’s & Rockabilly Rose

The greatest wonder of the them all is that the stars of your dinner party could ever align. Why would the melee of choosing the right (and impressive) menu, co-ordinating cooking times, giving good front of house, floral arrangements AND keeping certain guests off the cooking sherry before 8pm cause any consternation – after all […]
The Wellington Arms, Baughurst

If your understanding of ‘destination pub’ is – takes flippin’ ages to find down endless winding country lanes clogged with tractors – then The Wellington Arms on the Berks/Hants border can definitely be awarded the title. But by heck food lovers, it is so worth it. I took my sister along for the ride and promised her an amazing […]
The most spectacular afternoon tea in Somerset?

Cross Lane House is a beautifully preserved Medieval house turned boutique hotel and restaurant on Exmoor. Come on in… The hotel, recently listed in The Telegraph‘s Top 10 Hotels for 2015 as well as winning a host of other accolades, is just off the A39 in the tiny village of Allerford on the National Trust’s […]
Getting Hygge with it: Muddy Drinks

Look guys, it doesn’t matter how you choose to phrase the word Hygge, do what it takes to beat a path to a cosy candlelit table at Northampton’s smart new Scandinavian bar. And when there, treat yourself to an ice cold glass of wine, or challenge yourself (as Mr. Muddy has) to working through a […]
Best breakfast *ever* at The Old Post Office, Wargrave

So it was yet another grim ‘n’ grey rainy weekend back in January, but refusing to be defeated by the British weather I chucked the Muddy family in their wellies, lobbed them in the car, and before any of them realised the X-Box controller was no longer in their sticky little mitts, we were heading to Wargrave on a […]
The Swan, Wedmore

Georgian coaching house turned gorgeous gastropub with food by ex-River Cottage chef Tom Blake...need I say more?
LEVANT, CASTLE CARY

It's got the feel of a private supper club with a menu inspired by the flavours and scents of the Middle East and the Mediterranean.