Sam & Jak in Cotswold

Fantastic! Read all the reviews regarding the breakfast, but come here for dinner, you won’t be disappointed!

Met my friend there for lunch. He had 2 glasses of wine, I had 1. We had some soda bread to start which was tellingly microwaved for nearly £5. And had 2 main courses. The pork was a bit tough. We had to pay extra for potatoes. The whole bill was in excess of £90. There was a mandatory 12.5% service charge. I object to this as when we had a query about the menu, the waiter said he didn't know much about the menu and his knowledge was really regarding drinks. It was also freezing downstairs and I had to keep my scarf and coat on. I will never revisit. Don't waste your money.

Amazing food and great service by James. Deffo worth a visit..

Lovely location in Coln St Aldwyn, quick and efficient service. Will be back.

Love this place. Great service and the food is wonderful. Very relaxed and dog friendly

It was a good place, nice cozy atmosphere and very good service. We really enjoyed the cocktails as they were offering some really interesting mixes and they were very delicious too.

Popped in today for breakfast and loved it. The service, atmosphere and food were all top notch. Completely recommend the poached eggs with harissa and the granola with baked plums. The only disappointment was the toast (sliced regular loaf rather than sourdough - especially when there is a bakery opposite!).

Service was good. Food was disappointing compared with the original Sam & Jak. Prices have increased too with a vegetarian main costing over £20. The veg dish lacked acidity. The spaghetti dish was tasty but fairly basic. The Parmesan was a small amount already on the dish when it arrived (already melted) rather than bringing it to the table and offering it.

Excellent, helpful service. Wonderful fries! A good spot to relax for lunch. The service is cheerful and professional.

Consistently excellent- a really interesting menu and helpful service.

We really enjoyed our lunch here. We hadn't booked but the staff were very welcoming.

Popped into to Cricklade Street for refreshments after shopping. Really friendly greeting as we walked in but wanted our order there & then prior to sitting down or looking at a menu! Young in experienced staff, who sadly were not trained in customer service. Having asked for a food menu - our drinks order was taken & bought over wrong! Even though the place was 'well' staffed no one came to take a food order. Just not the same. On the plus: great spot for a chat & people watching! An all round, disheartening experience.

Dropped in for breakfast on the 23rd December. Good food and nice atmosphere, but service was very slow. I ordered a second coffee to go with my breakfast but gave up waiting for it, and eventually asked for it to be taken off the bill. I was still cheekily charged 12.5% on the bill on the remaining food, for what was clearly poor service.

Great atmosphere, but terrible steak. Quality was so bad that none of our table could eat half of their sirloin or rump steak. Good for drinks, but stay away from the steak.

Absolutely incredible risotto. Best I’ve ever had, the pork cheek was succulent and the rice was cooked perfectly. Spicy margaritas were on point. Happy girlfriend = happy life.

Amazing place for brunch, the food and drink is top class. The harissa beans were stand out, really layered with flavour. And the Bloody Mary was perfectly spiced! Ever so slightly long wait for food, and could have been a couple of degrees warmer upstairs, but it didn’t detract from the quality food. Would recommend for a good brunch.

Sunday dinner at the plough inn was Devine one of the best Sunday dinners I’ve had good portion size and so flavoursome 10/10

A great spot for a cheeky pampering breakfast! I had a fantastic Bloody Mary, and bagel. Really high quality food, great vibes, and excellent service.

I had a fantastic meal last night with friends. Outstanding food. We all really enjoyed it. We were put in a side room room as we booked late. Room needs some work. Lacks atmosphere. Apart from that brilliant

Our waiter was very busy but still managed to serve us in a friendly efficient manner. We had a tight schedule 20 mins and the food was timed perfectly! I had a goats cheese and beetroot dish, the flavors gave me a mouth boner, so delicious! My friend had the tortellini which she really enjoyed. I am nosey so I was eyeing up other people's grub as it came out, all looking and smelling epic! Really nice experience all round . Thanks

Beware, they charge 20% more for not reason.

Lovely place. Compliments to the Chef, the poached egg and haddock was very good, well balanced, lovely sauce. Goats Cheese and Beetroot was also amazing, with a yoghurt type texture of goat cheese. Lovely.

A group of 6 at lunch time, the place looked full and after reading the previous reviews I hoped the service would cope. A wonderful young guy flew around meeting all our requests with the greatest smile and friendly chat. Our cocktails arrived and were proper good, I only needed the one super strong Negroni to keep me company through the 🍽️ , my friends loved the mango chilli Margueritas, nice twist. We ordered the smoked almonds to go with our drinks, and they are delicious! What a burst of flavour to start. I went for the Gorgonzola flatbread which was fresh, hot, melty and heavenly. The November dishes are perfect autumn comfort, the Venison, Ox Cheek and Steak with their accompanying sauces are cooked to perfection and seasoned so your taste buds swoon, we all made the Oooaarrghhh noise on first mouthfuls. We were blown away by how tasty everything is. All served fresh, hot and promptly. We had a completely different fantastic experience to the previous reviews and would go back again and again.

Amazing breakfast, great coffee, beautifully presented, really great service, very welcoming and friendly- excellent value- can highly recommend

So lovely! Great location, amazing food, lurvly cocktails, friendly service - seemed a bit short staffed but still managed to be attentive. The Ox cheek dish was melt in the mouth, whole table was happy, would defo recommend :)

Lovely place for breakfast. I enjoyed my French toast with bacon. We were served quickly and professionally. Nice seating area upstairs

Came here yesterday with a friend for brunch as we liked the look of the menu online. Service was slow, we asked for drinks and tap water which never came. We ordered lunch with a side which they had forgotten to put through. Waitresses seemed very un-trained and generally careless. They also asked if we were done when still eating.

Fantastic, we popped in for a quick bite and ended up having a main meal. The roasted squash was amazing, flavoursome and just melted in your mouth. My partner had the pork belly which was huge, it came with plenty of sauce and we both had a side of veg. You got what you paid for, great food, cooked to order, well priced for the quality. The staff were welcoming and friendly, on hand to help, but not too in your face. Great ambiance and style.

Not as good as the last time. Slow service.

Wandered into the place for breakfast after reading the good reviews. The avocado dish arrived with the avocado paper label inside. Meal was sent back, and we were offered a replacement (and to remove this off the bill). Asked for just plain eggs and toast as a replacement. One egg lovely and orange, the other anaemic so left this. Despite the impression that this would be complimentary we were then charged £2 for the slice of toast and £2.50 for the eggs. Partner had breakfast bagel, which was tasty if pricey. We wouldn't come back here ourselves, but perhaps this was a one off

Very good food and friendly staff I love the coffee ☕ it's a good cappuccino I would say And Madeline thank you

Such a lovely restaurant, staff and food were amazing and has a great atmosphere

One of the best picantes I’ve ever had! Also loved the deep fried olives. Really lovely place.

Turkish eggs came out cold. The flat bread was stuck to the plate. It was not very nice and I didn't finish it .Food all over the floor on the next table the whole time we were there and the toilet was flooded. Absolutely not worth the money. Avoid.

I would have rated this higher, but..... The food is excellent, it's not cheap but it is good value for money, the coffee is average. Unfortunately, the tea pot had several chips in it. The 10% service charge applied to the bill is really not cool. If your service is good, I will leave you a tip.

Relaxing place nice music comfortable chairs bright light walls . Not cramped at all. Food yummy yummy very tasty. Clean menus, which is always nice to be given. The only one thing I could say to improve on is to replace the chipped crockery . I'm not sure I like the added service charge on the Bill.😬😬

Unhappy that something called crab butter was so hot it burnt my mouth. Otherwise food delicious.

Really nice place to go and have breakfast. Food was tasty and ambience. The couple of times we went was really busy so it took as a while to get our food.

We came here for a birthday celebration. We were able to phone and request a bottle of fizz for the birthday girl ready and waiting on the table. Great variety of options for starters, mains and desserts. Huge wine/drinks list. The food was amazing. Friendly staff. Lovely atmosphere.

We waited a long time for a dish with an overcooked steak and rather greasy fries. Italian wine was not famous. We felt that there were regulars and others, a slightly snobbish atmosphere for a very ordinary meal

What a great food and experience, we ordered the steak, beans and a mix of the sides which were so delicious, especially the honey halloumi and crispy potatoes were amazing 😍 A perfect experience!

Given the reviews, my expectations were high. Ordered a sausage sandwich and was presented with this sorry looking thing. Bread was soggy too. Coffee was decent.

I’ve been to Sam and Jak’s now a good many times and the food is always excellent. It’s definitely my favourite restaurant in Cirencester. Can’t recommend it too highly.

Uitstekend restaurant, deels Italiaans georiënteerd, centrum van Cirencester (bij kathedraal). Veel ruimte boven, goed eten, wel prijzig

This is not America, stop charging 12.5% as a service charge like it’s some high-end restaurant. The All English breakfast is way too dry, needs some baked beans or something to moisten it up. Overall quite pricey for what is actually is.

Such a lovely place to eat! Good atmosphere, service was great and staff very helpful and friendly. Loved the food! Would love to go again. ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

My husband booked this to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I had the Flat Iron Steak, with a peppercorn sauce, it was gorgeous and I don't think I've had a steak for at least 10yrs. My husband ordered curried crab fried rice - delicious. We finished our glorious meal with Affagato. A beautiful selection of wines and other drinks and spirits that we also really enjoyed. Really recommend, beautifully cooked food, brilliant service and an excellent price point. Highly recommend! X

Best place in Cirencester!! a lovely family lunch with a busy atmosphere even on a Wednesday, 110% recommend we love coming here. Our servers Maddy and Finn were super friendly and attentive - excellent service! We will be back again and again.

I would expect unquestionable service. We visited here today and had a few things to share. Peach salad, trout and the raw tuna, Service would have been excellent except when our food arrived, the server didn’t know what fish was plated …and asked us what we ordered lol, She then said, she wasn’t told what fish it was before bringing it up. Food tasted lovely and we enjoyed our meal. Would return, hoping this was a one-off occasion that supports why auto-charging tip is a -1*

I read Jay Rayner's review and l trust him. Had lunch today. Bavette steak, chips and watercress with chimichurri. The food was lovely. The waiting staff were sweet. I will go back.

Perfect brunch to sort you out after a heavy night

It's a nice place, staff were friendly. The crab rice was very good, although very large. A problem with the asparagus salad meant it was delivered without any asparagus, and replaced with radishes, which is no replacement in my mind. Something clearly went wrong in the kitchen, but this was not communicated to us. Apart from that, it was pretty good.

5 people 3 courses… everyone brilliant. 100% recommend

My favourite restaurant in the ciren area! Food is always amazing, and I always have a hard time deciding on just one dish to have!

Nice little cafe for some breakfast.

Walked in for lunch on a busy Saturday (3 adults and a dog). We were shown to a window table with bar stools, not very comfortable but great for people watching. Menu felt quite limited in choice especially when there is a picky eater in the party. What we did have was very nice, if expensive. The halloumi was excellent!

We asked them to cater for a company event. The food was exceptional, they were careful about the dietary requirements in the team, the menu was brilliant - creative and delicious. If you need a caterer for a work event - use these guys!

Delicious brunch! A touch pricey but lovely.

Service and food was excellent was one of The best experiences in a restaurant ! You can tell the food is made with love and a talented team

I’m from Colombia, and I have a friends meeting at this restaurant, everything was amazing, The waitress have the best actitud and the food transport me to my grandparents food.

Quite disappointed with our recent visit. We were in Cirencester for the weekend and were really craving steak/cocktails for our special date night - and after seeing some great pictures/reviews we fancied going to Sam & Jak. We were quite disappointed when we ordered our steaks to find out that they were out of stock (which they didn’t tell us when we were first sat). After having a think and ordering our second choices, we were then told that these was also out of stock (again not being told prior). Slightly frustrated, we then ordered a third choice. When it arrived, we found the dish quite bland/dry and weren’t too impressed, especially considering the prices. Although - our cocktails were fabulous and wine was really great.

Traveled from London for the weekend and found this absolute gem. The burrata with pea was outstanding and the steak tartare was one of the best we’ve ever had. Great beer options too. When the bill came we couldn’t believe it, great value. Will definitely be back soon!

Fantastic fresh breakfast, lovely atmosphere and dog friendly. Could not ask for more, the bagels are incredible. Make sure you book as it’s always incredibly busy. We will definitely be back for an evening dinner soon.

Had a wonderful lunch here on Saturday Excellent food, excellent service. We will be back.... often!

Brilliant place, imaginative and delicious food with a wonderful atmosphere.

Stunning food at Sam and Jack’s Thai night. Authentic, well balanced and generous dishes of perfectly executed Curry, salad, soup and rice. Gorgeous appetiser, great Pandan cake to finish. Friendly and upbeat front of house. 10 out of 10

"Enjoyed a breakfast outing at this cafe recently and it was a mixed bag of experiences. The food quality was top-notch, with delicious flavors that made our morning special. However, it's worth noting that the prices felt a bit on the higher side. Despite this, the staff were commendable for their friendliness and responsibility, even if service was a tad slow – all part of the charm, perhaps! 😂 The cafe itself boasts a wonderful atmosphere, creating a cozy and inviting space for diners. If you're in no rush and don't mind splurging a little for quality, this cafe could offer a pleasant start to your day."

Beautiful, no more needs saying..

Sat in the window, had good wine and pleasant service, The food we ate was very good and will be back again for lunch to try more of the menu.

As standard I checked out the menu beforehand which looks amazing! However was disappointed to know that when we arrived that the menu changes regularly. And unfortunately the menu wasn’t as good as the one online (for us anyway). BUT don’t be disappointed as what we ordered was great!! Let’s break it down… Venue 5/5 - small restaurant with a lovely vibe. Little tables and a great atmosphere. Nothing to complain about. Food: Starters- mushroom flatbread with mascarpone. And bruschetta with iberico ham. Both were amazing but the clear winner was the mushroom flatbread. Mains: Grilled pork 4/5- cooked to perfection with great flavours. Artichoke and sage risotto 4/5 - fantastic flavours but nothing mid blowing. Staff 5/5 - staff were amazing. Points to be deducted -1: the knives are completely blunt. Overall great staff with great food. I would definitely recommend.

Tapas-style food in the centre of Cirencester with attentive service. Prices are about average for the town and the food is interesting and varied. Vegan and vegetarian options.

OMG What a little treasure. Food was outstanding - better than we've had in Michelin starred restaurants. Service superb. Can't wait until we go again.

This was our third visit to Sam & Jaks & I would have scored 5 based on the first two times. Unfortunately todays visit did not match up. On a positive note we couldn't fault the first two visits. Great food and very good friendly service. Based on these experiences, we booked for lunch today. We live in Melksham, so it is a 54 mile round trip, but thought it would be worth it. My partner really enjoyed the Mushroom Risotto on our last visit. We checked the menu on the website, before booking & it was not included. There were other suitable items on there, so we decided to go ahead anyway. When we arrived, the menu was different to the one shown on the website. The website doesn't state that this is a sample menu, but having just gone back & checked, I noticed that it is titled 'Menu Sam & Jak November.pdf' So... obviously not updated since November. From today's menu I ordered a 250ml glass of red wine. My partner ordered a coffee and asked if they did soya milk. The waiter confirmed that they did. When the drinks arrived it was a 175ml glass of wine & the coffee came with oat milk, as they didn't have soya milk after all. I don't often have wine, so didn't realise it was 175ml, until the bill arrived. Otherwise, I would have mentioned it. I chose the 8oz sirloin steak, with boulangere potatoes & seasonal vegetables. My partner ordered a jerusalem artichoke risotto, with sage leaves and parmesan. When the food arrived, mine came out as a sirloin steak with bearnaise sauce & fries, plus some watercress. When I queried this the waitress said "weren't you told about the menu change?". I said no, but decided I'd reluctantly have what was served, as I didn't really fancy anything else on the menu. She did say that it was a 10oz steak instead of the 8oz, but I was looking forward to the smaller steak & accompanying vegetables. rather than fries - which I only ate half of anyway. My partner said her risotto was ok, but a bit on the bland side. Definitely not as good as the previous one she'd had. Because she wasn't enjoying it as much, she couldn't finish it, so I did help her out with the last bit that was left. Although, it wasn't a massive portion to start with. I can't remember if my original steak meal was £26 or £28, but when the bill arrived the actual meal I had was priced at £30. - The steak was nice, but I have had better for less money. When you consider it is £30 for a bit of steak, some sauce, a small handful of watercress and some fries, it's a bit steep - I queried the price difference and was told that they had not included the 12.5% service charge on the bill, due to the problems we had. Appreciated the gesture, but we both still felt hungry when we left the restaurant, as my actual meal was probably less filling than what I thought I was getting. Plus, as I didn't really want fries, I only ate half of them anyway. On leaving there we had to go to a nearby place for a sandwich. Which obviously involved extra expense! I think what made it worse is that the waitress was quite matter of fact about the issues we mentioned. And, as it wasn't her that showed us to our table, she removed herself from the fact that we were not told about the menu change. I think it still should have been mentioned when she took our order. Firstly I can't understand why they cannot quickly print a new (accurate) menu, as it is just on A4 paper. This would be much easier than relying on staff to remember to inform customers of a menu change. Especially at busy times. Also, it may be an idea to update the menu on the website. Especially as we were told that the menu changes every couple of weeks. Hopefully it is a one off, but we are already debating on whether we will return. It is a shame as we were planning to take friends with us on the next visit. I have noticed from looking at previous reviews, that the owners' no longer seem to comment on reviews (good or bad). This also, may have a bearing on whether we return.

1st time to Cirencester and popped in here for breakfast- French toast bacon & maple syrup with fried egg & my husband had chorizo hash with egg, oh my word, it was incredible! Great service too. Thoroughly recommend

I probably chose badly, but I thought that the saffron sauce overpowered the fish Everything else was a thumbs up

Had a really delicious meal at Sam & Jak’s last night. I appreciate it’s all down to personal taste and we’re all different, but we too ate the Roscoff onion on butternut squash with hazelnuts and the curry crab fried rice with coriander and chilli as another reviewer had. We found both plates absolutely delicious. In fact I asked our lovely waitress to tell the chef how much we had enjoyed the meal. We find it’s a restaurant with great atmosphere and service along with excellent food - we eat here fairly regularly. Cocktails are worth a go too!

Stopped in for cocktails before dinner… the place was packed but the lovely staff found us a perch. The cocktails are delicious! And, an added bonus of happy hour reflected on our bill! Staff are lovely, food looked incredible coming out of the kitchen, we were sad that we weren’t staying to eat… Next time! We did walk past after dinner, and the place was packed, lucky diners!

Hugely disappointing as this place was vastly overpriced for mediocre food. £18 for a baked onion and another £5 for some vegetables...really!! The fried rice with crab was greasy, tasteless, and lacking in crab. We would not recommend this place and will not be going back.

Hugely disappointing visit to this restaurant due to vastly overpriced mediocre food. £18 for just a small baked onion and another £5 for vegetables... really. Also the curry crab fried rice was overly greasy, bland and lacking in crab. We will not be coming back to be fleeced here again!

We have visited Sam and Jaks a number of times and it’s one of our favourites in Cirencester. The menu is varied, the restaurant is unpretentious, the staff and service is very good.

Feeling generous. This place ticked all the boxes: good food (brunch), decent coffee, nice vibe and a pretty view of the church. Would definitely come again.

Absolutely 10/10. Beautiful food, delicious coffee and really friendly staff. Not the cheapest but absolutely worth the price

A lovely little restaurant in the heart of Cirencester. Went for my mother’s birthday and the food was delicious. Highly recommend the Burrata and the roast onion. Service was great and they even had some of my fave artists prints on the walls (David Shrigley) highly recomended!

Sam and Jak also do outstanding outside catering. We had an event at home for 20 people; we cannot praise the food and service highly enough.

Excellent coffee and service. Only ever had quick coffees to-date so need to take time and sample the food soonest.

Everything was what we had hoped for after seeing good reviews. However, 1 star down as we sat at an upstairs table next to the middle of 3 windows: the cracks in the glass meant it was a little colder than hoped for on late December evening. A temporary repair could easily have been made, I do realise this is an old building which might make a permanent fix tricky, but customer comfort is expected. Will return for another visit soon.

Absolutely amazing avocado on toast. Gorgeous bread, perfectly done eggs too, and service was friendly and efficient.

Lovely spot, excellent service. Service charge included on the bill but it's very fair as the team are excellent.

Comfy restaurant serving tasty food and nice coffee. Service a bit slow but other than this all good.

Delicious food , dessert and wonderful creative cocktails. We enjoyed it so much we went back the next night. The wait staff could not have been more attentive. Highly recommend.

Outstanding little eatery with inventive menu options. The steak tartare is incredible, and it's a 5* fry up too.

Had dinner here for a friend's birthday. They managed to seat 20 of us and get all our orders correct and out in a timely fashion.

Lovely location, pricey croissant for the quality but otherwise nice atmosphere.

We had an amazing meal here. Food was delicious, great service and wonderful atmosphere. Couldn't recommend any higher.

We had an amazing meal here. Food was delicious, great service and wonderful atmosphere. Couldn't recommend any higher.

A local lady recommended Sam & Jak as a good place for lunch and we weren’t disappointed. Staff were friendly and helpful and the lunch menu offered an interesting variety of starters and mains. Husband had the steak and chips, the steak was expertly cooked and chips finely cut and crispy hot. I had tapas-style Iberico, aioli, almonds and tomato bread which was a delicious combination and left me wanting more. Not too crowded, but busy enough and popular on a freezing day. We look forward to our next visit.

Well, reading the reviews was not the experience we had. I could not fault the food, however the service was appalling. We had to ask for virtually everything....the menu, clean the table, water x3 times etc.etc. And to cap it all - the toilets are disgusting. I will be contacting environmental health....say no more.

Really good breakfast. Simple but cooked incredibly well.

The good points: oysters very good (slightly expensive but probably worth it). Wine was excellent. We were able to book in at fairly short notice on a Saturday. Food was pretty tasty. Improvement points: service was very poor - olives were forgotten, had to prompt to get the bill (after 20 minutes of waiting). Pork belly was slightly overdone and had soggy, tough crackling. Bavette steak was carved poorly (which is necessary with bavette otherwise ends up tough) If I lived closer I'd probably still go back, but wouldn't make the trip again.

Incredible restaurant in the heart of the Cotswolds! I’ve never had a bad meal here.. breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert are all top tier delicious food! Beautiful interior, friendly staff and overall a great atmosphere. My favourite place to eat in Cirencester!