Sam & Jak in Cotswold

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.

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

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

Sam & Jax never ceases to delight. In my opinion, the best food in Cirencester with a menu that regularly changes. Lunch for four ws a real pleasure, with us being given plenty of time to enjoy plenty of catch-up chat. Our food was outstanding. The starters always delight me and the Taramasalata with caper berries was invigorating (again). My mains of Orecchiette with ham hock and a delicious sauce was delicious - and perfect for a cold rainy day. The wine list was good and our choices spot on. Great service throughout - even though we were taking our time chatting.

Couldn’t fault it. Great service, great food. Be persistent and find time to go here. We will be back. Best trout tartare and steak I’ve had for a long time.

We had a wonderful meal here. Choosing was difficult because everything looked so delicious. I can sometimes be more excited by the starters, but here the mains were equally tempting. Everything was perfectly executed and the service was nicely informal. The wine list was also...

Inspired by the Jay Rayner review I booked a table to coincide with the food market being on. We arrived just after 12 and were greeted by fantastic front of house staff and quickly seated downstairs which had a great atmosphere. The menu was more...

We booked for an anniversary meal having seen the glowing review in The Guardian. The onlne booking and follow-up confirmation email process was very easy and worked perfectly. The meal was delicious and we both found the portion size to be just right. We'd have...

I have been to Sam & Jaks many times, but feel I need to leave a review, I have always had a great experience, good food with friendly staff, I have come with my partner several times and by myself The food is of a...

I read Jay Rayner's review which he couldn't fault the place. Well unless i went to the wrong place, we disagree. The restaurant and no atmosphere, felt soulless to us. Menu was far less exciting than the sample menu on their website. My daughter ordered...

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.

We have been several times for dinner since it opened. Sadly it seems to have lost some of its shine. It is still a good place to stop by for a drink and is very conveniently situated in the centre of town. The food selection...

Just thought I’d write a review I left uk a few months ago Sam n jacks used to be my favourite place for breakfast especially there black pudding, it’s so refreshing to see you guys still being consistent and doing well keep up the good...

We had lunch there today and could not fault it. The menu was interesting, the food was superb and the service was both friendly and very efficient. We will DEFINITELY return when we are next in Cirencester.

First time there last night, was such a wonderfull experience. Incredible food, lovely team of people and they gave our dog a sausage, he was in heaven:) Special place will be returning. Cant wait to try more food!

Called in for coffee, sausage rolls on counter looked tempting and we had one each, warmed up delicious best we’ve ever had. Clean tables two lovely staff there are loads of tables upstairs so don’t be put off if it looks busy downstairs. Very straightforward...

When we first read the menu online we weren’t sold and weren’t actually heading to this restaurant.. we walked past though and it was PACKED. Great vibe both up and downstairs… we were sheep and followed the crowd, my god are we glad we did!...

Best vegetarian breakfast! Really tasty breakfast and catered to gluten free. The drinks were tasty and the service was really fast. The atmosphere is also really light and sweet. Big thanks to everyone!

A most enjoyable meal . Staff were their usual friendly and professional selves. A busy Saturday evening but timings were perfect and everyone had a smile. The food was excellent. All my veggie options were delicious as was the skate wing and the steak. Chocolate...

Probably best egg benedict on a perfect muffin with spinach and delicious hollandese sauce I have ever eaten in my life. I use to find difects in the food I order at restaurants: not this time. Compliment to the chef

So glad we came here for breakfast. Amazing service with super cool chilled vibes. We had a cheeky cocktail with our brekkie, what's not to love ha! The sourdough bread was probs the best I've ever tasted, really soft! We had a lovely experience here...

Good innovative menu, quality chefs, very friendly staff. Ideal for breakfast or light lunch. Sit upstairs for a view of street life below. Good for Brunch.

Just spectacular! We had the gorgonzola and tomato chiabetta as well as a BLT chiabetta, outstanding! Extraordinary bread! Recommend highly 👌

Unplanned brunch, we popped in as we were looking just a light bite. The result, a thickly sliced lightly sourdough sausage sandwich. Very tasty and a surprise. Looking around the eggs benedict looked tempting. You can see why it was popular for Sunday brunch.

This was our second trip to San and Jak’s, and it absolutely won’t be the last. It’s an unpretentious place and staff are super friendly. Food is awesome. My dish was pork ribeye which I’ve never had before. I worried that it might be a...

Amazing food. Fitted us in at very late notice. Kind staff. Excellent experience. Definitely going to revisit.

It was totally faultless and I can not recommend it highly enough. The food, the service, the overall vibe I just loved the whole experience. We went on steak night, and it did not disappoint. I need to mention the lovely staff who did not...

Amazing experience at Sam and Jaks on a busy Friday night in Cirencester. The menu was great, with some really interesting dishes. Everything sounded great so was hard to chose. Had the steak tartare, brown crab rarebit and arancini to start. Really delicious. Also the...

We went out for an impromptu Wednesday night dinner date. We have been to Sam & Jak’s for their amazing cocktails but this was the first time eating there, and it will not be our last. Firstly the front of house staff were incredible. Kind,...

Came with my family for a birthday meal. Service was prompt and courteous. Food was modern and unusual. My boys shared the Cote du boeuf which did look awesome. Nice relaxed atmosphere. Toilets could do with a little tlc. All in all a nice evening...

Family visit. Super starters, cheese soufflé and arancini. The bavette and crab curry mains were delightful. Service was very good and overall ambiance excellent. Cost was £177 for 4, including aperitifs and a bottle of Viognier. Good value all round.

I’ve been fortunate enough to eat at Sam & Jak’s twice this week. Once with friends and once with family. On both occasions the food was excellent, as was the service. All courses were delicious, but the hake and cote de boeuf went down particularly...

An excellent Saturday morning breakfast with my family. Very good service and the cooked breakfasts were excellent. My wife’s salmon bagel was different from what was described in the menu, but the generous quantity of smoked salmon made up for this slightly odd point. Service...

This is the second time we have visited and it was amazing yet again. Such a lovely food menu and great options for veggies. We really like how different their menu is and that it isn’t necessarily following trends you see everywhere. A little pricey,...

Food was good. If you don’t mind hair flicking, hair touching, pulling phones out of pockets, fingers in mouth then you’ll enjoy it here. I noticed the floor was very dirty and the toilet needs a deep clean. I also noticed when the girl reached...

Once someone spoke to us the evening was good with good food and nice service. Plenty of good dishes at reasonable prices. Wine expensive even for house wine.

I have eaten here several times in the evening but yesterday I popped in for breakfast. Surely one Full English is very much like another? Well this one was superb with all the elements beautifully cooked, without swimming in fat at all!! A great start...

10/10 food and service Had three courses and all delicious Busy atmosphere with good music Can’t wait to return with friends

We had been so excited to visit Sam & Jaks after being recommended by a friend. Booked days ahead and turned up on time… as we arrived we were met by a less than smiley guy who asked if we had a booking, advised we...

Another exceptional meal. Starters, cocktails, mains, puds, coffee. Excellent. Perfect services on a very busy Saturday evening. Highly recommended.

We came in for lunch and sat at an empty table - when a waitress finally cam over she said they had many lunch bookings and the table might not be free (there was no reservation sign on table) !!!! So we just ordered drinks...

Always a fantastic breakfast and also great for lunch or even just coffee. Great service and lovely fresh cooked food.

we've been there a good number of times and the food has always been excellent - a really interesting menu and never boring.

The meal was lovely, well cooked and reasonable value. We had a table in the upstairs dining room not on the ground floor wine bar section . Our evening was spoilt by a trio of middle aged women shouting and screaming in the corner of...

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast here over the weekend. Great veggie offerings and standard full English. Lovely tea ( in a pot, other establishments please note!) and coffee. Dog friendly downstairs. Staff were delightful throughout and very efficient. The place has a lovely atmosphere about...

Had dinner here last night. Really great food. I had the salt beef and potato cake, two of us had the bavette steak and the star of the show was the truffle pasta. All fantastic though. The young team here are battling through the staff...

Have visited in the past and had a great experience for breakfast. Sadly today was not great and I guess an off day. Service was slow and food not to the usual high expectation. Base of muffin burnt and hard to cut into. My daughters...

What a fabulous dinner ! Visiting the area booked in advance, it was v busy on a cold, wet Wednesday evening , says it all. The hake was outstanding as was the deep fried bread & butter pudding, a total revelation! service was friendly &...

Delicious Eggs Benedict, with a subtle taste of the vinegar in the hollandaise sauce. Great customer service and lovely ambience

Myself and my partner visited Sam and Jaks on the weekend for the second or third time and it was amazing, once again! Cannot recommend it enough!

Really enjoyed our evening, great service, food and atmosphere. The menu was much more varied than we had viewed on-line and the drinks menu was equally impressive. All our courses were cooked to perfection and any questions on the menu were answered (we were even...

We walked by this place and decided to pop in for drinks and nibbles. I think we caught a busy time as the place was really busy as there was a wait for food but we didn’t mind as we weren’t in a hurry. Staff...

Excellent food and service Had an awesome meal at Sam & Jak in Cirencester. Excellent quality food. Definitely going back. Hake with truffle mash and broccoli was devine 😋 Butternut squash tortellini with sage butter was incredible. Didn't need puds as we were stuffed! Great...

On our last day in Cirencester we discovered this wonderful restaurant. 4 of us had superb breakfasts and without doubt their full English is the best I’ve ever eaten. First class ingredients and plenty too. The server, Wendy was very helpful. It’s worth a 70...

Had a long overdue lunch at Sam & Jak’s today. Everything was excellent, the friendly service and the fantastic food and it was nice and busy for a lunchtime. We will be back!

This place is so great the food the staff everything about it we loved. We only had 5 days in cirencester but this place was so good we ate here twice. Will definitely be returning when we are in the area again.

We had a wonderful time. Sat at the bar for drinks and dinner. Justin was amazing. Enjoyed the charcuterie plate, crispy artichokes and harissa croquettes. Wonderful food, great atmosphere and music.

Cannot fault it, amazing atmosphere food was incredible. Had the curried crab and the bread and butter pudding is a must!!

We visited on a Thursday night, and ate in the upstairs room, where we were the only diners until around 19:15. No children’s menu, but the staff were very happy to bring extra plates so two kids could share one adult portion. Food and service...

Popped in for a spontaneous lunch. Lovely fresh food, pleasant staff and nice upstairs seating area.

This is a fairly small establishment with its main dining area on the first floor but it pulls in a stream of regulars who obviously enjoy its variety of offerings. It caters for different times of day from just a coffee to full meals. The...

I live in Cirencester and have been desperate to give this place a go. Service great, food great, cocktails great. BUT if you go on a Wednesday, the menu is just Pizza. I love pizza but really wanted to try more of the main menu....

What a lovely experience we had last night at Sam & Jak’s. The menu was varied, choices for meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans alike, the food was delicious and the service perfect. This small restaurant/bistro deserves to be much higher up the rankings. Perfect.

Really enjoyed our meal at this new addition to the culinary landscape in Cirencester. We ended up sitting at a bar in the window, which whilst quirky was nonetheless enjoyable. Service friendly and food bang on.

A nice centrally located cafe, limited seating downstairs but more upstairs. Not a huge menu but lunchtime food was good, contemporary, healthy choices. Quirky background music. Young vibe.

Having lived in Ciren for 10 years, we were delighted to finally find a high quality spot for Sunday brunch. I had a full English and my other half went for kedgeree. Both came quickly and piping hot, tasted delicious and were the perfect size...

Visited for lunch today with very picky vegetarian child. They bent over backwards to make her a cheese & tomato flatbread as she couldn’t find anything she fancied. Amazing! We had the cold roast beef - so delicious and clearly freshly made. Highly recommend this...

By far the best restaurant in Cirencester. Myself and 3 friends visited for dinner and we couldn’t fault it. The service, food and atmosphere was perfect. Well done Sam & Jak! Highly recommend.

What a find .. absolutely gorgeous food .. it’s not often that I get to say such lovely words .. don’t miss out on this gem ..

I popped into Sam and jaks for a spontaneous lunch, On this occasion I was alone. Sometimes eating alone staff can make you feel slightly uncomfortable but this was the opposite. There was never a dull moment the staff where more than happy to entertain...

The atmosphere is perfect, the service polite and there to help and the restaurant has a beautiful decor. Everything was ok until the food arrived. Kind of disappointed because we loved the place and the food wasn't ok. Not value for money, i think its...

We came across Sam & Jak whilst popping into Cirencester to break up our journey. What a lucky find! The excellent quality of the ingredients shone through in every course. Highlights were my daughter’s beef & horseradish sandwich which was remarkably generous and super tasty....

The menu outside was tempting, so popped in for lunch. I had the most delicious sourdough, horseradish and beef sandwich. The beef was amazing, perfectly cooked. Husband had orecchiette pasta bowl. Can’t wait to go back when we have more time and can try some...

Went to Sam and Jack’s with two colleagues for the first time. Not sure what to expect as the ground floor is a smallish area but well set up. Upstairs is stylish also. The food however, was exceptional. I had the smoked haddock risotto with...

Cool music, really inventive food, snappy service. Delicious lunch. I tried two appetisers - crab crumpet ( perfect), Korean ribs (Outstanding). Cirencester badly needs this modern restaurant - go there and make sure it prospers I am genuinely just a customer, no connection at all...

Food overcooked. Overly long wait for meal. Nice and quiet until noisy customers that had no consideration for other people.

Delicious lunch. First visit to this restaurant and we will return. A good, reasonably priced menu. Great to have somewhere a bit different to go to.

So pleased you've come to Cirencester - it was our first visit yesterday evening and this morning we're still talking about it - lovely dinner, very good surroundings and ambience, and above all really skillful cooking - needless to say we'll be back

Very relaxed atmosphere, food delicious, cocktails amazing. A welcome break from shopping. Will definitely be back. Thank you!

The food is fresh, packed full of flavour, and a ray of sunshine In January. Light and airy and already getting good footfall this hasn’t been open long but you know it’s going to be a hit. Spain seems to be the main influence with...

Had a fantastic meal in a new restaurant in Cirencester - barely been open a month! Friendly, warm and welcoming atmosphere created by every staff member involved. Food was interesting, unusual and delicious - we blame the pronounciation of the Sherry on the pre-enjoyed bottle...

Me and my girlfriend had dinner here last night and it was amazing. Absolutely fantastic food paired with great service, and a buzzing atmosphere. We had 3 courses each and I genuinely couldn't fault anything, this is an absolute must try if your in the...

Went for dinner and a few drinks and loved the atmosphere, the service and the food. I had taleggio flatbread to start, which was absolutely delicious, followed by the steak, cooked to perfection. There is nowhere else in Cirencester that offers a similar experience -...

Was really excited to try out their new restaurant after a lovely experience at the firehouse. Staff were absolutely lovely and the food was divine will definitely be going again !!

This place is just what Cirencester needs! Delicious food, great service and lovely cocktails…what more could you want?!

The atmosphere was really good. We dined upstairs next to the old chimney breast, where more intimate tables can see out across the restaurant. The menu was an interesting take on seasonal eating which had veg/v options which didn’t even stand out as being an...

What we’ve all been waiting for! Sam and Jak are finally back in town. As expected, great food (the flatbread starter and the gnudi are a must), delicious cocktails and a cool vibe. Our new Friday night destination.

Came here for dinner with a friend last night and it was 10/10. Great to see an exciting menu that lived up to expectations, the food was amazing. Lovely decor and atmosphere. I can see it being very popular! Well done Sam and Jak