The Dun Cow in Cherwell

Really lovely pub. Big garden. Delicious food. Dog friendly. Excellent service. Definitely worth a visit.

Delicious food excellent staff and very friendly host

Have been a few times under the new owners. Great beer selection, they cater for everything. We’ve also had some lite bites, which we can only speak positively about. The food feels healthier than other places, perhaps it’s how it is prepared - but retains its flavour, particularly the chicken. I think the new owners are doing a great job, very welcoming and top hospitality. Also great to see so many local people behind the bar - it creates a real community atmosphere which is key.

New owners have got this place sorted. Great food, nice beer garden with outdoor bar, dog friendly, games evenings, this will be the social centre of the village. Travelled all the way from Scotland and found this gem!

New owners are a young couple who have done an amazing job turning this place around. Great food, local beers (Free house!), great atmosphere.

Nice pie and chips. Paula and tony. Ps nice coffee..

Lovely welcome atmosphere. Good pint of Doombar. New owners trying hard to make a success in difficult times. Difficult to understand the extremely critical reviews made by some strangers to the village who were obviously looking for reasons to complain

It was so lovely to sit in the sunny beer garden with a pint of Dun Cow beer and a bowl of sweet potato chips. Good range of local beers and friendly staff.

A stunning pub with a lovely garden in a beautiful village. We last visited 2 years ago and it has now changed hands recently. The new owners are extremely welcoming and friendly. A proper local village pub which we would not hesitate to come back.

I'm disappointed to report a horrible experience at the Dun Cow. Prior to its closure, my family and I frequently visited the pub, which was unquestionably our favourite in Oxfordshire. The kids particularly enjoyed it during the summer. We visited over opening weekend because we were so enthusiastic after reading the Facebook and internet articles about the new owners and everything they had done and planned. Our experience was quite terrible.  For some reason, the bar crew seemed to be entirely teenagers when we arrived, so we had three of them try to pull two pints of lager.  It is not exaggeration to say that I had to request that all of the pints that we were able to get through there be changed at least once; they were flat, headless, and just awful.  One of the bar employees was pulling all foam at one point, so he went to fetch one of the new managers I had read in the article. He appeared contemptuous, didn't even glance up to recognise the problems, but muttered something to the bartenders, and then vanished once more. We sat in the garden and found it very disappointing. It was such a sunny day and hardly any tables had been put out. The tippee was closed and shut off. And unbelievably the grass hadn't even been cut! Felt really unkept, which was truly sad given it was such a beautiful garden before, we always brought the kids over to watch the football in the tippee. To not even run the lawn mower around on opening weekend is pretty poor! We ordered the kids some food, they didn't have any kids burgers strangely, so we got some chicken nuggets and chips (luckily we didn't bother ordering for ourselves). The food arrived and I could tell instantly it wasn't right, the nuggets looked wet and slimy instead of crispy, luckily I tried one before the kids ate and unbelievably they were stone cold!! We called over the waitress who handled things well given her age, she apologised and said she'd take it away and find out what had happened. The food disappeared for quite a while, when she returned I asked if they were new nuggets or had been re-heated, she said she didn't know and would go and ask. She came back after some time and said the nuggets had been re-heated! We advised we wouldn't letting the kids eat re-heated chicken nuggets, they didn't even look great this time, I asked if we could have a refund and she said she would go and find out. We finished our drinks, and couldn't bear to go and get another. The waitress popped her head out the door after a long wait, telling us all had been refunded. Again, the manager never made any appearance. I would never normally take the time to write a negative review, but it's been a week now and we never even got the refund! Hopefully this is just opening week difficulties, but really sad to see the garden so neglected and inability to even cook kids chicken nuggets and chips!

Found out this lovely local pub has been taken over by new management, excited to speak to the new team and see what they have to offer as this village pub has had a string of bad owners over the years and hopefully the new team can shed some light on what this pub can actually do…. Oh how wrong was I, on first impression nice job on the decor, nice colour on the walls and that’s as far as the niceties go I’m afraid. On arrival, when I eventually got to the bar fighting past 15 dogs and 2 giant chairs taking up most of the bar area. Ordered my drinks to be pasted from one child to another not knowing any information about what drinks they had or even the right glass to pour the drinks into and was told 4 times “let me just check with the boss” about everything I asked including when I asked for a straw. It took me 14 minutes to get 2 pints and a coke, one of which I didn’t order I told the staff behind the bar I didn’t ask for this to be told “yes you did” Now I know they are kids and it’s clearly new for them, but did they receive any sort of training what so ever, how any business owner slaps 5 kids behind the bar trusting them with money when they can’t even put a Guinness in a Guinness glass is laughable. After going back and forth with the staff I asked to be served by someone who knows what they are doing, only seeing one chap who I can only assume was the manager running in and out of the bar every now and again. After trying and failing on numerous occasions to get his attention I was told he’s too busy to talk right now can I just pay. I was charged £14 bit pricey but hey, Second time around our friends had joined us to get a round of 5 drinks to be charged £11.50. Brought this to the children’s attention and they said “let me check” 20 minutes later I was given £5 in coins when I paid by card? Once again I asked to speck to the manager and was ignored again. Maybe if the manager actually worked behind the bar helping rather then trying to fit into children size polo shirts things might have run more smoothly and the untrained staff wouldn’t be giving away their money. So after all this disappointment some of our group wanted to eat, not sure why and now they do after eating it, let’s just say for £20 you get fish and chips and that’s it! not even battered, more like Tesco own breaded fish from a 2 pack selection and uncooked frozen chips, no tar tar no lemon, nothing. Seems like they have taken a leaf out of the previous owners book of not giving a sh*t. If you’re trying to make a good first impression you failed big time. What a shame as this pub has such potential in the right hands, will not be returning any time soon.

Friendly welcoming owners but still clearly getting their bearings with regards to timings and food! We stopped off at the pub with our horses and were welcomed by the new owners who came out to say hello and greet us. Some pubs can be a bit funny about horses in their car park, so this was a really welcome surprise. The owners were happy for us to set up camp in the garden so we were all happy! The beer was great and atmosphere was nice. We ordered a few sides which were reasonably priced, but did take a fairly long time to come out and were delivered one by one even though there weren’t loads of tables in there. Hopefully this is just down to teething issues and will improve in the future as we’d definitely return when we are next passing!

Warm friendly welcome in this quaint village pub. The Korean chicken was amazing and the mushroom and chickpea stew was very nice too.

Such a lovely pub with an outstanding garden yet has literally 3 customers. As we left we got chatting with a local who informed it’s always like that and has been for a number of years. What a great shame for what could be a thriving local business

Great Pub, warm welcome from the friendly landlord and staff, delightfully quaffable ale, delicious food. Superb fish and chips, best we’ve eaten in decades. Highly recommend.

What a great find! A proper village pub, family run with glorious, home-cooked food. We were made very welcome and thoroughly enjoyed a well-cooked, wholesome lunch. It's very cosy at this time of year but with its beautiful garden, it must be wonderful during the summer months too. We will most definitely be back! Thanks team at The Dun Cow - you're running a great business.

Brilliant hidden gem,booked last minute, very accommodating

Great pub, beer quality good. Landlady is lovely. Would highly recommend. Beer garden is lovely to sit and relax after a day hiking.

We have eaten here twice and the food is very good. Staff and friendly and there is a really lovely atmosphere. Highly recommended

Had a lovely lunch in the garden after a walk. Staff were very friendly and attentive. The food was fresh, well prepared and tasty. The garden was a lovely place to sit and catch up. Would recommend and would visit again.

Lovely pub, very good food and friendly, quick service.

After travelling all the way from Norfolk we stumbled upon this little gem for a bit to eat. Such an amazing welcoming atmosphere and the food was absolutely amazing!!

Really lovely friendly pub. They looked after our party for lunch wonderfully in the “snug”. Well kept beer and sunny garden

Delicious food, friendly staff and catered for a variety of dietary requirements with pre-order.

Popped in after a day at Upton House. The fire was roaring, great atmosphere and local vibe. Beer on point & very dog friendly! Stunning little find! Food service hadn’t started but the kitchen team looked ready for a busy night! Will be back for food at nearest opportunity. Wish the Landlord and Team the best!

Absolutely fabulous.meal friendly landlord and landlady great country pub roaring fire. Great company will certainly visit again

Couldn't wait to leave Food was disgusting and atmosphere was weird

had a really lovely dinner during an overnight stay locally food freshly prepared and beautifully cooked staff friendly and efficient

We are visiting from the USA and enjoyed the whole eatting experience. Fish and chips were amazing, Ale grand, staff and other customers were so nice and friendly. We were to full for dessert but will try next time. We will be have a few more meals before our return home. Thanks Maria and Linda

This is a lovely village pub with a great outdoor garden. There is also a well equipped park across the road. The service was excellent from start to finish. Everyone was very attentive and all very cheery. The food was excellent and we will definitely be back to eat again.

Went for Sunday lunch and was not disappointed.. rare rib of beef,roast potatoes very fresh vegetables ,Yorkshire and gravy / jus to die for . The young ladies serving we spot on and attentive.. one of them made a great fuss of my bulldog . The whole family team were great .. local ale fantastic. Well done all at the Dun Cow and we will be back soon. Thanks .

My brother and sisters and our partners met for lunch at the Dunn Cow and I must say the food and service by the landlord Steve and his wife Rebecca was excellent and very reasonably priced. Well worth a visit to sample the delicious food and ales in this country retreat.

Proper village pub with excellent food and great beer. None of the duck-egg green, branded wine nonsense, just great service. Well worth coming off the beaten track for. Superb garden too.

Superb Sunday lunch in a spotless garden full of sunshine. This hidden gem keeps surprising. Starters were really lovely, the beef was done to a turn and the homemade horseradish was the vest Ive ever had. Great value too, good friendly service. Search it out, you wont be disappointed.

I loved this place. Great food. Friendly staff. Also doggy friendly 😀

We were looking for lunch at the end of a walk in the area and were enchanted by this beautiful pub in the village of Hornton. We received a friendly welcome from the delightful owners. The menu has a lovely selection of choice and all the food was home cooked by their talented chef. We chose burgers, fish and chips followed by tasty chocolate tart, homemade ice cream and vanilla cremeux with fresh fruits; all very tasty, well cooked and presented. Just wish we lived nearer to visit more often.

Went with my husband, two boys and a friend from France for Sunday lunch. We could not believe how amazing the food was, 5 star standard fine food! Truly hidden gem...we will be back!

The food was brilliant here and staff lovely, a real undiscovered treat if you go there

An exceptional find! - we stumbled across the Dun Cow just looking for a cold one after a walk from Banbury. Wow! Who would have guessed Rhubarb and smoked trout would appear in the same sentence; let alone be such a delight to eat. Well done the Dun Cow team - a great experience across the board.

One of those 'best kept secret' places, east of the Cotswolds can be superb. Hornton is a small village a few miles north of Banbury and its pub is what I'd call a proper village pub. Listed, bags of history, good beer, good food, knowledgeable owners, good garden and a refreshing lack of duck-egg green paint and branded wine guff. We were a little late on a Saturday afternoon, but they ran up two superb meals anyway. Blazing fire and good beer too. It's so refreshing to find people still making this work.

We've been to quite a few pubs in the area of Banbury (incl Rose & Crown and my fail-safe Falcon) but I have to say that the food here was on another level of flavour, texture and presentation. We had the aubergine board with grilled pita bread initially and, wowsers, it was utterly amazing. To start, we had the asparagus and hen egg (both guests loved it) and the blood orange with fennel which I had and shall never forget – next time I'm having two! Light, crispy, delicious – and as for the little seemingly toasted capers! Very more-ish. For mains we had three burgers with homemade cheese (tres bon) and the chicken supreme which the guest said was excellent. I skipped dessert as I was too full but tasted the tart (superb crispy pastry and luscious chocolate filling) and the rice pudding with coconut – what a great combo! Great staff – superb chef! The pub is in the lovely village of Horton. The restaurant area is small and quite plain (some tablecloths would brighten up the ambience) but pleasant and there's a large outdoor garden which I'd really like to visit in summer. But this place is all about the food, which really is imaginative and unbelievably tasty. And very keenly priced, too, given the level of food quality. We will most certainly return. On a separate note, it's a shame that new management or owners of a restaurant or B&B are lumbered with the poor legacy of others before them – TripAdvisor should have a system where bad reviews of a restaurant before new ownership (in this case 2019) are wiped clean if the new version has, say, five 5-star reviews since takeover. It's bad form on TripAdvisor's part that new owners inherit the bad reviews of others before them. IMO, this place fully deserves all of its recent 5-star reviews. Just go – you won't be disappointed.

What amazing food and service! The look and feel is a local pub that very much welcomes visitors. The food is outstanding

Fantastic friendly team and great food! Especially the pork chop 🙌

A really lovely pub, with excellent staff and service. Great food. Would definitely recommend.

Great food, great find, lovely countryside . Excellent food and so well cooked . De finger recommendation and hope to be back in the future.

Really lovely pub, gorgeous meal, very, very friendly staff. So accomodating for my special needs son. Will definitely return, we loved it.

Beautiful cottage and village. The pub's owners are very welcome and friendly. Food is superb. I highly recommend this place.

We have visited several times and are always greeted with a warm welcome. Friendly staff, a great chef with a changing menu and a good pint. A great pub with restaurant quality food.

Visited for a private lunchtime function, lovely pub, lovely food - bangers & mash with vegetarian/vegan/ dietary restrictions all taken into consideration. Staff really friendly and helpful.

An amazing little pub we found almost by accident! Fantastic food and great staff! My toddler loved it too! We'll definitely be back! :)

What do you want from a traditional village pub? Good beer, great food and a warm welcome - and you get all three at The Dun Cow! Hosts Steve and Rebecca couldn't be more welcoming and their new chef is just superb: on the menu - which is not too long, so you know everything is cooked fresh - are pub staples like fish and chips and home-made burger and chips. But there are also elements of fine dining. We started with smoked salmon with a hand-made crumpet and pigeon breast with cavalo nero. For mains, we had roast pork, with black pudding and bubble and squeak and loin of venison with sweet potato. Absolutely delicious. Our vegetarian friends said their corn on the cob soup and hummous were equally good, as were their veggie risottos. We can't wait to go back!

Another amazing meal at the Dun Cow in Hornton. This place is amazing, the staff, the chef’s food - what more could we ask? Warm, friendly atmosphere, roaring fire, great drinks and company! Rob, the upper talented chef is turning out consistently amazing food Chicken Presse (with the amazing black pudding purée), Roast beef the colour it should be & a sublime Quince & Chestnut cake with, wait for it… home-made gingerbread spiced ice-cream. All washed down with an excellent pint of Doom Bar. Wines are very good too. If you haven’t been - book!

Wow, just wow. What an incredible pub this is. Fantastic atmosphere, amazing staff and the food is second to none and easily the best in the area. A must try in this beautiful village.

Very nice pub, service was excellent.

New chef recently started and the menu is changing regularly and is excellent! Service remains consistently very good and the beer and wine selection matches.

Called in on the off chance as came off the M40 at Banbury. A very warm welcome and sat outside as a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I chose the Stone Bass and it was simply superb. The wine list looked a very fair price and they...

Fantastic pub, wonderful settings with a beautiful lit tepee in the garden and homely indoor restaurant. The food was gorgeous, especially the duck 🤩 & my 1 Yr old LOVED the home made ice cream! The staff were just fabulous...its not often you get genuine, friendly and attentive service from start to finish but the hosts were wonderful and couldn't have made us feel more welcome from the minute we walked in! Would highly recommend 5* 👌🏼 🌟👏🏻

This has been a super friendly pub that we discovered under new ownership three years ago. Wow, how they have worked over the most difficult of times throughout Covid. Steve & Rebecca are an amazing team that have just knuckled down and built a solid...

This friendly, family run pub, which survived extremely well during Covid and lockdown has a new chef and this is a step up on previous offerings at the Dun Cow. We, like many other locals have found the newly arrived chef and his menu is...

First time visit to the Dun Cow ...I have given 5 stars because I can't fault anything ...The staff / owners were very welcoming...we had a good laugh with lots of banta ,felt part of the pub and it's regulars ..Now the food bit ...A new chef had just started and there was an apology from the owner to say everything was new and there are lots of new ideas down the line .....Honestly you have nothing to worry about ....our 3 courses were spot on ..The portions were just right for us 4 hungry lads who'd been fishing all day ...infact the size of the deserts were brilliant ...many times we go to restaurants and pay £8 for a desert that is only worth £3 ...NOT AT THIS PUB..Now to end this review...If you have a chance to visit please do ...I understand from the owner they do many themed events also ..We will be back very soon ...

Lovely food facilities and staff!

Real gem of a place! We randomly popped in for lunch after noticing the nice looking garden while we were playing with our kiddos at the playground next door. The food is amazing, so much that even our usually picky toddler kept picking from all the meals we ordered. Service and staff are second to none. Friendly and highly competent staff, super approachable owners. The garden is the perfect place to relax while enjoying a great meal/drink on a sunny day. I hope we get a chance to come back next time we're visiting the area!

Went last Friday evening, had a choice of eating inside or out. Fantastic pint of Guinness, really good. Food was excellent, both starters and mains, though the pastry on the strawberry tart was a bit hard. Service was excellent, I don’t know why the previous...

Beautiful pub in idylic setting .New chef and food is amazing .Lovely welcoming staff .Cant recommend highly enough .Thankyou

We villagers feel very lucky to have this amazing little Pub on our doorstep. There is always a warm welcome from all of the lovely staff, and the food is very good with generous portions. Dogs are very welcome and the village playpark is opposite...

Miserable dreary service. Drinks that were supposed to be carbonated - not fizzy at all. A waitress (I think she was called Karen?) that at every moment possible vaped. I don’t want your disgusting unhygienic breath on my drinks or food thanks! The owners don’t...

Absolutely the best alround pub experience I've ever had and been around a lot...five of us had Sunday lunch recently, great warm welcome which started the visit perfectly, service was amazing, very rare to get a can do attitude these day's. Food was excellent, portion...

Very dog friendly, even the local dogs were friendly with ours. The landlady was very welcoming. As were the locals. We had 10oz steK anx bacon cheese burger, all fresh prepared Nd excellent to taste. Followed by lemon posset and mango cheesecake Again all prepared...

We popped into the pub hoping that they we still serving food, we were greeted very friendly, the food was fantastic and the portions huge, lovely wine. I can’t recommend it enough, we will definitely be returning.

Called in on the off chance on a Sunday afternoon . The food was fantastic The staff were fantastic, we will be back Thanks 😊

Good food but too spicy for my taste. A little too expensive for a village pub.

Visited today after a 4k walk from Horley and my what a pub. The most friendly staff and a beautiful setting. We had the lamb roast and the cod in sauce and I would say its one of the best Sunday pub lunches we have ever had. If you are visiting near here you have to check it out. We will certainly be returning.

Massive Sunday roast dinner! But you can order a half portion. Friendly staff. Clean.

Welcoming unpretentious village pub with a good range of pubby food. A hidden gem right on our doorstep. Staff so friendly and despite all tables being full with an additional small side bar the three members of staff were not flustered and made sure we...

Really excellent service and food. Couldn't believe the size of the portions! Highly recommended. I had two starters and was like having 2 mains!

Visited the Dun Cow for the first time for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed it. As per the title of my review, this is exactly what pub food should be (in my opinion). Good quality, hearty portions and excellent value overall. We will definitely be back!

Splendid little pub, tucked away in an amazing location

Would highly recommend, this pub. Friendly staff amazing service and food nothing was to much trouble. We will be returning!

Having stumbled upon this amazing pub/restaurant via a Goggle search of places to eat near Banbury, I will definitely be back again. The food was amazing, hearty homemade portions, excellent value for money. What can be said about the service, 5 star sums it up....

Best fish and chips I have had in ages Good local beer

This is an amazing place. Lovely food. Lovely owners. Wish I could eat here every day.

Amazing Sunday lunch, you should go!

Had a lovely Sunday lunch with the help of friendly staff Carys & Peter

First class welcome and the Sunday lunch fantastic if we lived local it would be a regular haunt thank you

Had the most amazing Sunday roast with our family. Friendly and welcoming staff. An absolute must visit if you’re near (or far!)

Such a great pub. Popped in on a flying visit and so pleased we did. Really lovely service, food and drink excellent with great choice. Loved the outside space. Lots of attention to detail and food arrived in good time. Warm welcome and friendly service....

The food was so good I forgot to photograph it! Really tasty, great service and the dog friendly. The cheesecake was my absolute winner.

Very friendly landlady. Superb food (possibly too much!). Great value for money.

Sunday lunch was excellent and outside area was lovely. Very friendly and attentive staff and owners. Well worth a visit

This place is unbelievably good. The BEST beer garden I have ever seen with an ENORMOUS tipi. SO cool. The service was wonderful. So personable and a great family feel to the place. Dogs welcome and just an awesome place. The food was INCREDIBLE! SO...

Recommended Exceptional value for money. Attentive service with very friendly staff. The food was delicious - should have ordered a small portion! Looking forward to returning for a Sunday roast under the teepee!

Fantastic pub and very friendly staff.

I met my family here for Saturday lunch. Our family included my 91 years old Mum,and my Grandchildren aged 8 and 10. The staff were amazingly friendly and helpful even when part of party were 45 minutes late due to traffic. The food was delicious...

Excellent food, welcome and surroundings at a reasonable price. Will visit again.

This was probably then best Sunday lunch have ever had in a pub. Eight of us sat down with different meals, chicken, beef and pork. There were no complaints from anyone. All the food was beautifully cooked and a wonderful. selection of vegetables also perfectly...

My family and i visited this pub for lunch and dinner on 2 separate days last week. It is run by a lovely couple who are putting their all into making the pub a great success. They certainly deserve to succeed after huge investment in...

Incredible service, delicious food and a superb pint of Guinness! Such a treat to have this hidden gem so close to home!

Had a lovely meal outside in the spacious garden. She is celliac but every meal is gluten free by default. I had a steak and chips which was excellent and a pint of Hooky. The Landlady was extremely helpful and very friendly. Can't wait to return.

The food and service we received were faultless. The owners of the pub were so welcoming and friendly. We ordered fish and chips the first evening which were absolutely to die for! So good we had to come back the following evening. We tried the...

We booked last minute and they happily catered for us, even when we arrived slightly early. Staff are very friendly and the food is amazing! Such a lovely location and the garden area is well kept