The Oakfield in Cheshire West and Chester

Great service, great venue, but the Roast pork dinner was terrible, I needed a steak knife to cut the pork, so the waitress got me the usually pub like beef, I kept the steak knife to use on the dry plastic like coating on the roast potatoes .I did get 10% off for the bad pork, but myself and husband walked out of there very disappointed in the food, won't be going back. Disappointed in ourselves also for eating the meals but we had walked round the zoo for three and a half hours, so you can imagine we were ready to eat. Very Very Poor pub grub, in a beautiful setting .

Went for Sunday lunch. Really relaxing and enjoyable surroundings. Choice of 3 x roasts. Food dishes were lovely. Well worth a visit.

Popped in for a drink whilst at Chester zoo was a lovely building with lots of history on display.

Not only is this place beautiful inside and out, the food is absolutely wonderful! What could be better than having a delicious meal whilst at the zoo?! I can't wait to back again!

Gorgeous. You can feel the history here. The Zoos story is just magical. The photos in side show some soecial memories and moments in time

food not quite as good as gastro pub competition, but ok.

Took over 2 hours for our lunch to be delivered Food very average and over priced

Grand venue in the grounds of Chester Zoo, excellent service and good choice on the menu. Prices competitive with other Chester City centre venues

Beautiful place and the original house of the owners of the zoo ❤️ watch the series 'our zoo' on amazon prime to learn more! Amazing story! X

Good food but they made the portions small. The Sunday roast has only one carrot , one potato and a little parsnip purée. I was a bit disappointed the portions got smaller. Adding more vegetables would not cost that much. Why not to serve a proper portion? A bit stingy. Also the service is slow

Amazing experience, friendly staff, gorgeous food, couldn't ask for better.

Restaurant with very "British" elegance immersed in a unique and exclusive environment. Rooms with simple and warm furnishings. You eat well, even imaginative dishes in full respect of English taste. The prices are adequate. The attentive and impeccable service.

Lovely food, charming service, and what a brilliant location.....not because of the zoo, but the marvellous house itself. We have only lived in Chester for a couple of weeks and it's a 40 minute walk each way for us but we have been on 2 successive Fridays and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I do hope the Friday night experiment succeeds. It certainly deserves to. But why oh why can't we leave a tip via our card? Surely you would like us to recognise the good service and who carries cash these days. Please sort it out.

Gorgeous Sunday lunch and other options good as always

We really enjoyed our afternoon tea and we received excellent service from Bethan, who was very friendly and courteous and made sure we were totally satisfied customers, thankyou!

Great pint lovely pub food looked and smelt lovely will definitely dine in on our next visit to the zoo

Relaxing atmosphere. Afternoon tea was ok, bread very dry though.

We pre booked a table for 14 (including 6 children) for a much needed break in the middle of a visit to the zoo. While the fact we couldn't find any prices online was a worry - and made it feel a bit like a gamble - we were delighted by the quality of food, speed of service, the beautiful surroundings and ambience of the airy, spacious 'orangey' area we occupied...and the price! It was very good value for excellent food and came in at about £14 a head, including (mostly non-alcoholic) drinks. Thoroughly recommend this place for a lovely lunch stop!

Really good experience on several occasions here. Service is very prompt and the food is always really high quality. Pricing is pretty fair in today's market and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to have a "proper" meal whilst at the zoo.

The oakfield is the most unique dining venue within a zoo environment. The building itself is worth a visit , knowing the history of the zoo and the old building the redevelopment has done a great job and it’s a pleasure to be there . Have dined there quite a few times , birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and always had good food served by friendly professional staff. Cannot find anything to fault… first choice when we want a place to celebrate with a meal ..

Fabulous meal with grandchildren today ! Girls had fish and pizza We had sausage mash n beef baguel lovely x

Staff were accommodating and really friendly. Great plant based menu and tasty too. Nice to see simple plant based comfort food on there, I had sausage and mash it was lovely

Disappointing food! Although service was friendly, if a bit slow. But this is the only proper place to eat at the zoo, so clearly a captive audience means the kitchen doesn't have to try that hard with the food. Great coffee though

Wedding day an excellent venue for a wedding 60 people family at day and meal 160 at night for bbq only three couldn't attend well done all enough room for every one plus if children attend they get walk around the zoo so even they enjoy it t All under one roof a very good choice well done Allan. And Felicity Myers.xx

Took our friends for her 50th birthday. They hadn't been before and really loved it. Didn't have any mayonnaise but we had some on the burger buns which seemed strange. Will be back.

Great place to relax and dine after a walk round the zoo.

We were here for my wife's birthday, as she loves the zoo and so decided to book into the oakfield for an early dinner. It has a lovely atmosphere and the staff were very friendly. The food and drinks all arrived very promptly and the food was very well presented. It was a great afternoon break before continuing around the zoo. We will definitely book to go again. Thanks to the staff.

Excellent food and perfect service. Brilliant wedding venue.

It was a really nice meal and lovely staff however the steak Ciabatta was a rip off; 4 tiny bits of steak is ridiculous for £18. The fish and chips was great for the price though. I would go back however just be more careful with food choice, also alot more 'regular' priced if you have membership

A tastefull refit of the historic Oakfield house. This building is a crucial part of the zoos history and the extension at the front stays in keeping with the surrounding area. The food is supossed to be excellent and the staff were friendly

some of the best food i’ve ever had

We love it here. Food is outstanding every time. We are members of Chester Zoo, so when we visit we always make a pit stop here. The menu is fairly small, but that makes it easier to choose. If you visit on a Sunday, be sure to get the roast dinner 😋 the steak baguette is also really good (not always available on the menu). Can also recommend the burger, and fish and chips. Oh and a pint of Eastgate Ale. Cheers!

Exceptional fish and chips, good salad too.

Food is outstanding just a shame that the portions are far too small for the price. It's very expensive. Even with the 10% members' discount. If it was this good quality and a decent size I could get on board but the portions are simply too small. Decent beer.

The food was tasty but cold and portion sizes were pretty small however it was quite flavorful. Being the only real restaurant in a tourist area I expected it to be a little nicer and little pricier but for what it was it was pretty expensive. However; the atmosphere was amazing the service was beautiful and friendly and we came to celebrate our 2 year anniversary together and I told them my partners favorite animal was a bat so they brought out a mini Swiss roll with a bat drawn in chocolate! As pictured below. Which really just made the day way better! Beautiful location and truly amazing staff unfortunately the food was just lacking a bit. Thank you

Had my wedding here on the 25.04.24 what an amazing day. The staff were amazing so helpful. The food was gorgeous. Highly recommended anyone having a wedding or other event here. What a great memorable day. Thank you so much Chester Zoo 😍

Called in at the Oakfield yesterday, there were eight adults, two children and a baby. The staff couldn't have been more helpful. They went out their way to make the afternoon a very pleasurable experience for everyone!!

Had lunch yesterday excellent staff were really nice food brilliant Izzi our waitress was really helpful Thank you

What can I say. Go to the zoo and go here. It's so important to support these special enterprises.

This was an oasis in the middle of the zoo. We’d made a reservation (recommended) and were able to sit and have a drink while waiting for our table, as we’d arrived a little early. We were seated at our table, and were introduced to our server, Holly, by the host. The food came fairly quickly, and was excellent quality. The setting was beautiful, very much like a top country pub vibe.

Really love this for special occasions

Went here for lunch as hate the canteen/fast food type outlets. Did not expect much and was really pleasantly surprised. the atmosphere was much nicer ans the service was good. Food was excellent and really good quality. We had the shoulder of lamb, chick and ham pie and sausages and mash. We all cleared (scraped!) our plates. Will definitely eat here again when we return.

Food was poor quality and they had run out of ketchup… Ordered the burger, which cost more than a roast dinner at £18.95. It was dry and tasted cheap. Really nice location and building but really let down by the service and food. I’d rather have saved the money and brought a packed lunch.

Great food not cheap bit you pay the extra 2 drinks 2 mains about 50 quid is reasonable

Great food, great service loved it for our little boys first birthday

Visited today with 3 friends. The food as always was excellent and we had lovely efficient service from Mark our waiter. Would really recommend

Great pub in the setting of Chester Zoo. Starters were really good, mains not the best but I think that was partially what we chose. Staff really attentive and helpful. Worth a visit if you're at the zoo, or if you're local, an alternative to your local on a Friday night!

After we were greeted and seated we were completely ignored by the waitress for the next half an hour. Other diners came in after us and were immediately served. Our food arrived and to be honest, surprisingly, was absolutely great. My wife had the burger and I had the lamb. No one came to see if the food was ok or to see if we needed more drinks. After trying to get the waitress attention without success (she was leaning on the counter, on her phone) I had to go and get more drinks myself. For pudding we had sticky toffee ginger cake and tarte tartin. Again, both were excellent, especially the tarte. The food here is really good. The guy with the beard who brought some customers food out was knowledgeable and attentive. The young lady who was our waitress was ignorant and disinterested. Also the conservatory that we were seated in was freezing .

Fabulous lunch in the beautiful oak dining room excellent food attentive service from Liv …..highly recommend all staff were happy knowledgeable especially about the gin ….lovely lovely way to spend Valentines Day

Fantastic place - great beer selection

Food was good once it arrived. Waited over an hour for main course. Had to chase! No apology. Unfortunately impacted our time at the zoo!

First visit since they started doing food, and loved it. The interior is lovely and full of interesting photographs of the zoos past, and all the staff we interacted with were very friendly and attentive. We both had the cheeseburger with chips, which was absolutely delicious. The food is on the pricier side, as it's proper restaurant prices as opposed to some of the other food places at the zoo (18.95 for the burger and chips, though on the day we went it was buy 1 main get another half price, so that was an absolute bargain). We also shared a dessert, a pecan and pear cheesecake with pear sorbet which was also delicious. A really unusual dessert, but I love anything pear so had to order it when I saw that on the menu!

Friendly staff, food was lacking had the roast dinner, beef.

Relaxed friendly atmosphere. Food was first class. Great idea tco open on a Friday evening. Couldn't h a ve been much closer to home. We live a cross the road.

Visited the zoo there was a deal on meals 2 for 1 so we popped in at midday there was no seating so booked for 2pm. Returned at 2 to be told some excuse the kitchen wasn't cooking any more so turned away. Mrs was less than impressed!

The food got a 2 or 3 star from me. Had a burger and it was pretty dry and dense. The actual place is really nice though and we had exceptional service from Bethan (or might have been Bethany). Honestly the best service I've experienced in a long time and it's her that earned this 5 star review. Promote this person immediately!

Service was great. Such a cute little restaurant at the zoo. Food was fabulous great fish and chips. My only criticism was that you couldn’t add chicken to the Thai green curry even tho it was options on other dishes.

The service was good but unfortunately the adult meals were poor, mine arrived only just warm and my partner had the burger but the chips were just all the bits and not nice. I wouldn’t go again, it use to be a nice meal.

Had the pleasure of booking a surprise afternoon tea for my mother’s birthday. This excelled all expectations. The staff, Mark and the gang were truly wonderful, we were seated in the most historic room, which had the most wonderful Xmas tree and surroundings. The food was incredible and I had asked for a ‘birthday plate’, which didn’t disappoint. The chef created a beautiful wonderful decorative plate with perfect little cakes. Thank you so much for making our day more memorable.

Food is amazing, just the right amount in a portion that you're full, but not bursting. Definitely one of the pricier options on site (£15-18 for the mains), but worth it for a special treat. The atmosphere inside is lovely as are the staff (shout out to Liv, who was our waitress today and was absolutely lovely!)

One of the best Sunday roasts we’ve had in a very long time. Lovely spot to get away from the crowds, amazing food and a great drink selection. Staff were all lovely! We will definitely be going every time we visit the zoo from now on.

Stunning gluten free fish and chips. My husband and I stopped for lunch as the weather was poor. We were served by Mark and the service was excellent. Very friendly atmosphere and very accommodating with our five month old. Will certainly be returning again.

A favourite spot of ours to have restaurant quality food and service on our trip to the zoo. Nice beer too beer 🍺

Good food. Excellent service and ambience

Great spot for good food for grownups in the zoo. Good range of quality meals including vegan, gf and vegetarian. It was a cold rainy day but Liv gave us a warm welcome which was much appreciated. Great spot

We visited The Oakfield on a last minute decision on Tuesday. They had a Wedding on and were very busy, but Magda managed to squeeze us a table in. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was nice. Lovely place if you're wanting a sit down meal, rather than fast food. Magda was very attentive to us, and even though we could see she was very busy, she did everything with a smile on her face.

Easily one of the best gastro pubs to eat at in Chester. We ordered the molasses glazed ham Sunday roast, highly recommended! The service from Mark was exceptional 5*

Poor quality of food and poor service

Lovely birthday meal. Staff were very helpful & food delicious.

My daughter’s wedding was on 26th September/23 at The Oakfield House. What an amazing day it was, the facilities, the wonderful food and most of all the dedicated staff who were on duty that day. Everything went according to plan, even the weather was good. An added bonus was a tour around the Zoo everyone enjoyed the day. Thank you everyone who made my daughter’s and son-in-law’s day wonderful. Thank you.

I came to a wedding here on Friday and it was absolutely amazing. The whole day was brilliant from start to finish. The staff couldn't do enough for us so helpful and kind and really friendly the place is so clean and I cannot fault anything about it. Great day

Lovely decor and ambience, and tasty food. Young waitresses working hard, but lacking experience. Very pleasant though. Overall, our lunch was a lovely and surprisingly good experience.

The food you can pick up anywhere at Chester Zoo is usually pretty good. However, the food at the Oakfield is excellent. It's probably best described as "pub food", but taken to another level. Really tasty, well presented and served quickly too. Even at peak times, the food seemed to come out fast, which is an added benefit if you're trying to see the whole zoo and don't want to 'waste time' in a restaurant. There was a range of options available, from a burger, fish and chips, to slightly more exotic tacos and similar dishes. Coupled with a wide range of drinks, you could spend some time in here and completely forget that you were in a major tourist attraction at the same time. You do need a zoo ticket to visit, so even if you book a table, you'll need to either be a zoo member, or already have a ticket for the day. There's no way around this. One slight downside was, when asked how a particular dish would be made gluten free, as per the menu options, our server replied "don't know" and made no offer to go find out. Didn't fill me with confidence, so I'm opted for something safer. All that said - well worth a visit.

Gorgeous afternoon tea in a great atmosphere and Mark who looked after us was brilliant! Such a good price for afternoon tea where the drinks are unlimited and you can order extra sandwiches. They cater for allergies too.

We enjoyed an afternoon tea, absolutely delicious.

Part of a birthday celebration, I treated my husband to a day at the zoo and an afternoon tea. We were sat in a corner of a pleasant room but under a speaker playing quite loud music of all genres despite when booking asking for our table to be in a quiet area. We expected the afternoon tea to be generous as it was for two people, but what we had was one stand with one of each item to include the sandwich and cake selections (apart from the scones) and two hot drinks. We had to cut everything in half. I questioned this when paying the bill but was told this is how it is served. Maybe I should have just ordered and paid for the one instead as it is quite pricy. There were no offers to refill hot drinks or any more sandwiches either. A disappointing experience.

Always great service! Made to feel welcome even with a baby and great with allergies/dietary requirements! Definitely recommend the fish and chips 🤤

Never had a bad meal ye. A bit expensive but worth it

Great calm spot for lunch within Cheshire Zoo, food was fairly good, if a little expensive. Staff were excellent, Mark was really attentive, welcoming and put up with our kids wanting him to be their best friend.

Not a great experience. My wife and I went to celebrate our wedding anniversary and stated this on the booking. We were led to our table by a lady who seemed distracted and sat us down in an area with lots of loud children, despite walking us through nice spaces quiet spaces with plenty of seats available. We both went for a burger, which sounded delicious on the menu but turned up literally minutes later, looking incredibly sad on a huge plate next to a handful of chips. The waiter played it off that they're just that fast, but it was pretty clear they were meant for someone else as my patty was cold. For the price, this was disappointing. My wife was still eating after I finished mine as she eats slower than me, and the waiter tried to take her plate away. It just felt like we were being rushed out. No mention of the fact it was our wedding anniversary was made, so we eat, paid and left, never to return again. The only major plus was how nice the toilets were.

My husband and I visit the zoo regularly and had never eaten there so we decided to book in for a Sunday Lunch (my favourite meal of all) When I say I’m glad we tried it here , that is an understatement!!! … the food was absolutely AMAZING! I had the Molasses glazed ham and hubby had the beef (we shared the meat) - cooked to perfection, the Yorkshire was absolutely delious and didn’t taste greasy like some do. The staff were very friendly and very attentive

Came to a wedding here. Absolutely beautiful venue for a wedding. Food and service were perfect, and we all got a trip around the zoo which was excellent!

Excellent pub lunch with comfortable chairs and tables. We overlooked a green swarde so the 10 yr old could run about between courses. Bookable

We were there for a wedding and it made an excellent venue. Food, service and location were all superb. We'll worth considering!

5 visits so far. Main menu is a bit small. The fish is just perfect. Batter light and crispy. If you are a zoom member, don’t fir get to show your membership card for 10%.

Amazing service and excellent food, accessible as well for power chair.

For my first timeat Oakfield .Came into a friendly atmosphere staff very polite and helpful not even 3 minutes and my drink and starter was on my table. The salt and pepper calamari was amazing and the burger was soo worth it!!! Mark and Tarnie thank you for making my experience above and beyond with your 5 star customer service!!!!!! 😊😊😊😊

Didn't have anything to eat just had a drink

It was a fabulous day. We stopped for lunch in the Chester zoo pub, and the food was a high-quality and delicious

Food was lovely, service was ok.

Had a lovely time at the Zoo. The lunch served at The Oakfield was really delicious. I should have had extra.

Lovely setting, with good food and great service (served by Mark). We would recommend it to other zoo visitors.

The food was delicious. Quite pricey though. Service was good, but didn't like being approached over and over again to ask if everything was alright.

An afternoon tea with my son, daughter in law and granddaughter - this was a belated Christmas present from them. What a lovely surprise to find such an excellent place to eat - the interior and decor are lovely, toilets spotless. The Oakfield is clearly very well organised and cared for. Service spot on - from the moment we arrived nothing was too much trouble. Afternoon tea was excellent - and our waitress would have brought more food and drinks had we asked - but we had more than enough. Delightful experience - so nice to see such high standards.

Really impressed, despite it being lunchtime on a member’s day at the weekend and the whole zoo being packed we were immediately given a table and advised it might be around 45 minutes due to a large booking. As it happened our food and drink order was taken at the same time and arrived at the same time about 10 minutes later. They may have slotted us as a small table of two’s food in first but very impressed. It was delicious too. Can’t fault the friendly service, speed and communication even at an extremely peak time. Thanks team.

I visited here as a guest to a wedding and I was pleasantly surprised. The place was very welcoming and had a relaxed classic atmosphere. Being vegetarian I usually struggle at events like this but the food was brought out especially for me and it was superb. My only issue was getting to the venue. Please double check which gate you need to enter the zoo! Did this venue it’s the delivery driver entrance and not the main zoo entrance haha 😆

Amazing pub, really smart clean and tidy and a touch of elegance and regal. Not something you expect to find in the middle of a zoo but a nice cold refreshing pint of Giunness went down really well. Deffo pay it a visit. Extra bonus they serve old mout on tap!

I wouldn't eat anywhere else when visiting the zoo, the food is really good and this time we had the afternoon tea. Really good value for money!!!

My wife and I had a delicious meal and the service was excellent and we will definitely go back highly recommended by us

Gastro pub in the grounds of Chester Zoo with good food, historic building and great atmosphere.