The best restaurants in Wheatley South Oxfordshire South East

We have always liked the food and service in Harvesters. Always been loyal customers. However, our most recent experience was not great at all. The place was busy, the salad bar was quite empty and the food took a much longer time to arrive which we could excuse as a one-off. But some of the food was not cooked through unfortunately, which believe it or not, again we sort of excused as staff apologised and replaced it. What we cannot overlook however was the menu has changed and unfortunately all the tasty parts of the food have been replaced with hard, tasteless freezer food. Prices have gone up too, which is understandable but they should not have messed with the quality of the food. The chicken, the hash browns were not soft and succulent as before. The nice onion ring was replaced by hard and cold cheese jalapeño rings. Totally different food experience now. We are not going to go back in a hurry, let's just say. Really sad as we did like frequenting it over the last few years.

£20 for a walk around a garden and a cream tea - you might think that would be eye-wateringly expensive. And to some degree you are right. This could be a description of the quintessential English experience. And yet, and yet ... even in the depths of winter this garden is exceptional. I began my walk feeling completely out-of-sorts, not uplifted by the well-meaning messages on little boards on the Truth Trail, and yet by the time I had found glorious fields of snowdrops and small glimpses of the tiny wonders that are the early spring crocus, I was well on my way to upliftment. The gardens are an utter enchantment. Everywhere there are signs of great husbandry and quiet wisdom. Simple imagery becomes clever symbolism; from the dark yew hedge hunched over in the centre of the broad expanse of lawn, to the exquisitely espalliered orchards and the order of the herbaceous borders, you are led to the magic of the little girl dancing upon her own reflection in the wide waters, and the child offering wisdom in the formality of the Silent Space. Even in the Walled Garden, the National Collection of Saxifrage blew me away - utterly stunning in both its setting and design. I came away utterly bowled over by the beauty of the gardens, happy to have spent the money. The lovely little cafe in the portacabin was delightful, and the cream tea delicious. I shudder to think what the queues and the wasps are like in summer, though. I will be brave and come back in summer though, because the gardens must be even more magical then. And because I have to see, with my own eyes, the huge swathe of camassia leichtlinii in bloom. And THAT'S something I never thought I would say in a Tripadvisor review! :D

Excellent Fish and Chips. I went on 2 different nights this week and the fish and chips were cooked fresh and were excellent as was the size of portions. Brill!!

The food as always was fantastic.