The best restaurants in United Kingdom serving British food

I was having a kitchen renovation at home, so I had no facilities to make a Sunday meal. I knew the Courtyard offered takeaway roasts, so that’s what I did. It was still very hot when I got it home. There was plenty of it, with a number of different vegetables and a big pot of the most delicious meat gravy. Outstanding. Absolutely highly recommended!! 😋

Both the steak and chicken dishes were delicious and cooked to perfection. Though they didn’t look like large portions, they were surprisingly satisfying. The candied carrot cheesecake was absolutely lovely, while the banoffee pie didn’t quite meet my wife’s expectations—perfect excuse for a swap! In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My wife and I visited Upstairs on a Friday night. We did not live locally and therefore stayed at the nearby Premier Inn (5 mins walk). When we arrived, we given a warm friendly greeting. The team at Upstairs were fantastic all evening. They clearly are very passionate and knowledgable about the food and wine they serve, but so in a relaxed and warm way. The snacks started with had amazing flavours. This quality was maintained throughout the meal with the scallops (in a satay style sauce) and beef being particular highlights. My wife had the famous banana desert and it did not disappoint. Thank you for a really great night and we look forward to coming back soon.

Simply Amazing - great food, great service. Thank you very much.

Absolutely fantastic. Great food, great atmosphere. Probably the best fine dining restaurant near Exeter. You really have to try it.

Lovely restaurant with great personal service and a great choice of well cooked steaks. ( Along with a couple of non steak options. Excellent fat chips and sauces to accompany the steaks.

Good chicken strips and chips. The cafe was clean and welcoming. I was served by a lovely lady I think her name was Nat, she was very polite and pleasant.All staff was nice too and made me feel very welcome I will definitely be back. Can you please bring back the fresh milkshakes they were 10/10.

To start with, despite my rating I do want to say that the food was absolutely faultless. I would go so far as to say it was the best taster menu I've ever had. Perhaps the best meal I've ever had if I'm honest! Every dish was so expertly put together and each one hit all the right flavour notes. You could tell that Steve has worked hard to ensure everything is perfectly balanced. The dish presentation was elegant and didn't feel pretentious, unlike some other taster menus I've had (costing far more) which seemed more about visual wow factor than actually tasting delicious and leaving you wanting more. The service was also excellent and there was a good atmosphere. The waiter was upbeat and there was a bit of well-judged banter too. Each dish was presented with a brief intro to the ingredients, and a nice touch was that Steve also presented a couple of the dishes himself. If this is all that matters to you, you can stop reading my review now because the rest is nitpicking, but for a premium experience I feel a few tweaks would have made for a knockout evening. The points below are far from dealbreakers, so please do take that into account - they absolutely shouldn't stop you going. - No prices on the drinks menu and no beer on offer. I think the wine list may have had pricing, but we don't drink wine so we were looking at what else was on offer. I assume that people will generally go to Eileen's with a healthy budget, and perhaps not really care what they're going to add on top of the taster menu price (which, for what it is, is very good value). However, it felt really awkward to be asking the waiter for the cost of a G+T - and he didn't come back with an answer so we just ordered anyway, not knowing what we would be billed. We also felt that the drinks menu presentation was poor - it was a set of laminated A4 sheets of paper, which just didn't feel premium. There weren't any beers on the drinks menu either - but given that the sheets were all separate, I just wonder if one was missing as we thought this was odd. - Decor. We were in the downstairs area, and it feels like there's a disparity between the food proposition and the environment. There are some uplighters dotted around which feel quite dated, but the thing that felt very non-premium were the cheap LED rechargeable table lamps. When we were seated, the waiter turned it on and within a few minutes it started flickering which was really distracting so I turned it off, which kind of killed the ambience. I asked for a replacement and that one ran out of power within a couple of minutes. The waiter did spot this, calling them the bane of his life, and replaced with a simple candle which was so much more appropriate anyway. They should honestly throw them all away and stick with candles - keep it simple! I would say that the upstairs area, where the bar is, had a bit more appeal. - Music. While the music choice was absolutely fine (rather upbeat for premium dining, but it worked) the music service was a free one - meaning that every few songs an advert came on, like we were listening to a local radio station. This really cheapened the whole thing, and although it probably went unnoticed by people in deep conversation, once I noticed it once, each time an advert came on it really jarred with me. Like I said, the food was absolutely sensational, the service was great and the things above wouldn't stop us returning. I've only docked a point because at this price point you have certain expectations, and there were a few things about the environment that fell a little short - but so easily fixed.

Amazing. Lovely tea room. Attentive staff who supplied endless tea! Sandwiches and scones delicious. Upstairs too with items for sale and other bits and bobs. Couldn't manage the stairs to look but will do so next time. Absolutely loved my 1st AT experience.

Enough light to feel welcomed; enough attention to feel wanted; enough splendid food to cheer the soul. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful evening at Lovage. The welcome was warm and the food delicious. I would most certainly recommend. Thank you.

Unique place, off the beaten track. Worth it, great menu and choice 👌

Best restaurant in the Cotswold. Most innovative menu choices, food bursting with flavor. The chef's heart is in every bite. Had oyster mushroom brunch and sausage vegetable stew. Both tremendous.

Excellent establishment. Great friendly services

Great place to stop for carbs!!

A truly special dining experience. We were so lucky to be seated at the pass and had a wonderful evening watching Alex and the team prepare the delicious tasting menu. Each dish was incredible - we particularly loved the strawberry bao, and the soft drinks flight was equally as thought through as the food. Highly recommend, we can't wait to be back.