The best restaurants serving British food in Beacon-Stow Cotswold South West

Lunch with my mother. 2 starters each. All 4 were spectacular. Chichory salad, burrata salad, devilled kidneys and beef carpaccio. Glass of wine each. £60. Ok there was a cider and fries chucked in for my yobbish tastes. Between us we have about 50 years experience in hospitality all over Europe. But this was best pub lunch in over 20 years, for me.

It's claimed to be the oldest pub in England, but the atmosphere doesn't suggest that it still feels like a modern restaurant and has a London vibe. The food was good , not Michelin style but well cooked. Friendly staff, clean bathroom. Good menu diversity.

Beer was good, glasses clean. Food was good, but we were not warned about fresh-from-the-oven hot bowl for the chips. Ouch. Oh, and a long hair in the burger. Grubby. Who wipes bogies on toilet walls? Regulars? Staff? Japanese tourists? Who can say, but the amount was disgusting and unusually tolerated by the management. Why is it tolerated? Because it hadn’t been cleaned off! The regulars had a great rapport with staff- nice to see, so I’d hate for it to be a regular wiping biohazards on the gent’s toilets wall seeing as they’re mates with the bar staff. Tables were wiped down, but it was hard to discern which one was done first and when with the “hot soapy water” as they all had a sticky lacquer on them. The tables and the table cutlery/ packet sauce holder were grubby. Cleaning , whilst a chore, is necessary in food service establishments, at daily intervals. Booked a table in advance, which was held for us, but rich mouthy cry-baby boomers kicked off about not being able to sit together in their group of 8. Poorly managed by the staff- just felt inexperienced and clumsy. We moved our party and at least got the drinks on the house. Boomers didn’t have the courtesy/ decency to actually ask us…they used the young manager to do the deed. Not the fault of the pub, but there’s a training need for how to handle people and customers there. Watch out for already included and assumed service charge (15% IIRC?), which is presumptuous and not necessarily earned. What do we tip for? Service? Food? Cleanliness? No bogies? Hard to say what the pub is- it’s affordable with reasonable beer and food, but it’s not a professional establishment. The level of cleaning and management inexperience showed this. Have used this pub on and off for >20yrs, this is the worst it’s been. Sad to see this in a place with such an exclusive location.