Best Casual Restaurants in Upper Slaughter

On a very cold but sunny November day we treated ourselves to lunch at Buckland Manor hotel. From time gone by , escaping from the mad world the village and hotel was wonderful and greeted us with charm and friendship seldom experienced. All quite stunning. The team were perfect, greeting us with a smile and informal welcome, not in your face or pompous. The service couldn’t be more in keeping with the spirit of the day, possibly because of the confidence they had in the kitchen. We left feeling spoiled and very happy with ourselves that we experienced a charm and had the best day , simply wonderful.

Having come up from a hick town in Sussex, my initial reaction was “ ooh this is a bit pricey “ but then I remembered that in fact I was in a very beautiful tourist location where the restaurant had to compete with numerous other top quality establishments. I chose the Popcorn Mussels with lemon alioli for my starter and was rewarded with a large ramekin full to the brim of perfectly juicy mussels that had been deep fried in a very thin beautifully seasoned coating and a lovely little dish of citrus touched alioli that proved to be more than enough for the amount of mussels. My main course choice was the venison suet pudding which was a good sized rustic parcel of just the right thickness suet pastry, packed full of amazingly moist melt in the mouth venison that had been cooked long and slow to take on all the flavours of the herbs and vegetables it had been cooked with, served with a very smooth and buttery mashed potato. For dessert I chose the most unusual thing on the menu, a parsnip creme brûlée and I have to say that it was one of the best brûlée’s that I have ever eaten. It was creamy and sweet with a lovely crunchy top but you were left with a mild taste of parsnip on your palate, which at first was a little confusing but as you work your way through the dish actually marries beautifully with the taste and texture of the creme and leaves you wanting more. Very different yet very tasty. It comes with a spiced macaron, possibly one of the fattest macarons I have ever seen thanks to the generous filling and definitely one of the most delicious. With very friendly servers that didn’t “hover” but knew how to play their role well, I have to say that this is a bistro that you should definitely check out if you are visiting the Cotswolds. My initial thoughts if you remember were that it was a bit pricey? No, it isn’t, it’s really good value for money as the food is first class.

The waitresses were very friendly and accommodating. The burgers were good size, very flavorful and juicy. The coleslaw I got with mine was excellent. Best burger I have had in quite a while. We were very happy and highly recommend this restaurant.

Delicious good, really lovely atmosphere in the bar area.

Possibly the best 🍔 in the 🌎 and the tatter tots are amazing. Cocktails are incredible and the local beer was the cherry on the cake. Can not recommend smiths enough