Great Shefford Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: Complete with a riverside terrace, this privately owned pub near Newbury receives a good rep in our annual diners’ poll for its 40-seat dining room overlooking the river Lambourn, where chef Sam Cary aims to deliver ‘refined modern British pub food’. In an April 2022 visit, Tatler’s Fay Maschler declared it “a rare jewel of a country pub” offering “everything you want a welcome to be”.

Chef Henry Kremer-Ireson’s “innovative” and “informal” follow-up to Henry & Joe’s, in Newbury, is a “hidden gem” set on the site of the old Winterbourne Arms, which reopened in 2023 as this “beautifully designed, intimate restaurant”. The “fantastically passionate chef” is “big on sustainability, local suppliers and recycling”, while the food is (by absolutely all accounts) “truly exceptional” and “innovative”, whether you go for a 3-course dinner (Thursday to Saturday night, £60 per person), lunch or the evening 9-course tasting menu (Friday/Saturday, £95 per person) or Sunday roast. “The staff are incredibly welcoming” too “and nothing is too much trouble”. Of those commenting, an impressive number reported their best meal of the year here.