If you are looking for high-quality cooking in a cosy setting, look no further than The Royal Oak in Warwickshire. The pub resides on the edge of the Cotswolds, 40 minutes away from Coventry.
The Royal Oak initially started as a drinks shelter to cater for the workmen building the local church and is supposedly one of the oldest pubs in the country. The award-winning pub is characterful with a great ambience, from the welcoming bar to the bright, airy dining room.
The pub is listed on the Top 50 Gastropubs website and is located within a rural area in a small village called Whatcote, outside Shipston on Stour. It is just 20 minutes from Stratford-Upon-Avon.
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The owner is chef Richard Craven, who runs the pub with his wife Solanche who looks after the service. Richard has a passion for British produce and follows a high farm-to-fork ethos with his dishes, with food coming from small producers in and around the nearby hills and estates and tends to favour organic and wild ingredients.
The team use the renowned Paddock Farm which provides eggs from its super-free range flock, housed less than a mile away from the pub. The pub also uses market garden no-dig vegetables, and rare breed pork and Hereford cattle.
The menu is seasonally driven and is said to be 'proper country food' according to Richard, with wild meats and foraged ingredients from the local area. Their aim is to tell the story of the community through the produce and how the ingredients are utilised to their full potential. Understated dishes are curated with care and delicacy - most have three to four elements, which allows each ingredient to shine.
Sometimes, dishes will be on the menu for six weeks, fully embracing the early or late season. The Royal Oak offers a signature seasonal menu from Thursday to Sunday where diners can choose their own four-course meal or enjoy all five dishes as a set menu.
Here is an example of a sample menu:
This menu is offered for lunch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with the four-course meal for £65 and the five-course for £85. If you want this menu for dinner, it is offered from Thursday to Sunday, with the four-course for £75 and the five-course for £95.
The Michelin-starred pub has a 4.5 rating on TripAdvisor, with a 2022 Travellers Choice Badge and ratings of 5/5 for food, 5/5 for service and 4.5/5 for value.
One reviewer said they had 'superb food in a rural setting'. They said: "We have eaten at The Royal Oak many times and Richard Craven's cooking gets better and better. We had the four-course lunch, but it was so much more with the two amuses bouches, the homemade bread and the petits fours with coffee. Every part of the meal was delicious and beautifully presented."
One review from April 2023 said: "We had a wonderful birthday lunch for my wife and adult children at the Royal Oak. The food is excellent, creative and beautifully presented and well deserving of a Michelin star. There is a small, South African-dominated wine list and the waiter/ sommelier Louise was very knowledgeable about them. Service was professional, efficient and very friendly and the dining area was bright with a pleasant ambience. The restaurant prided itself on using local ingredients and opting for the five-course menu we thoroughly enjoyed each course. We would certainly like to return and recommend the restaurant for a classy experience."
A third added: "Excellent food. We tried the four-course menu with wine pairing and the experience was exquisite. Excellent, Michelin quality service as well. Highlight was the truffle fettuccine, and the use of seasonal ingredients like the fallow deer."
How to find The Royal Oak:
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