fine dining in England 2025

We had a really good year for fine dining in 2024 and I’m looking forward to following it up with a varied year in 2025. We are hoping to travel more in the motorhome this year so will probably use the Top 50 Gastropubs list. A lot of these locations are dog friendly (always check first!) so Lewis gets the chance to enjoy visiting different places too.

Writing about food is always good fun – mainly because you get to try the food first! From our previous meals out both of us have picked up so many tip and tricks that we incorporate into cooking at home.

January 2025 – Grace and Savour, Hampton-in-Arden

chef’s counter again – what an experience
Grace and Savour was incredible from start to finish. We booked the dinner, bed and breakfast package and it was a real treat. The room, complete with freestanding bath, looked out to the courtyard and from it we could also see the chefs preparing for dinner service.

The food was incredible, and being sat so close to the action only made it better. I usually like to have a sneak peek at the menu but found it hard to find anything in advance – this is done deliberately and really enhanced the experience. Each dish was brilliant, and the accompanying sauces were a real highlight.

Grace and Savour is built around sustainability and this ethos ran through everything that we were served. Each course (and accompanying wine) was explained perfectly by the team along with the reason why it had been selected. The restaurant actively tries to source from local suppliers, support restorative farming techniques and reflect the hard work that British farmers do.

January 2025 – The Square at Porthleven, Cornwall

proper food down in Cornwall
We love Cornwall and another weekend there gave us the perfect excuse to visit The Square. This restaurant looks over the picturesque harbour in Porthleven and it’s wall are adorned with paintings by Cornish artists (that are available to buy).

The food here is really tasty and the portions are definitely Luke sized! The service is warm and friendly too – it’s a really nice place to be.

The menu is based around a ‘local is best’ ethos and really showcases what Cornwall has to offer. We’ll certainly be back!

February 2025 – Culture, Falmouth, Cornwall

local is best on this whistlestop food tour of Cornwall

I ate at Culture with Amy (Gill’s daughter) while visiting her for a weekend. It was a very last-minute booking but I’m really glad we did!

The setting was really cool – it felt like we were in the cellar of an old pub (despite not being entirely underground due to being part of the hill running down to the harbour in Falmouth). The kitchen was visible from our table, and it was great to see the work going into preparing our food. The service was friendly and knowledgeable, which really added to the experience.

Each course was designed to showcase the best of Cornwall, and Culture has a Michelin Green Star to recognise its sustainable gastronomy. We loved every course – Amy described the beef as ‘the best steak in the world’! The bread course was served with a delicately smoked butter topped with honey…amazing!

February 2025 – The Golden Ball, Lower Assendon, Henley-on-Thames

fine dining with Gill’s dad and Lewis

Gill and I took her dad to the Golden Ball as we were ‘down south’ with him for a day. Gill organised eating here and booked it because it was dog friendly. I found this hard to believe as it looked way too posh. But it was, and Lewis was welcomed as soon as we walked in.

We had the taster menu and it was fab. The Golden Ball is run by a husband-and-wife team, and the food reflects both parts of their heritage. My favourite course was the brill that came with a delicious curried sauce. It was both delicate and full of flavour! The three of us had different favourite courses which is always the sign of a good menu.

The meal finished with ‘The Golden Ball’ for dessert – we all agreed that this was an amazing way to end the meal. Overall, I was really impressed with the food and the service at the Golden Ball, and the portions were definitely Luke sized – comparable with those at the Hand and Flowers that we visited a couple of years back.

March 2025 – The Ugly Butterfly by Adam Handling (Part One), Carbis Bay, Cornwall

continuing the Cornish theme and introducing Luke’s mum to fine dining

2025 has been quite the year for food in Cornwall so far and March started with 2 visits to the Ugly Butterfly. We visited the Ugly Butterfly for Amy’s birthday as she had wanted to eat here for a while. My mum joined us on a short break to Cornwall as did Gill’s dad, so it really was a multi-generational gathering!

The restaurant is possibly situated in the best location that I’ve eaten at; the views are stunning. For this visit we were able to enjoy the sunset from the bar with a few cocktails before moving into the main restaurant. Here we sat at the chef’s counter to watch the action up close.

The taster menu was brilliant. Each course was delicious and built around local ingredients wherever possible. Some ingredients were even foraged from the Southwest Coastal Path that we have been exploring on our visits down to Cornwall. There is also a focus on reducing waste – including using trims and offcuts from the restaurant to flavour cocktails in the bar; one I tried even used left over bread.

The chicken parfait was one of the best dishes I have eaten (and I’ve tried a lot of food!). Once again everyone had a different favourite course – a special shout out to the scallops which were stunning!

We all enjoyed the food, the surroundings and the service; and were extremely impressed with the talented young team behind all this. The Ugly Butterfly is currently in the Michelin guide but I’m sure it won’t be long until they can display a well-earned star.

March 2025 – The Ugly Butterfly by Adam Handling (Part Two), Carbis Bay, Cornwall

afternoon tea, overlooking the sea, with Amy

We loved eating at the Ugly Butterfly a couple of days previously so had high hopes for our afternoon tea…and we weren’t disappointed!

When we arrived we were welcomed like old friends and there was extra special fuss made of Amy on her actual birthday. Afternoon tea started with the same snacks that we had enjoyed from the taster menu, this time washed down with (non-alcoholic) fizz.

The presentation of the food matched the taste, each item was a real treat. We enjoyed a fresh take on a traditional afternoon tea, including hot savouries, crustless sandwiches, sweet treats and of course scones, jam and local clotted cream.

Once again, the hard work and dedication of the team really shone through, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in their company. They always took the time to note where items had come from locally, foraged, or how waste products had been used as key ingredients.