Somerset's best restaurants (Summer 2025)
22 restaurants at which you might like to eat next, according to someone who thinks they know what they’re talking about
Mainstream media has generally done a shoddy job in coming up with a definitive list of where to eat in Somerset.
Really, we can’t blame them too much – restrictive word counts, unfamiliarity with eating out options in the county, or unfamiliarity with eating out in general has meant most lists currently floating around the interwebs are out of date, incomplete, or built more for clicks than useful content.
Enter the next attempt – which may be no better, however confident I am that it is: an ‘essential’ guide, if you will, to the best restaurants in Somerset.
What do I mean by that? These aren’t restaurants of the ‘to perhaps visit if you’re in the general vicinity’ sort. They are destinations in themselves, that have become part of the local furniture (the good kind, like a delicately-embroidered chaise longue), and speak to why they are where they are in some way or another.
Put it this way: A local restaurateur once told me it’s not worth serving to people in the South West anything more than what they’re generally used to – why try and sell them a £7 wedge of Westcombe cheddar when, to your average Somerset punter, a £3 slice of Davidstow would suffice?
The restaurants listed below don’t particularly care about that. They’re here for what’s local and what’s extraordinary. So, I expect, are you.
This guide is a work in progress and will be updated every six months or so – bookmark it or whatever and you can be assured it will remain at least somewhat up to date by the time you need it again.
Also note: this post is best viewed in your browser as it may be too long for your email client to cope with (this is not a flex).
Castle Farm
Home to probably the best Sunday roast in Somerset (fluffy yet shatteringly-crisp roasties, 42-day-aged beef rump from Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle reared down the road, veg from their own garden), Castle Farm is the also place to be for brunch, curry nights, and weekend suppers inspired by chef Pravin’s Malaysian and Swedish background. Booking ahead essential.
Address: Midford Ln, Midford, Bath, BA2 7BD
Website: castlefarmmidford.co.uk
Briar
Those who visited Osip’s former lodgings will recognise some of the furniture at Briar, No.1’s newest tenants. But that’s about all that’s familiar – the food here is reassuringly homely, and without many frilly bits: think of beef shin with butter beans; grilled aubergines; braised lamb shoulders; things on toast; and pollack with potato, anchovies, and cream.
Address: 1 High St, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0AB
Website: numberonebruton.com/briar
The View at Wraxall Vineyard
Chef Charlie James, previously at the helm of River Cottage Canteen and Jamaica Street Stores in Bristol, is now responsible for the main food offering at Wraxall Vineyard. This includes a menu of braised salt marsh lamb, Wye Valley asparagus with truffle and potato mousse, and other items to complement Wraxall’s wine. The bonus with all this is, as the name suggests, one of the best outlooks over the Somerset countryside.
Address: Wraxall Rd, Wraxall, Shepton Mallet BA4 6RQ
Website: wraxallvineyard.co.uk/the-view
Osip
Consistently ranked as one of — if not the best — restaurants in Somerset by whichever guide you decide to look at, Osip is generally worth the praise it gets. Bask in the fact there is no menu here, as dishes are made according to whatever’s good (from the restaurant’s farm or slightly further afield) on that particular day. If dining on the full-whack £140 11-course arrangement seems a little intimidating, stop by at lunch for the restaurant’s shortened menu.
Must-try dish: Beetroot taco.
Address: 25 Kingsettle Hill, Bruton, Somerset BA10 0LN
Website: osiprestaurant.com
Root Wells
“More veg, less meat” is how they like to do things at Root, sister to the restaurant of the same name in Bristol’s Whapping Wharf. Sharing is also encouraged, as dishes are entirely in small plates format – no bad thing, provided you’re in the right sort of company. Expect dishes like smoked pickled beetroot with plum and almond sauce; courgette flowers stuffed with ewe’s curd; and rice pudding with gooseberry compote.
Best for: Vegans and vegetarians.
Address: 12 Sadler St, Wells, Somerset, BA5 2SE
Website: rootwells.co.uk
Horrell & Horrell
Eating in an old cow shed at the bottom of someone’s garden might not scream one of the best dining experiences around, but this is exactly what Jules and Steve Horrell have pulled off from their Sparkford home. Virtually everything is cooked over a wood fire, much of the veg is sourced from a few feet away, while food is served in banquet fashion across a long dining table – this proving a good way at keeping down the price per head.
Fun fact: The Guernsey goat’s cheese the restaurant uses is made in batches of ten from a former telephone exchange down the road.
Address: Sparkford, Somerset, BA22 7LA
Website: horrellandhorrell.co.uk
![Is this the best edible expression of Somerset right now? [WFJ #81]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nGC7!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F910b8a58-66de-48d6-9aed-b2bcf02e8ad7_2880x1920.jpeg)
Farm Caff at Higher Farm
Maybe it’s a developing theme, but an old agricultural building transformed into a restaurant seems to be a recipe for success. One of Somerset’s other examples of that is Higher Farm’s ‘caff’, a pocket-sized eating space where chef George Barson makes good use of the regenerative produce grown and reared on site. Should dishes like the venison scotch egg and the clotted cream cheesecake present themselves, it is advised not to pass them up.
Fun fact: A footpath over the road from Castle Cary station allows a 20-minute walk cross-country to and from the farm (good to know if or when full advantage has been taken of the wine list).
Address: Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 6QF
Website: higher-farm.co.uk
The Three Horseshoes
What happens when a chef with a timeless and verging on institutional Shoreditch restaurant takes over a 17th-century pub in a tiny village in Somerset? Margot Henderson’s Three Horseshoes is your answer, where cask beer runs freely, kitchen takeovers from London chefs (Jeremy Lee! Chantelle Nicholson!) are common, and conversation is occasionally drowned out by the bells of the neighbouring church.
Must-order dish: Pie.
Address: Batcombe, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6HE
Website: thethreehorseshoesbatcombe.co.uk
The Old Pharmacy
No, this isn’t a Tuscan trattoria or French backwater bistro. Though it might feel like it. Unlike Merlin Labron-Johnson’s other venture Osip, everything here is tastefully knackered – groaning shelves of wine, cobwebbed corners, candles guttering in the draught. If you don’t fall in love with the cottagecore aesthetic, you will with the food – a menu of ten small plates somewhat resembling what you might expect at a wine bar these days, but carried out with much more care: terrines, leeks vinaigrette, crudites, charcuterie, ristotto, and the like.
Address: 3 High St, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0AB
Website: oldpharmacybruton.com
The PIG near Bath
The PIG near Bath is, like many of the other hotel-resturants under the PIG umbrella, a restored Georgian manor house with one thing at its epicentre: the kitchen garden. As such, expect the food to be hyper-fresh and hyper-seasonal, and during the leaner periods (mid to late spring), more reliant on what’s been pickled and fermented in house or sourced a short way down the road. The 25-mile menu is a celebration of this commitment to locality, as in the kitchen garden fritters; smoked Mere trout; and Knowle Hill beef carpaccio.
Best for: Landed gentry cosplay?
Address: Hunstrete House, Hunstrete, Pensford, Bristol, BS39 4NS
Website: thepighotel.com/near-bath
Various, At The Station
Alright, not a restaurant but rather an assemblage of units at which one can order food, sit, and eat. Collecting in and around an old carriage depot outside Frome train station you’ll find *deep breath* Owen’s Sausages & Hams (quite likely the only Scandi-style sausage bar in the UK); JJ’s Doubles (Trinidadian chickpea curry in fried flatbreads); Rye Bakery (pizzas made with flour from the mill at the back of the building); Lungi Babas (South Indian masala dosas), and The Cheese Lord (ploughman’s or melty raclette, depending on the season). Libations come in the form of wine from not one but two dedicated wine bars on site, Rye and Saddle Goose (Rye’s bar has, at the time of writing, collaboratively brewed a kolsch lager with Woodshedding).
Must order dish: Whatever you’re having, follow it up with a Hoolee’s Goodies Jammy Dodger ice cream sandwich (location: Owen’s fridge).
Address: Station Approach, Frome BA11 1RE
Website: atthestationfrome.com
Beckford Canteen
The name Beckford Canteen somewhat belies its approach – it is not democratic, cheap, or communal in the way you’d expect a canteen to be. It is however a gentle nod to the ‘modern British’ genre – that which may originate from somewhere else, but now has a strong local accent, like the ravioli made with UK flour, or the Cornish-caught plaice basted with a Cafe de Paris sauce made with Somerset butter.
Good for: Special occasions in Bath.
Address: 11-12 Bartlett St, Bath BA1 2QZ
Website: beckfordcanteen.com
Queen of Cups
The ebullient Ayesha Kalaji and her pub-restaurant lean on many of the Middle Eastern influences from the Jordanian chef’s upbringing: various riffs include laverbread falafel, hogget and apricot meriguez, and bream and crab freekeh risotto. Oh and if like me menus aren’t generally your bag, ask for the ‘Queen’s Feast’ and Ayesha will bring out a comprehensive menagerie of whatever’s good that day, all for the reasonable sum of £39.
Address: 10-12 Northload St, Glastonbury, Somerset, BA6 9JJ
Website: queenofcups.co.uk
![Queen of the Queen of Cups [WFJ #90]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FlTN!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7f407c89-dc80-4a38-924e-821291ca1237_5634x3906.jpeg)
Aurora Kusina
Filipino cuisine is remarkably hard to come by in the UK. A good thing then that Aurora Kusina – named after co-owner Amber’s mum – is worth the trip for more than that alone. The Filipino classics are here, and in excellent form too – see the likes of adobo (pork braised in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic), pork skewers (with sesame and crispy garlic), ginataan (chicken curry), and ube (purple sweet potato) cheesecake.
Address: 29 Town St, Shepton Mallet BA4 5BE
Website: aurorakusina.com
The High Pavement
High Pavement generally takes its cues from what the Muslims of North Africa and Iberia were cooking way back in the day. Go for the warm service, the idyllic water featured garden, and the cobbled-street dining; stay for the fairly exhaustive menu of such items as monkfish skewers with harissa, deep fried goats’ cheese with date syrup and toasted almonds, and an ‘Eastern’ take on Eton mess.
Best for: Enjoyers of cute gardens.
Address: 8 Palmer St, Frome BA11 1DS
Website: thehighpavement.co.uk
The Clockspire
Set in a former schoolhouse (not the sort they build anymore, it should be said), The Clockspire is one of a small handful of fine dining restaurants in Somerset (albeit straddling the Dorset border). It is also one of the best-value, with its current set menu at £33 for three courses. Look out particularly for the cheddar custard with Marmite crackers, or the ginger parkin with blood orange and creme fraiche.
Best for: Old school – pun intended – fine dining, without the hefty price tag.
Address: Gainsborough, Milborne Port, Sherborne, DT9 5BA
Website: theclockspire.com
Bistro Lotte
Some may be forgiven for letting Bistro Lotte slip off the radar – unlike most restaurants on this list, Lotte’s has been going since early 2018 when its owner Lotte Evans wanted to open a “laid-back bistro, with good food and wine at its heart”. These days, it’s still doing that. Due to its food and aesthetic (also available at Lotte’s bar next door), I like to think it’s a bit like Cafe Rouge – if Cafe Rouge was nice.
Absolutely must-order: Steak frites, creme brulee.
Address: 23 Catherine Street, Frome, Somerset, BA11 1DB
Website: bistrolottefrome.co.uk
Pennard Hill Farm
When it first opened to the general public for its ‘farm feasts’ in 2023, Pennard Hill Farm instantly became one of the best places in Somerset for impeccable food and a reverance for provenance. As much as is realistic is prepared over fire (“cooking over an induction hob is a relatively miserable thing” says chef and co-owner Tom Godberford Moore), and with a strong tether to the countryside around it (Tom is a seasoned shooter, forager, and farmer). Charcuterie, such as the pheasant and fennel salami, is made on-site, while one would do well to save room for the fig leaf panna cotta.
Address: Stickleball Ln, Shepton Mallet BA4 6UG
Website: pennardhillfarm.co.uk/farm-feasts
![To feast on a (Somerset) farm [WFJ #85]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VTjm!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3723b2a8-d861-407c-b8a0-bee291b681f5_4128x2752.jpeg)
Upstairs at Landrace
Some of what makes Landrace the best bakery in Bath also shines through in its new-ish restaurant – i.e. the honest matter of finding a few very good ingredients, and using simple alchemy to draw them together. The food could also at times be categorised as robust, or within the Anna Tobias steadfast and comforting school of ‘beige’, as in the buttermilk fried partridge; Gothelney pork with punterelle and polenta; summer truffle and tagliatelle; and Pump Street chocolate tart.
Address: 59 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BN
Website: landracebakery.com
Alfredo’s
Venetian-style small plates is the headline act at Alfredo’s – nduja and burrata focaccia; arancini filled with tomato, capers, and garlic; beef carpaccio, et al. The meat and bones of the menu however is to be found among the carbohydrates – namely, fresh pasta (the venison ragu hard to resist), and creamy risottos.
Fun fact: Alfredo’s three-course set lunch menu weighs in at a mere £18 per person.
Address: 28 Market Pl, Somerton TA11 7NB
Website: alfredos.uk
HOLM
Since 2021 HOLM has been doing the Osip thing of bringing the sort of neat and well-executed cooking you’d be happy to get in a city, to a small town in Somerset. So much so it’s tempting southbound travellers off the A303 with dishes like onion tart with stilton and radicchio; hogget croquettes; and Jerusalem artichoke ice cream.
Address: T28 St James Street, South Petherton, Somerset TA13 5BW
Website: holmsomerset.co.uk
The Pony Chew Valley
The Pony has been at the epicentre of Josh Eggleton’s South West culinary empire (which also includes Root and Salt & Malt) for 17 years now. Its longevity is telling, but by no means to the point of stagnation – among the highlights, consider the cauliflower cheese pie, the deep fried pig’s head with celeriac remoulade and black apple, and the Bristol Beer Factory sticky toffee pudding with yoghurt.
Fun fact: Josh Eggleton and team are in the process of converting a double decker bus into a mobile food school.
Address: Knowle Hill, Chew Magna BS40 8TQ
Website: theponychewvalley.co.uk
If you want to see how a lot of these restaurants rank compared to one another, I attempted that very thing in my provisional power rankings of Somerset restaurants (which includes some resturants not in Somerset, confusingly), available to all paid subscribers:
31 Somerset restaurants, ranked
It has *gasp!* been almost a year since we checked in on what I call the WFJ’s Provisional Power Ranking of Somerset Restaurants. So here we are, with a well overdue update.
Other restaurants I can think of that I may or may not add to this list at some juncture (i.e. when I have more time): Sutto Sutto (Bath) Matt’s Kitchen (Bruton), Puro (Clevedon), The Cotley Inn (Chard), The Barrington Boar (Ilminster), Locanda on the Weir (Minehead), Exmoor Forest Inn (Minehead), The Newt (Castle Cary), Corkage (Bath).