Where to eat and stay in Herefordshire
Published 10 September 2025

Having loyally frequented James and Elizabeth Winter’s previous venture (the Butchers Arms at Eldersfield), many regulars followed the couple to their new venture – a hidden gem on Ledbury's main street (you could easily walk past it). The restaurant seats just 14 in a characterful and cosy room adorned with retro art; an open kitchen lends itself to the relaxed and inclusive atmosphere, where visitors are welcomed like old friends. Proceedings start with an accomplished homemade focaccia, followed by a surprise amuse-bouche – luxuriously rich Parmesan gougères, perhaps. A confidently concise yet classic dinner menu (three choices per stage) showcases local and seasonal produce (including Pershore asparagus), as well as more eclectic ideas such as roast Aylesbury duck breast with sui mai dumplings, soy, chilli and ginger. The fish soup is a must-have signature dish, while fillet of Hereford beef might be accompanied by braised ox cheek and pomme Anna. Desserts hail the comforting classics, perhaps crème caramel, treacle tart or baked cheesecake, the latter served with a refreshingly tart passion-fruit sorbet lifted with a hint of fragrant basil. At lunchtime, diners have the option of a three-choice fixed-price menu featuring similar dishes. Wines are offered by the carafe, for those who feel that a glass from the succinct but thoughtfully selected list just isn’t enough; bottles start at £28.50.

An oasis of contemporary urban sophistication just round the corner from Hereford's historic cathedral, this bustling ‘brunch and dinner joint’ is hip but welcoming too. Exposed brickwork, a poured concrete floor and countertop tables give way to a large open kitchen and closely packed wooden tables at the back. Disembodied book pages flutter decoratively overhead in homage to the venue’s former use. Readers heap praise on the ‘really lovely and helpful’ staff. With brunch extending until 3pm, daytime dining involves all manner of egg and sourdough combinations – or you can push the breakfast boundaries with, say, truffled mac ‘n’ cheese toast with sriracha or smoked haddock and ‘nduja croquettes.

Evenings are centred around Herefordshire beef, aged in a Himalayan salt chamber and served as burgers and steaks – or, perhaps, slow-cooked with a herb and marrowbone crumb and mash. Other local and seasonal produce gets more than a look-in, from Severn & Wye smoked haddock rarebit with pickled celeriac and a caper and parsley salad to roast hazelnut and Ragstone gnocchi with spring onion and sunflower-seed pesto.

Excellent desserts – many of which can be sampled with coffee during the day – could include a moreish and very grown-up dark chocolate and salted caramel tart with fruit-and-nut ice cream. Sunday afternoons are given over to deservedly popular roasts with all the trimmings, and the short wine list is supplemented by cocktails featuring gin and whisky from Ludlow, plus local ales and ciders.

‘A proper countryside pub with real character, combining the history and warmth of a traditional drovers’ inn with seriously good, ingredient-led food,' commented one visitor. Set beneath the Black Mountains, ‘it has everything you want from a rural escape,’ thanks to sympathetic renovation by local regenerative food and farming company Wild by Nature. There’s a timeless charm about the place with its thick stone walls, wonky-beamed ceilings, slate floors and a large open fireplace. A deep respect for ingredients defines the seasonally changing menu; dining here is farm-to-table and nose-to-tail, involving ingredients grown or reared at the owners’ nearby farm. Almost everything is made in-house, from the pickles and ferments to pig’s cheek croquettes with sauce gribiche and desserts such as fennel-seed rice pudding accompanied by stewed plums and gingerbread. Dry-aged, home-reared Hereford steaks are a standout, likewise the braised LLeyn hogget shoulder with Pardina lentils. It’s easy to see the allure of the place, especially when you factor in Herefordshire beers and ciders, low-intervention wines, ‘wild cabins’ in the grounds and even a wood-fired sauna.

London escapees Ivor and Susie Dunkerton started making organic cider and perry on their Herefordshire smallholding back in 1980 and their enterprise has reaped rich rewards ever since. The business is now run by their son and production has moved to Cheltenham, but inquisitive travellers can still visit the original cider mill – and its adjoining restaurant, housed in a beautiful Grade II-listed 400-year-old barn nearby. Run by local chef Sophie Bowen, it eschews folksy, homespun fodder in favour of stylish contemporary food inspired by ingredients from the surrounding countryside. At lunchtime, you can graze from the café menu (shallot fishcakes, teriyaki beef with pickled cabbage, seafood chowder), but it pays to book in for the full works in the evening – especially if you’re intrigued by the prospect of baked hake with creamy polenta, sautéed wild mushrooms and kale dressed with shrimps and capers or soy-marinated pork loin accompanied by a black pudding croquette, caraway-spiked spring greens and horseradish mayo. To finish, freshly fried doughnuts with citrus curd sound unmissable, but also consider the caramelised white chocolate, tarragon and rhubarb millefeuille. Sunday lunch is a showcase for slow-cooked Herefordshire beef with all the trimmings. To drink, one of Dunkertons fruity brews is the natural choice, but there’s also a short list of well-chosen wines from £21.

The village of Kilpeck is now famous for two things: it boasts 'England's most perfect Norman church' (according to Simon Jenkins) and is also home to this hostelry with rooms, once a fairly grand cottage fashioned with stones from the destruction of a nearby castle during the Civil War. The cottage became an inn some 250 years ago, and now refreshes the weary traveller in ways the Georgians could scarcely have guessed. Chef Ross Williams works with the grain of fine seasonal materials, partnering Wye Valley asparagus with a 'houmous' of white beans and a drizzle of hazelnut pesto. Textural and temperature counterpoints add gloss to a serving of scallops and cauliflower with black pudding and dabs of apple purée. Classic European technique can be impressive, as in a pitch-perfect rendition of risotto primavera, while thoroughbred meats might include pork tenderloin rustically stuffed with nettles and sage, served with fondant potato, summer kale and a regionally unimpeachable cider jus. For a fish dish such as sea bream, the supporting roles might be taken by monk's beard and wild garlic gremolata. Nor will you be disappointed if you've come to the pub expecting a burger: there's a half-pounder in a brioche bun with bacon, cheese, apple and fennel slaw, plus rosemary-salted chips. An aromatic theme runs through desserts ranging from gooseberry and elderflower crumble with lemon and elderflower sorbet to raspberry and thyme crème brûlée. Sunday lunchers are happily regaled with beef topsides, pork bellies and chicken suprêmes. The drinks offer is as stimulating as the food, with local ales and ciders, Welsh whisky, Gun Dog gin, and a small but good choice of wines.

‘Cherished as a community asset… where local produce, local stories and local pride meet under one roof,’ this sympathetically renovated, family-run pub with rooms also receives high praise for its mix of contemporary and traditional styles. Delightfully wonky wooden beams divide the high-ceilinged, open-plan dining room, with large stone fireplaces at either end, plus tartan banquettes and polished wooden tables; there’s a ‘wonderful beer garden’ too. The kitchen makes almost everything in-house, from the piccalilli and potato bread that accompany the ham hock terrine to the milk ice cream that goes with the hot chocolate mousse. The self-titled ‘classic’ menu majors on pies with buttery mash, fish and chips, pastas, salads, burgers and steaks, with a few upbeat additions including Cornish mussels with ‘nduja and Piccadilly tomatoes. To finish, try the selection of three locally sourced cheeses with home-baked lavroche bread. ‘Impeccable Sunday roasts’ get the thumbs-up, as does the impressive drinks selection with its short list of easy-drinking wines, local ales and enticing cocktails – not to mention the ‘cheeky Gun Dog gin’.

Off the beaten track, and not an easy place to find, this 16th-century half-timbered building stands on the banks of the river Lugg, positioned by an old stone bridge on the Mortimer Trail (a 30-mile walking route from Ludlow to Kington). Inside, a warren of heavily beamed rooms with wonky floors and open fires provides nooks for a quiet tête-a-tête and separate spaces for louder crowds or those with their four-legged friends; the terraced garden comes into its own on fine days. Service is friendly and welcoming. In the kitchen, Andy Link and his team take sustainability, ethical sourcing and food miles seriously, seeking out the very best that the region has to offer from local farms and artisan suppliers, backed up by their own kitchen garden (and their own hens). We noticed that lunchtime regulars tended to favour the perfectly cooked rare-breed Herefordshire steak sandwich with truffle chips, but we enjoyed a light meal of crispy garlicky Herefordshire snails with truffle mayo, followed by eye-catching river trout cured in beetroot and local Chase gin, plus a delightful poached pear accompanied by a scoop of assertive blue-cheese ice cream to finish. Many other items have been singled out for praise, from a generous piece of grilled and lightly caramelised cod served on a pile of peas and mangetout with a lovely lovage sauce to a dish of chicken with courgettes, garden chard and wild herb pesto that 'had some body’. For afters, readers have endorsed the nettle cake and the rhubarb purée with 'custard mousse'. A good chunk of the decently priced wine list is vegan or vegetarian – though given the impressive ethos of the place, there are surprisingly few English offerings.