The Ebrington Arms — Restaurant in Cotswold District

What a disappointment. We were staying in the village on a family break and booked this (apparently) well-known gastropub as a special Saturday night out. Previous reviewers have apparently felt unwelcome just going in for a drink rather than a meal. Well we'd booked a table for dinner for 5 in advance and felt about as unwelcome as it would be possible to feel short of turning up with a tax demand. The tone was set when we arrived in a not overly-busy bar area where we were rudely ignored by every single member of staff whilst standing next to the discouraging rampart of dirty glasses which occupied one whole end of the bar and gave the place the ambience of a student bar. Having finally negotiated some drinks we decided to move to our table earlier rather than later given the slowness of the service. Another hiatus followed while staff tried to find our table, despite our being a party of 5 and there being a table in plain sight laid up for 5. 20 further minutes of being ignored followed before we attracted someone to take our order. A request for more drinks and some bread & olives to share whilst we waited created another crisis. Some of the drinks arrived, others had to be re-ordered. The bread (3 small pieces for a table of 5) eventually arrived, but simultaneously with the starters. These were middling but pricey at £8-9 each. The main courses were a farce. 3 of our party had ordered steak - one rare, one medium-rare, one medium (scarcely a challenging order for a gastropub). None arrived as ordered. The rare was overcooked, the medium bloody and the medium-rare seared on the outside and cold in the middle. They managed to get one right on being asked to try again, but the second attempt at rare was poor and the re-heated medium-rare was as tough as shoe leather. We also ended up essentially eating in three shifts rather than enjoying a meal together. The pub did reduce our bill for the two inedible meals but overall this was a desperately mediocre experience. This place appears to be living on its past reputation (previously voted "Best Pub in England" but has changed hands since), but unless they can get their act together I would suggest people travel to the adjacent villages where they might feel welcome and get a...

We had a reservation at the Ebrington Arms in Chipping Campden and arrived at 7:15pm. There were four of us — myself and my family. After waiting in line at the bar to order drinks and get seated, we sat down and started looking through the menu. We were offered still or sparkling water and asked for still — it never arrived.

We ordered nearly all of the “snack” starters to share. They arrived after about 10–15 minutes and were fine. As we were finishing those, my mum wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want her main anymore. We politely asked the waiter if it was possible to cancel her fish dish — but made it clear that if it had already been started, no problem, we’d still take it. He didn’t check with the kitchen and just told us, “It’s already started.” We accepted that, even though it felt a bit dismissive.

But then… nothing. We waited 20 minutes. Then 40. Still no mains — including the one that was supposedly already in progress. At that point, we spoke to a different server and explained that our issue wasn’t the wait — it was that we’d been told the kitchen had already started on food that clearly hadn’t even been close to ready. He argued with us, insisting things were in the oven. We pointed out that if that were true, it would be burned by now. He reluctantly said he’d check — and then disappeared without an update.

Another 20 minutes passed, still no word. One of us eventually went up to the bar to pay for what we’d had and leave — only then did the food suddenly come out. We declined it. We had waited too long and were no longer interested in eating. The staff offered the mains for free, but that wasn’t the point — we didn’t raise concerns to get free food. We just wanted honesty, basic communication, and a bit of respect.

Sadly, this place did not deliver on any of that. We left disappointed and won’t...

Place like The Ebrington Arms is why people travel. Extraordinary food, welcoming and warm atmosphere, wonderful wait staff. Ebrington Arms is what I hoped for when I planned vacation in Cotswolds.

I made reservation a month ahead. The restaurant is located in one of the most charming and quiet villages we visited, Ebrington. We walked the countryside that day and walked to the restaurant. It was dry that day so no muddy shoes and we planned to be dressed appropriately for our visit to the restaurant.

As we were approaching the village, when we turned the corner, there is was, most picturesque stone building surrounded with beautiful plants and flowers. From the moment we said our "hello's" the wait staff impressed. We were led to a charming table in more of a private area. Our waiter was one of the most pleasant waiters on our vacation in England. He was helpful with suggestions but gave us space to make our decisions and complimented our choice. He was a charming gentleman with a French accent and wonderful sense of humor.

I ordered Monkfish with lentils, roasted cauliflower puree, romanesco, red wine fish sauce & golden raisins. My husband ordered 7oz Sirloin, with carrots, dripping potato, horseradish crumb & carrot top verde. Both dishes were best dishes we had on our vacation in England. Full of flavor, presented nicely, and plenty of it. For dessert we chose warm chocolate tart with clotted cream, salted honeycomb, blackberries & blackberry sorbet. Simply outstanding! My husband had excellent dessert wine and the other wine we had was great too.

We took our time to slowly enjoy the food and drinks and realized that we stayed there for two hours! At the end of the night, as our taxi drove away into the night, I cast one last glance at the glowing lights of the most...