The story
Hitchen's Barn in Oakham serves modern British cooking from 12 Burley Road, LE15 6DH, and holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for 2026. Neil and Louise Hitchen run the restaurant together, with menus that change daily around regional produce.
Neil's cooking leans on seasonal ingredients from local suppliers. The twice-baked soufflé made with Lincolnshire Poacher and Red Leicester is the dish reviewers mention most. Mains move between fish, such as sea bass with clams and crayfish, and meat, such as chargrilled ribeye with hand-cut chips.
The dining room is a converted barn with low beams, mirrors and auction-room furniture. It feels closer to a pub than a formal restaurant. Louise leads the front of house, and the wine list includes a selection by the glass.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
good quality, good value cooking
Neil and Louise Hitchen have got a good thing going at their Barn not far from Oakham Castle, deftly balancing a homely pub ambience with some serious restaurant finesse. Regional suppliers are naturally front and centre on Neil's daily changing menus, and if snacks such as pickled quail's eggs or roast chorizo with Dijon mustard and honey are anything to go by, the formula exerts broad appeal. Easing into the main menu, there are good things galore. A smoked salmon Scotch egg is neatly offset with samphire and warm tartare sauce, while the famous twice-baked two-cheese soufflé of Lincolnshire Poacher and Red Leicester has deservedly acquired the status of a signature dish. Fish main courses are both generous and big on flavour (creamily sauced fillet of sea bass with clams, crayfish and new potatoes, for example), while meats offer pedigree prime cuts such as chargrilled ribeye with hand-cut chips or flavoursome pork fillet in prune and Armagnac sauce with savoy cabbage and mash. A flawlessly balanced blackberry cheesecake paired with outstanding apple sorbet rang all the autumn bells at a November visit, or there might be an apricot Bakewell tart with honey-poached apricots and roasted almond ice cream. A thoughtfully chosen selection of wines by the glass completes the picture.
2 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
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