The story
The Dining Room, at Whatley Manor Hotel and Spa, Easton Grey, Malmesbury, SN16 0RB, is a modern British restaurant that holds one Michelin star (2026). It is the flagship of the Cotswolds country house hotel, and its kitchen works mainly through a nine-course tasting menu.
Executive chef Ricki Weston writes a tasting menu that runs all evening. Guests begin with an aperitif and a talk with the sommelier in the oak-panelled drawing room. The snack course is eaten standing at high tables overlooking the kitchen pass, where Weston and his team work in full view of the room.
A scallop ceviche sits on a crème fraîche mousse, ringed with orange trout roe and small balls of compressed pear and cucumber. A lobster and potato parcel is dusted with lime salt and topped with caviar. Dessert pairs 75% chocolate with blackberry and yoghurt, served with damson yoghurt ice cream.
The wine list leans towards the Old World and includes a notable number of British vintages. The by-the-glass selection is small but well chosen. The Good Food Guide lists a three-course carte at £120 as an alternative to the £175 tasting menu, and the AA awards the restaurant four rosettes (2026).
Recognition
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Details
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High quality cooking
*Executive chef Ricki Weston is now offering a three-course carte (£120) as a more flexible alternative to the £175 tasting menu.* Approached via a long drive and obscured behind a high Cotswold stone wall whose gates swing magically open to reveal the beautiful manor house beyond, this opulent country house hotel boasts acres of landscaped gardens, a spa and two restaurants, of which this is the flagship. Executive chef Ricki Weston’s ambitious, boldly flavoured nine-course tasting menu is an all-evening affair, starting with an aperitif and a chat with the sommelier in the oak-panelled drawing room before moving on to a showstopping snack course standing at high tables overlooking the kitchen pass. The rest of the night is spent in the blandly tasteful dining room, which could perhaps do with a little less beige and a little more character to hold its own against the food. Weston and his team work in full view of the diners and may even serve some of the dishes, alongside the discreetly professional waiting staff. The kitchen pulls no punches, so expect intricate, highly technical creations made from the finest ingredients – caviar, truffles, lobster – and presented with flair and incredible attention to detail. The brief, unadorned dish descriptions give little away. ‘Scallop, crème fraîche, trout roe’ appears as a ceviche of sliced scallop on a crème fraîche mousse surrounded by a ring of pretty orange trout roe, micro herbs and tiny balls of compressed pear and cucumber that pop with freshness in your mouth. On a separate plate, home-baked Earl Grey sourdough and a bundt-shaped ring of malt butter complete the picture. ‘Potato, lobster, lime salt’, arriving as one of three starters, is a triangular lobster and potato parcel, dusted with lime salt and adorned with a tiny flower, its petals made of wafer-thin potato and its centre a glistening heap of caviar. Puddings are no less inventive: ‘75% chocolate, blackberry and yoghurt’ appears as a shock-headed chocolate ball with preserved blackberries hiding between shards of tempered chocolate that are drizzled with 25-year-old ice-wine vinegar; a serving of damson yoghurt ice cream rounds things off. The sommelier will guide you through the extensive wine list, which favours the Old World and includes an impressive number of British vintages. There is also a small but well chosen – and surprisingly reasonably priced – selection by the glass.
4 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
2 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
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