Vine House Hotel & Restaurant

After two decades in their enchanting restaurant with rooms, Marcus and Julie Springett have evolved a finely-tuned formula for keeping local foodies happy. The setting is a 300-year-old creeper-clad stone cottage in a pretty village, with an easygoing ambience and smart traditional décor, plus there's a romantic garden folly for intimate outdoor dining. Ingredients are local and reflect the seasons, and three-course fixed-price menus are well-focused: three choices at each stage, plus a slate of artisan British cheeses. Starters such as local black pudding with sage and onion bread pudding and gravy announce a rustic, big-flavoured approach, followed by fillet of Gloucestershire Old Spot pork with pea purée and garlic mushrooms. Puddings tend towards the homely - treacle tart with clotted cream, or double cream vanilla rice pudding with raspberry coulis.