What the experts recommend

Farmer, Butcher, Chef The Goodwood Hotel, Chichester (01243-755070) It has an awkward name, says Tom Parker Bowles in The Mail on Sunday – but everything else about this Goodwood restaurant is “glorious”. The room is “long and elegantly spacious, with the feel of an old stables or tack room given the most refined of facelifts”. From the walls hang old ox yokes and other ephemera. The service is “charming and whipsmart”. And the food is sublime. Three oysters, clad in the lightest of panko coats, came expertly fried and topped with tissue-thin slices of cured ox-heart, while shards of beetroot add vegetable crunch. Venison tartare was “luscious and deeply alluring”. Beer-braised lamb belly, sticky and crunchy, sat on a bed of soft barley spiked with prunes and baby turnips – brilliant. And the “beef butcher’s board” (beef any number of ways, with gem lettuce salad and “proper dripping chips”) was sensational – and “stunning” value at £20 a head. “Wow.” Lunch for two, about £60.

Jugemu 3 Winnett Street, London W1 (020-7734 0518) “It’s a galumphing cliché to attribute the obsessive pursuit of perfection to a Japanese chef,” says Marina O’loughlin in The Guardian. But having watched the incredible Yuya Kikuchi at the counter of this easy-to-miss little newcomer in Soho, I’m afraid I am going to have to do it. “Clichés are clichés for a reason”, after all. The day’s specials are scrawled on pieces of paper, and include any number of fish and seafood options, plus tripe miso stew, nanohana (broccolini) with yuzu fruit and squid ink, and – the oddest of all – Camembert “dusted with the potent funk of spicy cod roe: umami upon umami, utterly bonkers, thoroughly engaging”. There’s also sushi and sashimi of “genuine brilliance: nigiri with rice so flawless, it should be presented in a jewel box”. Duck teriyaki and beef teriyaki are both “sensationally good”, though (as with almost everything here) the portions are small, so you will need to order lots to make a filling meal. About £25-£35 a head, plus drinks. Or the £12.50 set lunch is “a steal”. The Peach Tree and Momo-no-ki 18-21 Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury (01743-355055) Opposite the Abbey in Shrewsbury there’s a “mini restaurant row”, says Jay Rayner in The Observer. Havana Republic (a Cuban bar), Momo-no-ki (“the home of ramen in Shrewsbury”) and The Peach Tree (modern British) appear to be three separate outfits. But step inside and you realise that this is one space, with “only one-and-a-half kitchens” to serve the lot, overseen by a single chef, Chris Burt. “It’s utterly bonkers and shouldn’t work but, in its own sweet, charming, understated way, it does. Indeed, it’s rather good.” We ignored the Cuban menu, so I can’t vouch for that, but I did eat very well from the other two. “Piggy bits in Korean BBQ sauce” was £6.50 worth of “smacked lips and crunch”. “Burger bao”, filled with crisped slices of soft pork belly, pickled cucumber and spring onions, all doused in sweet, salty sauce, was “a lot of bun and a lot of fun”. And from The Peach Tree side, we had a classic duck liver pâté and a huge plate of “stupidly rich” roast chicken – all good, and “served with wit and lack of fuss”. Amazing. Meal for two, including wine and service, from £50.