552. AA Guide 2026

   After my consultation of the opinions of Gemini artificial intelligence, it seemed that my previous neglect of the AA Restaurant Guide had been misplaced and Gemini had gone so far as to hint that the Automobile Association publication was the restaurant guide for me. So I bought one. I like having printed copies of guides - they feel as though they are for ever - they are there on the bookshelf not somewhere as transient-feeling as the internet. We all know deep down, don’t we?, that one day everything on that internet is just going to vanish - perhaps as an accident or by the actions of a bad actor or, well, for some reason, yet to be imagined. And when it’s all gone the books will still be there on the bookshelves, comforting, beckoning to you to pick one of them up and read it.

And so, let’s look at the 2026 printed guide and see which of the Birmingham and West Midlands region restaurants featured in it -

Gloucestershire 

 Almondsbury

The Curious Kitchen at Aztec Hotel and spa  ✳️✳️

  Bibury

 The Brasserie, Swan Hotel ✳️

   Buckland

 Buckland Manor ✳️✳️✳️

   Cheltenham

 Bao + BBQ ✳️

 Bhoomi Kitchen ✳️✳️

 Cowley Manor Restaurant ✳️✳️ 

 The Curry Corner Est 1977 ✳️✳️

  The Greenaway Hotel & Spa ✳️✳️✳️

   Hotel du Vin Cheltenham ✳️

   Le Champignon Sauvage ✳️✳️✳️

   Lumière ✳️✳️✳️✳️

   Prithvi ✳️✳️✳️

   Purslane ✳️✳️

   The Restaurant Ellenborough Park Hotel ✳️✳️

     Chipping Camden

    Three ways House Hotel Restaurant ✳️

     Cirencester

    THE PIG-in the Cotswolds ✳️

      Clearwell

    Tudor Farmhouse Hotel & Restaurant ✳️✳️

      Coleford

    Simply Wild Restaurant ✳️✳️

    Verderers ✳️✳️

       Gloucester

     Hatherley Manor Hotel & Spa ✳️

        Leclade on Thames

      New Wave Brasserie and Spa ✳️

        Lower Slaughter 

       The Slaughters Country Inn ✳️✳️ 

        The Slaughters Manor House ✳️✳️✳️

           Michinhampton

        The Ragged Cot Inn ✳️

           Moreton-in-Marsh

         Manor House Hotel ✳️✳️

            Nailsworth

          Wilder ✳️✳️✳️

            Nether Westcote

           The Feathered Nest Inn ✳️✳️✳️

             Painswick

            The Falcon ✳️

             The Painswick ✳️✳️

               Selsey

              The Bell Inn ✳️✳️

                Stow-on-the-Wold

               The Kings Head Inn ✳️

                 Nether Westcote

                The Feathered Nest Inn ✳️✳️✳️✳️

                  Stow-on-the-Wold

                 Number Four at Stow ✳️✳️

                  Old Stocks Inn ✳️✳️

                     Stroud

                   The Bear of Rodburgh ✳️

                    The Burleigh Restaurant at Burleigh Court ✳️✳️

                       Tetbury 

                     The Brasserie at Calcot ✳️✳️

                      The Close Hotel ✳️✳️

                         Thornbury 

                       Ronnie’s of Thornbury ✳️✳️

                       Thornbury Castle Hotel ✳️✳️✳️

                         Upper Slaughter 

                         Lords of the Manor ✳️✳️✳️✳️

                           Westbury-on-Severn

                         The Barn at Severn and Wye Restaurant ✳️✳️

                            Winchcombe

                          The Lion Inn ✳️

43 restaurants in the county (88 rosettes)

Herefordshire 

                             Aymestrey 

                          The Riverside at Aymestrey ✳️✳️

                             Hereford 

                           The New Inn ✳️✳️

                              Ledbury

                            Feathers ✳️

                              Ross-on-Wye

                             Conservatory Restaurant, Kings Head Hotel ✳️

                               Symonds Yat (East)

                             Saracens Head Inn ✳️

5 restaurants in the county (7 rosettes)

Shropshire 

                               Bridgenorth

                             The Acton at Morville ✳️✳️

                                Hodnet

                              The Bear Inn ✳️✳️

                                 Ludlow

                               The Charlton Arms ✳️✳️

                               The Cliffs at Dinham ✳️✳️

                               The Feathers ✳️

                                Fishmore Hall ✳️✳️ (clearly not inspected since the change of ownership 2 years ago)

                                 Market Drayton 

                               Goldstone Hall ✳️✳️

                                  Munslow 

                                Crown Country Inn ✳️✳️

                                   Norton

                                 The Hundred House ✳️

                                    Oswestry

                                 Pen-y-Dyffren Country Hotel ✳️✳️

                                     Shifnal

                                  The Granary Restaurant ✳️

                                      Shrewsbury 

                                   House of the Rising Sun ✳️

                                   Lion & Pheasant Hotel ✳️✳️

                                   The Royalist Restaurant Prince Rupert Hotel ✳️✳️

                                   The Saloon Hawkstone Hall ✳️

                                       Telford

                                    The Ugly Duckling ✳️                  

16 restaurants in the county (26 rosettes).

Staffordshire 

                                        Cheddleton 

                                     The Flintlock at Cheddleton ✳️✳️✳️

                                         Consall

                                      The Plumicorn ✳️✳️

                                          Ellastone

                                       The Duncombe Arms ✳️✳️

                                           Hoar Cross

                                        The Ballroom at Hoar Cross Hall ✳️

                                            Leek

                                         Three Horseshoes Country Inn and Spa ✳️

                                            Lichfield 

                                          The Boat ✳️✳️✳️

                                          The Larder ✳️✳️

                                          Upstairs by Tom Shepherd ✳️✳️✳️

                                             Stafford

                                           The MoatHouse ✳️✳️

                                              Stoke-on-Trent

                                            Lunar ✳️✳️                   

10 restaurants in the county (21 rosettes)

Warwickshire 

                                               Alderminster

                                            Ettington Park Hotel ✳️✳️

                                               Armscote 

                                             The Fuzzy Duck ✳️✳️

                                                Henley-in-Arden

                                              The Mount by Glynn Purnell ✳️✳️

                                                 Ilmington

                                               The Howard Arms ✳️

                                                 Kenilworth

                                                The Cross at Kenilworth ✳️✳️✳️

                                                   Long Compton

                                                 The Red Lion ✳️

                                                    Lower Brailes

                                                 The Kitchen at Feldon Valley ✳️✳️

                                                     Royal Leamington Spa

                                                  Oscar’s French Steakhouse & Bistro ✳️

                                                  The Warwick at Mallory Park ✳️✳️✳️

                                                     Shipston-on-Stour

                                                   The Bower House ✳️✳️

                                                    The Royal Oak Whatcote ✳️✳️

                                                       Stratford -upon-Avon

                                                     Hotel du Vin,Stratford-upon-Avon ✳️

                                                     No 44 Brasserie on the Waterside ✳️✳️

                                                     The Woodsman, Hotel Indigo ✳️✳️

                                                        Wishaw

                                                      The Belfry ✳️✳️

15 restaurants in the county (28 rosettes).

                                                     

West Midlands county

                                                          Birmingham

                                                        670 Grams ✳️✳️

                                                        Adam’s ✳️✳️✳️

                                                        Chez Mail Brasserie & Bar ✳️

                                                        Hotel du Vin & Bistro ✳️

                                                        Land ✳️✳️

                                                        Opheem ✳️✳️✳️

                                                        The Oyster Club by Adam Stokes ✳️✳️

                                                        The Restaurant Folium ✳️✳️✳️    

                                                         Simpsons ✳️✳️✳️

                                                         The Wilderness ✳️✳️✳️

                                                            elsewhere in West Midlands county

                                                            Meriden

                                                          The Barn at Berryfields ✳️✳️

                                                             Royal Sutton Coldfield

                                                           The Bridge at New Hall Hotel & Spa ✳️✳️

                                                              Solihull (Hampton in Arden) 

                                                            Grace and Savour ✳️✳️✳️✳️   

                                                               Wolverhampton

                                                             Bilash ✳️✳️

14 restaurants in the county (34 rosettes). Cheltenham (population 122,00) has 2 more rosettes (25 distributed around 11 restaurants than Birmingham (population 1.2 million), 23 distributed to 10 restaurants). The heavily populated West Midlands county (population 3,4 million) has 54 fewer rosettes than Gloucestershire (88, spread around 43 restaurants, population 670,000).

                                                                 Worcestershire 

                                                               Abberley

                                                             Badgers ✳️✳️

                                                             The Manor Arms ✳️✳️

                                                                Broadway

                                                              The Back Garden (Dormy House Hotel) ✳️✳️✳️

                                                               Foxhill Manor ✳️✳️

                                                               Grill by James Martin (Lygon Arms Hotel) ✳️

                                                                Hook by Martin Burge (Fish Hotel) ✳️✳️

                                                                MO (Dormy House Hotel) ✳️✳️✳️✳️

                                                                Tattersalls Brasserie ✳️✳️     

                                                                    Callow End

                                                                 The Refectory at Stanbrook Abbey Hotel ✳️✳️

                                                                     Chaddesley Corbett

                                                                  Brockencote Hall Country House Hotel ✳️✳️✳️

                                                                     Malvern

                                                                   The Cottage in the Wood ✳️✳️✳️

                                                                   The Inn at Welland ✳️✳️

                                                                   L’Amuse Bouche Restaurant (Cotford Hotel) ✳️✳️

                                                                      Ombersley

                                                                   The King’s Arms ✳️

                                                                    The Venture In Restaurant ✳️✳️

15 restaurants in the county (33 rosettes). How lovely to see that the AA Guide knows that Broadway is in Worcestershire unlike the Michelin Guide which perpetually places it in Gloucestershire 

Therefore, in all, 118 West Midlands restaurants were featured in the 2026 edition of the guide (a total of 237 rosettes) when it was first printed and since then some are gone because of closures and a few have appeared. The year is already well half passed and summer’s lease hath too short a date but I will report future developments with this guide in the future as I have with other important guides.

   

553. Hotel du Vin, Stratford-upon-Avon. Cherry Beer And The Cherry Orchard.

  It really was one of those glorious English summer days when the dog and I arrived on our return to the Hotel du Vin in Stratford-upon-Avon. The hotel was dressed for the season and the sun with the lovely front garden - the champagne terrace - nicely kitted out for lounging residents to sit outside the gorgeous,  Georgian building watching the world go by and sipping their drink of choice undisturbed by everything beyond the garden wall. Lucy (III) the Labrador and I wasted no time in our own version of lounging and then moved on to the courtyard in the centre of the hotel and, finding a shady nook, settled down to a light lunch.

  I coupled a bottle of cherry-flavoured Belgian beer - well, I had come to Stratford to see The Cherry Orchard starring Kenneth Branagh and some Americans - which was remarkably moreish and surprisingly expensive with a pissaladière topped with sweet, tender onions - the sort you’d find in the hotel’s signature French onion soup - and olives and salty little anchovies. The pastry was externally crisp but with a soft and peasantry chewy interior and for under £5, it was an excellent dish to be savoured and enjoyed again for lunch the next day which is just what I did.

  The time soon came around for a pre-theatre dinner at the hotel.it also happened to be happy hour and I indulged myself in drinking two kir royales normally £14 each for £8 each. The day was going along happily and dinner did not spoil it.

  I started with a very pleasing crab and Gruyère quiche served with a chicory, parsley and caper salad. This was very good. The crab was sweet and the quiche luxurious and nicely balanced by the crisp chicory leaves which were not viciously bitter as they often are. A very good dish.

  I then had côte de porc cordon bleu which was very generously portioned, crispily coated, nicely cooked - not dry and overcooked at all - and pleasingly tasty. The ham and Gruyere blanket between the pork and the breadcrumbs was satisfactory and the cheese nicely melted. A small blob of celeriac remoulade had littkle flavour and contributed nothing to the dish. Apple would have been better. There should always be apple around somewhere if pork is the centrepiece. By that maxim, I stand. But this was an enjoyable, nicely executed main course and the pork was respected by the chef.

  The dessert was very good - a lemon tart, fresh and just the right hit of citrus, not too vigorous nor aggressive. The pastry was lovely and crisp and the raspberry sorbet was a good contrast though the flavour of raspberry did not come through very strongly.

  The next day, history repeated itself and I once more delighted myself with another splendidly rustic  pissaladière topped with anchovies, olives and sweet caramelised onions washed down by the cherry beer and of course I later took advantage of happy hour to avail myself of another kir Royale at a bargain price. Such pleasure!

  After the dinner of my first evening at the Hotel du Vin, I made my way to the Swan Theatre to see the starry-casted The Cherry Orchard. Alongside Kenneth Branagh there appeared two American stars, living the dream I suppose of appearing at Stratford, and other British notables including Guy Henry, a very good actor. The production seemed to consist of a stream of actors shouting at each other and an intolerably huge diversity of accents - posh English, common English, American, Northern Irish, something Mediterranean, I think, making it difficult to follow just what was going on. It just didn’t feel right and it certainly did not feel Russian. But ultimately it was poignant as Firs (played by Michael Elwyn) dies faithful to the end but left behind and forgotten. An end of era tale, generally well acted, and an unsettling feel of to it of England in 2026.

3 - 4 August 2026

Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛🌛

550. What’s The Point Of Restaurant Guides?

   I asked Gemini - at a time when I hadn’t got anything better to do - about the subject of how useful each of the main restaurant guides are to the ordinary but discerning diner who was reasonably prepared to eat novel dishes and experience new cuisines. I know AI is often wrong - it makes things up and its research is not as thorough as it might be and I’m pretty sure it rather grovellingly tries to give you the answer it thinks you want to receive. Still it does its best. Anyway we had a pleasant interchange where it did indeed largely express views which were in line with my own. Firstly, is the Michelin Guide any use? Its reply -

    We then moved on to the Good Food Guide which under its present editor uses flowery descriptions and reviews not sparing in the number of words used and is largely aimed at middling middle class hipsters and students giving it the impression of it trying hard to dumb down good food. It has surrendered to trendiness and coolness and this is much to be regretted. 

  Then there is Hardens which is like a Sunday family roast lunch in comparison with the Michelin Guide which is dining at the Ritz. As such it is to be commended. It is a vox pop but mostly the pop is informed, experienced, knowledgeable and discerning. There are certainly some restaurants included in it which would not make the cut in any other guide. I remember sitting in one of the (Harden-listed) bistros on Stratford’s Sheep Street and talking to a couple in early middle age who adored eating there and dined there whenever they were in the town. I smiled supportively, and hopefully not too patronisingly, as they praised their technically unambitious and quite pricey main course, inwardly grimacing as I tried to find even a glimmer of pleasure from the seriously overcooked fish I had been served. Still, I like Hardens, a Guide For The Common Man.

    Gemini deemed that the AA Guide was the guide for me. And I think it might be right.

 The AA Guide sets out the landmark events its own evolution but in terms of it being a restaurant guide the important dates are -

1967 - Introduction of the AA restaurant inspection scheme

1992 - The AA rosette scheme is revised as a 5 tier rating system.

   To explore which Birmingham and West Midlands restaurants had been featured in vintage editions o tge AA Guide I obtained the 1990 edition and perused its pages in search of well thought of Birmingham and other West Midlands restaurants which the Guide deemed worthy of inclusion. It really was not terribly useful. It took far more interest in the hotels it was reporting on with passing reference to eating arrangements in most of them. I really would have been better served by a 1992 edition when the 5 rosette system was introduced. I ordered a copy from É Bay but discovered that I had mistakenly ordered a copy of the 1992 Egon Ronay Guide which was a good thing as I hadn’t paid any attention to that particular important publication up until now (see below).

  Apart from hotel dining the guide mentioned only two restaurants and indicated their grading while the quality of those located in hotels was not indicated apart from commenting on price and nature of the menu. The two mentioned were Sloan’s and The Lombard Room in Kings Norton - 

xxx “Sloan’s, 27-29 Chad Square … Unusually located in a small square of shops to the west of the city centre, this chic, split level restaurant offers an imaginative menu of dishes in the light French style, making good use of fresh seasonal produce, and complementing its cuisine with a fine wine list and friendly professional service”

xxx “The Lombard Room, 180 Lifford Lane …. About ten minutes drive south of the city centre and convenient for the M42 is the famous Patrick Collection motor museum, within the beautiful grounds is the complex that contains the Lombard Toom, the elegant conservatory which holds the lounge and bar - all furnishings and décor are of very good quality. A short, imaginative à la carte menu offers a selection of tempting dishes. The quality of the food is complemented by professional attentive service and a magnificent of wines.”

  I am won over - for the present at least - by the idea that the AA Guide is the guide of choice for diners rather than chefs. I look forward to the next edition. I shall deal with the Egon Ronay Guide and the story of its editor in a future edition of BFAOBP.

Egon Ronay 

551. Summer Crab And Frites At Wildmoor Oak Inn.

 

   The last day in July and summer’s lease now started to feel as though it indeed had too short a date. I had had an eventful two or three days and I felt like I should reward myself for coping with it all by hailing an uber (not literally obviously) and zooming off to the wonderful pub with the Brontëesque name, the Wildmoor Oak Inn, near Bromsgrove, now very familiar to me and already a location which had given me some happy dining memories. Upmost in my mind was the summer special of crab and frites with aioli which I still had not got to eat but I thought this late afternoon just might be the day to enjoy what sounded like a fabulous repast. And so it proved to be.

  Having been warmly greeted and seated in my favourite corner (I could have had an outside table to make the most of this lovely summer evening but outside dining is fraught with its own challenges though it was perhaps getting a little late in the day for pesky wasps to ply their trade) I chose the summer special cocktail, a strawberry daiquiri, and it proved to be the most deliciously flavoured strawberry thing out of all the strawberry things I had consumed this summer. 

  My starter was excellent, from the sheet of ‘specials’ of the day. It was a most generously sized serving of thick slices of gravad lax with sweet little crayfish, crispy sourdough and ribbons of sweetly pickled cucumber to set it all off. Summer’s lease was bringing great pleasure with it.

  But of course, just as Charity was the greatest of its trinity (Faith, Hope and Charity), so the main course was the greatest of the three courses served that evening. Simple but gorgeous. A feast of dressed crab served in a crab shell, a magnificent burst of intense crabby flavour with every mouthful that had me purring with pleasure. Not a single hint of even the tiniest fragment of crab shell (and that does not happen everywhere) and accompanied by the simple citric contrast to the richness of the dish brought to the plate by a good wedge of lemon. There was as well a triumphantly enjoyable pot of aioli, its garlic flavour sweet and soothing and not stringent nor savage and the frites were very good. 

  After this feast I was replete and could not manage one of the formal desserts but instead I asked for some vanilla ice cream and espresso and put together a happy little affogato which rounded off this fine meal in a very satisfying way.

  Still unrecognised by the Food Guides (which questions their validity), Wildmoor Oak Inn continues to deliver high calibre pub food which brings much happy pleasure to the diner.

Rating:- 🌞

31 July 2026.

549. Summer At Tropea.

 

  Push aside the ragus, and the bolognese and ossobucos, it seems to me that Italian food is really all about summer - the vegetables, the fish, the sea food, the lighter meats. And it was summer in June as a blighted first few days of June turned golden as the sun came out, the blue skies became cloudless and the god of weather turned up the temperature.

  I was in the mood for a trip to Harborne heading specifically for one of my favourite restaurants Tropea on Lordswood Road where an Italian summer seemed assured.

  A smooth and friendly - but not over the top - welcome and a suggestion that I might like to start with a Paper Plane which was either well remembered from my previous visits or information cleverly retrieved from records of bills settled up on former occasions. Regardless, I had my Paper Plane and I was all the happier for doing so. The accompanying complementary giadiniera - pickles - and olives were very pleasing - the pickles are sweet and toothsome and are a perfect hors d’oeuvres /antipasto.

  And it was a summer menu indeed. I had come with a picture in my excited mind of the lightly tempura-battered courgette flowers stuffed with goats cheese and mint and enhanced with Moor Pool honey - I was lusting for them; it was the need for them that drove me to travel to Harborne - and they fully lived up to my expectations and memories of them. My only regret was that I ordered just two of them - three of them would have been more sensible or perhaps even four and why not five ….?

  But we cannot say that the choice of another small plate was an unwise one - the pasta - I had the fabulous lobster cappelletti, the excellent pasta filled with tasty chunks of the fine crustacean and served with a delicious lobster and Datterini tomato sauce and dressed with Arënkha caviar (smoked herring roe in the firm of small black pearls currently popular among restaurateurs and a cheap alternative to the real stuff), This was an excellent dish, faux-caviar or not.

  Naturally I could not resist indulging myself in the Tropea aubergine parmigiana which was as good as ever though naturally the portion is rather too large for an old bloke though I made a good fist of it and no-one could have asked more of me. I also splashed out on a very healthily sized plate of barbecued Wye Valley asparagus with a lemon dressing, a good sprinkling of pecorino and pangrattato on top to give that  little extra peasant crunchy texture. The asparagus was lacking in flavour to some degree  - I have had better this summer (from Sainsbury!) just in the last few days - plump and bulky, oozing asparagusic acid and high with flavour. But, allowing for the asparagus’ lack of exuberance it was still a pleasing dish. 

  I also had the Jersey Royals, sadly roasted instead of being plainly boiled, with roasted garlic aioli trailed across them and parsley. As I hinted, I would have preferred the new potatoes to be boiled perfectly and allowed to calmly bathe in the aioli but chefs must be chefs and sometimes they overdo things for the sake of showing they’re putting in the effort.

  And of course I closed with the magnificent Tropea tiramisu which must have been eaten by the Roman gods on Olympus. I was full but made sure I did not leave a cubic micrometre of it.

  Such pleasures, some finer than others, but the whole a delight. 

Rating:- 🌞

12 June 2026.