Mrs Zip has a significant birthday so thought I might treat her to dinner and a night a la Manoir.
Even the cheapest deal is mentally bloody expensive. So would like to hear lots of rave reviews or suggestions of where else to go.
Doing Tom Kerridge’s as a late Christmas present so don’t say that.
Ta.
Edit ..I’ll think of plan B . How can you charge £753 room only?

Yes, it was superb, really nice. Brilliant food brillaint service. Lunch is great value.

I’ve eaten at a modest bunch of Michelin starred restaurnts and unfortunately they don’t all live up to expectations or the inevitable price tag…Le Manoir does.

If you go, be sure to have wander around the grounds and kitchen gardens. Oh and check out the loos too…no really!

Yes the room prices are another world altogether!

Yep. Amazing service and food, never seen so many waiting staff in one restaurant. Felt completely looked after from start to finish. Best overall dining experience I’ve had. My sister in law went as well and they were lucky enough to get a tour of the kitchen.

There is a cheaper hotel down the road that a lot of people stay at if the full package is looking a little out of bounds.

If you go, be sure to have wander around the grounds and kitchen gardens. Oh and check out the loos too…no really!

He’s right you really do need to check out the loos.

I’ve eaten at a modest bunch of Michelin starred restaurnts and unfortunately they don’t all live up to expectations or the inevitable price tag

So glad I have Michelin starred quality on my doorstep for £26.50 for three courses!
Alimentum in Cambridge BTW. Check out the smoked eel. 😉

It is very expensive. Don’t forget you’ll also need to budget for tips. 😉

I endorse Rusty Shackleton’s remarks however: very, very good.

How can you charge £753 room only?

The place has it’s own helicopter landing spot, and not some comedy circle cut into the lawn, It advertises the GPS co-ordinates on the website, and has landing fees

For the sorts of folk who regularly go there, that sort of money doesn’t register.

The place has it’s own helicopter landing spot, and not some comedy circle cut into the lawn, It advertises the GPS co-ordinates on the website, and has landing fees

For the sorts of folk who regularly go there, that sort of money doesn’t register.
Do they have secure bike parking? Perhaps a little bivvy spot round the back of the garden somewhere

It’s actually quite good fun there. The high ends can be a bit stuffy but Le Manoir isn’t. We had the food and wine taster menus which were very very good. We also stayed in one of their themed rooms which was ace. Think of it more as a weekend away rather than just dinner.

I was taken there for dinner by Mrs IHN for my 40th and whilst it’s impossible to argue with the quality of the food and service, we both thought that it wasn’t quite all that. Whatever that thing is that makes something proper special just wasn’t there.

We had a far better experience at The French at the Midland hotel in Manchester

@BigDummy

Agree it was good, but not so sure on agreeing the need to budget for tips. IIRC they had a very well worded bit at the end of the bill (Printed on A4 presented in a leather bound folder…) about how they pay their staff a very good wage and do not expect a tip, however etc. Certainly made the people who were paying for me (like I could afford to eat there) think twice about a 10% tip!

@zippy, yes have celebrated a few significant milestones there.

Now he’s been on TV a lot the restaurant tends to be much fuller. If you are going to go book as far in advance as you can and request a table in the main/conservatory area. IMO it is also work taking one of the tasting menus – either classique or decouvert – IMO £125 for the menus is very good value when you consider you can pay £50-60 for mediocre food elsewhere. The rooms are very expensive, always have been. If you eat on a Thur evening you can generally get a deal. it’s worth taking a day off work to enjoy the experience and have a walk round the gardens etc. The afternoon Teas are excellent too. Best nights are Wed-Sat as other nights not all the best chefs are on duty. If the Mrs likes cooking you can get a deal with a room, dinner and days cooking school. You can eat there and stay nearby. IMO its a bit of a waste for one of you not to drink.

In the old days you could have lunch for £45 but that’s doubled now I believe, very good though quoted as three courses but really more like 5.

Other very good choices in the area would include Waterside Inn in Bray, run by the Roux family if you want to make a comparison.

EDIT: Tips, the best restaurants don’t expect a tip, in France it is regarded as being included in the bill already at equivalent places and the Manoir is modeled on that. Staff are paid properly and don;t need tips to survive.

I have been twice, once with work and took the Mrs for our wedding anniversary a few years ago.

It is very very good….but…not worth the money in my view. There are plenty of other amazing Michelin starred restaurants where even if you go crazy on the wine you will still come in under £200. I’d rather have 4 or 5 of these than spend it all on one night.

My personal opinion obviously.

@LHS dinner at the Manoir doesn’t cost £800-£1000. IME its roughly double a typicl one-star place. I don’t disagree that you can find other very good restaurants, especially those trying to make a name for themselves, you have to accept at the Manoir you are playing for the brand/name a bit.

My brief Google suggested meal and a room would be about £1100.
That and Venice (where she’s already been) are the only things she has ever mentioned wanting to do since we’ve been together.
I guess £1100 won’t buy much of a trip to Venice.

My brief Google suggested meal and a room would be about £1100.

😯

I’ve enjoyed it too, not the “best” Michelin starred place I’ve been but it’s up there with the best IMO.

Anyways this is your Mrs choice not yours, I’d say if she’s chosen there then go. I mean you are going to have a lovely time there, I don’t think you will if all you are thinking about is the cost though.

Are you open to other venues ?

If the price is too much there are plenty of decent hotels in Oxford you could stay at and then travel to the Manoir which isn’t far. In fact I think the Premier Inn at Cowley while hardly a tourist destination is close and should be cheap!!

Take a road bike there is some great riding if you come out of Oxford via Garsington, Denton & Cuddesdon, short spiky hills in some amazing countryside and generally quite quiet.

@Zippy, the rooms are indeed bonkers expensive. Dinner/wines with a glass of champagne before will be roughly £350 for two. I’d much rather do 2 or 3 dinners than one dinner with room. It’s not as grand to stay down the road but that will cost you £100 for the room and breakfast. As you say its what she’s always wanted to do. If you let them know it’s her birthday they will do a little cake and perhaps a card from Raymond (let them know in advance as he’s not on site as regularly these days with all his other commitments). Also they have the various cookbooks for sale, his auto biography I enjoyed but I am a “fan” so perhaps a bit star struck. I think those are signed also.

OP as an aside if you do make a stay of it and want another lunch or dinner place have a look at Sir Charles Napier, pub with 1-star and very good. Mid week lunch/dinner fixed price 3 course menu is outstanding and great value.

When we went we stayed at The Oxfordshire Golf Club up the road, about 10 mins in a cab. Was really nice actually, room was great.

Luckily we can afford to do now but not too long ago that was a months wages.
I just mentally can’t get past that fact.

I reckon with some canny travel purchasing you could have a day or two here for the same money. Best go when it’s warm and eat outside, a good cellar as well as the one star restaurant.

@sandwich but that’s not Le Manoir is it? There are zillions of alternatives that also are not Le Manoir.

Bugger it, go the other way. Go to L’Enclume 🙂

Well, it was pricy but absolutely worth every penny.
From the tomato and olive bread right through to our raspberry soufflé it was perfection. Excellent staff and not stuffy at all.
The gardens are great and it turned out to be the perfect present for Mrs Zip.

My friend got married there – was lovely – heaven only knows what that must have cost 😯

@zippy so glad you had a great time, thanks for the update

Jam, missed forgot your comment about tipping but our waiters were so spot on I’m glad I did.
I’m sure our waiter could have cooked our meal as he was so knowledgable about what was on our plates , how long ago it was picked and how it was cooked.

Mrs Zip has a significant birthday so thought I might treat her to dinner and a night a la Manoir.
Even the cheapest deal is mentally bloody expensive. So would like to hear lots of rave reviews or suggestions of where else to go.

My parents went and thought it was very good, but no better than Northcote up in Lancashire, despite being twice the price. Given the number of 1,2 & 3 star places they’ve eaten in, they have a pretty good feel for these things.

Yes I love all that too. It’s the difference between someone just bussing tables and the French tradition of the waiting staff really wanting to be restaurateurs. If you read Raymond Blanc’s autobiography he started as a waiter, he really wanted to be a chef but they would’t let him near the kitchen until they felt he had learnt and understood about the food and service.

@Ransos – I imagine the cost of the property and business rates are a lot lower in Lancashire so its normal comparable quality can be had for a lower price.

@Ransos – I imagine the cost of the property and business rates are a lot lower in Lancashire so its normal comparable quality can be had for a lower price.

Maybe so, but I think they were expecting slightly more given it has an extra star. Difficult to say when these things are so subjective though.

I ate at a 2 star place in France a few years ago and it was the most memorable meal of my life – Northcote doesn’t come close.

I ate there in about 1996 when the Hotel was celebrating 10 years of trading and to celebrate they had a special offer of lunch for £19.96 . Obviously that was a huge bargain and the food was very good and of a type you usually get in these type of places . The service was very slow though . I know that you don’t rush these kind of things but it really was slow . The restaurant staff all seemed to be French and seemed to have that slightly arrogant attitude that some French seem to have ( My opinion only ) I liked that we got a tour of the wine cellar which was interesting and we got to talk to the great man in the gardens . Liked the wallpaper in the hotel portraying scenes from La Manoir . I was there a long time ago so my comments might be totally irrelevant today .

zippykona – Member
Even the cheapest deal is mentally bloody expensive.

My experience of Michelin star establishments is, if you go for a tasting menu, both food and wine, you’ll wander out £250 a person lighter and no matter how good the food and service were you’ll never get over the cost.

How about a nice hotel/spa. She can go for “treatments” during the day, you can go out on your bike. Nice dinner in the evening and everyone’s happy.

If you can’t quite get past the price, Adams in Birmingham and Sat Bains in Nottingham will give you a food experience almost as good for a bit less dosh. Sat Bains gives you the option of sitting in the kitchen, which is fun.