American Diners
Buy into the fantasy of high school proms and soda fountains
Bangladeshi Restaurants
Not very common as stand-alone restaurants, but you will recognise dishes like Biryani or Bhuna
Bistros
They may not have zinc-topped bars and extremely rude Parisian waiters, but the spirit is willing... or as Oscar Wilde might not have said "Absinthe makes the hat grow fondue"
Caribbean Restaurants
The nearest is in sun-drenched Coventry
Chinese Restaurants
We've now got new dishes such as Duck Thai Mein and Chilli Paneer Salad as well as the more usual Dim Sum, Wontons and Kung Pao to choose from
English/British Restaurants
The days of chicken-in-the-basket are generally a thing of the past and good English cuisine is now as good as anything food in the world.
European Restaurants
With 27 countries now in the Union, the menus must be getting awfully long
Fast Food Restaurants
Big Mac's, Whoppers & Popcorn Chicken
Fish & Chip Shops
If you are a bit sniffy about our national dish, then you have obviously never eaten it out of the paper on the harbourside at Whitby
Fish & Seafood Restaurants
Being at the centre of England seems to mean that fish restaurants are something of a rarity.
French Restaurants
From 'le real thing' to national 'cafe' chains.
Gastro-pubs
Pub-grub can now hold its head up high and shake its caramelised pigs trotters with the best of them.
Greek Restaurants
Mess up a meze.
Indian Restaurants
From traditional bombay duck to contemporary gastro-cuisine -- but is it the same without flock walpaper?
Italian Restaurants
These are generally the Antipasta and Prima variety -- pizzas are in the Pizzeria section
Malaysian Restaurants
Sophisticated colonial-style restaurants, without a gentleman jewel thief in sight.
Mediterranean Restaurants
With extra-virgin olive oil, tomatoes and fish, this is as good for your heart as your stomach.
Mexican Restaurants
Yariba yariba
Middle Eastern Restaurants
The nearest restaurants are in Coventry: resident belly dancers not guaranteed.
Modern Cuisine
The combination of locally-sourced ingredients with the slow food ethos can bring nothing but good.
Pizzerias
If you like your crusts stuffed and 3 foot high serve-yourself-salads
Portuguese Restaurants
When Chicken Piri-Piri is good, it's good - but 24 hour slow-cooked Blackened Leg of Wild Boar is to die for
Pubs with Food
From chicken & chips to proper gastro.
Spanish Restaurants
Catalunya comes to Warwick.
Speciality Restaurants
If organic isn't specialised enough, how about Ghurkha or Korean?
Thai Restaurants
More subtle than Indian and more fragrant than Chinese. My favourite Thai Green Curry recipe doesn't even include curry powder, fenugreek or chilli.
Traditional Restaurants
From steakhouses to award winning gourmet food.
Turkish Restaurants
One of the world's great cuisines: not just doner kebabs
Vegetarian Restaurants
Much more than just tofu and beansprouts, although some tofu and beansprouts. | Restaurants in Alcester
This is an ancient Roman town so expect at least one Italian restaurant.
Restaurants in Atherstone
The origin of the phrase Mad as a Hatter is considered to have originated in Atherstone, so this could be a good place for a tea party. Bring your own dormouse.
Restaurants in Baginton
Baginton is a small village on the border with Coventry. There is an old Roman fort - 'The Lunt' - but, strangely, no Italian Restaurant of the same name in the vicinity. There is a very good pub and and an old converted mill, both serving traditional food with a modern edge, plus a Chinese take-away.
Restaurants in Bedworth
The novelist, George Eliot once lived in Griff House, which is now a Beefeater Restaurant. Coincidentally, international Bedworth restaurateur Griff Beefeater used to live in Eliot House.
Restaurants in Coleshill
There are still a number of coaching inns here, and it is just over the border from the home of the Balti, which was apparently created not in Baltimore, as you might expect, but in Birmingham.
Restaurants in Henley-in-Arden
The setting for Shakespeare’s 'As You Like It’. I like mine lightly grilled with some buttered samphire.
Restaurants in Kenilworth
Flibbertygibbet. Not a food reference, just one of the all-time great words (serendipity is another). It actually refers to a character from Anglo-Saxon mythology who is mentioned in the Sir Walter Scott novel Kenilworth.
Restaurants in Leamington Spa
Birthplace of the Aleister Crowley, described by ‘John Bull’ magazine as The Wickedest Man in the World. He apparently enjoyed chewing on an apple pipe while playing chess.
Restaurants in Nuneaton
Not the best named town for promoting restaurants (say it out loud) but it has an extensive range of places to eat.
Restaurants in Rugby
Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland) was a pupil at Rugby School. He was regularly banned from the town’s eateries for ordering ‘mock turtle’ soup and then running away shouting that he was late, he was late for a very important date.
Restaurants in Shipston-on-Stour
In 2005 Shipston converted itself into a seaside town and was renamed Shipston-on-Sea. However, visitors quickly saw through the ruse and it has now gone back to being a charming, if somewhat sleepy, Cotswold town.
Restaurants in Southam
Southam is currently home to an EastEnders actor, whose character runs a fish and chip shop. Although a seal is not strictly a fish, coincidentally the popular melodist Seal is rumoured to have lived over a chip shop in nearby Leamington Spa.
Restaurants in Stratford-upon-Avon
If food be the music of love, eat on. Unlike Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra, you are unlikely to find anywhere in Stratford serving eight wild boars roasted whole at breakfast.
Restaurants in Tanworth-in-Arden
Not the home of the famous escaping porkers, the Tamworth Two but rather the Bell Inn (no connection). For some time I had, as our French chums would say, an idée fixe that Tamworth was in Warwickshire. It isn’t.
Restaurants in Warwick
Despite being the county town, Warwick was for some time a fairly dowdy second-cousin to the more vibrant and eclectic charms of nearby Stratford and Leamington. But it is at last beginning to join the Café Society, and is managing to retain an unspoiled individual charm.
Restaurants in Wishaw
Famous as the home of golf’s legendary Belfy, it is also the location of the Cock Inn, a gastro-pub allegedly patronised by such local luminaries as Jeremy Beadle (and talking of being patronised who can forget, ‘Watch out, Beadle’s About’ from the late 1980’s).
Believe it or Not
Believe it or not, some of the town 'facts' above are not strictly true. Can you sort out the facts from the fiction?
Answers on a postcard to:
The 'Griff Beefeater is not really a well-known restaurateur' competition.
Alternatively, send us an email to:
lies(at)warwickshiretouristguide.com [substituting an @ for the (at)]
There will only be prizes awarded for correct answers if any restaurants in this section would like to sponsor them. Other than that you will have to be satisfied with having your name on the Buttered Roll of Honour.
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