Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons

Had an amazing dinner, stay and breakfast at this gorgeous countryside manor. When the weather is good, the property shines and you can spend a few hours exploring the vegetable gardens, ponds and Japanese tea garden complete with wooden tea house.
The dinner is refined yet relaxed, beginning in the lounge with cocktails, almonds and olives and ending back in the lounge with cognac, coffee and chocolates. I loved the jazzy lounge music they were playing after dinner too. But my favourite part of the stay was breakfast, in a sunny cottage-​style room with big windows looking onto the grounds. There’s a fantastic continental spread, including homemade yogurt, cured meats, local cheeses, fresh figs, and homemade granola bars. The breakfast is very reasonably priced for non guests, and for those in the hotel it’s included in the room rate.

I went there for a wedding and it was amazing. The gardens were beautiful and the décor was refreshing. The food was so good and tantalizing and if you can afford to go here, you will not regret it. Prices are not listed for a reason!!!

Do you remember the excitement of the food critic in Ratatouille film after he tried «a fresh, clear, well-​seasoned perspective»? I felt the same when dining at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire.
The food here is of the highest standard. It’s simple, it’s about cooking a few quality ingredients, and cooking them very well. A nine-​course tasting menu Découverte is absolutely delicious and is more fulfilling than you might expect from fine dining restaurants.
The premises are gorgeous. The Japanese garden is especially a joy to the eye. Here «the grass is the springiest, the bees are the stingiest, the birds are the wingiest» like in Bob Crosby’s song.
No doubt it deserves its 2 Michelin-​stars held for over impressive 25 years. There’s a huge attention to details in everything. Once you arrive, you land in a different world, the world where time slows down. The service, they know how to make you feel comfortable and most importantly — relaxed. They are very helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and unobtrusive.
As with everything that’s really good: it needs to be enjoyed in small portions, «avec moderation» as they say. It is a real treat for a special occasion. Yes, the price tag is on the highest end of one’s imagination, but this very memorable experience is worth every penny and every mile of a journey to Oxfordshire.
Hats off to the chef Raymond Blanc, who is always-​passionate about his craft, and his team for creating such heaven.
Would I visit again? Most definitely! Again and again…
My rating: ¹⁰⁄₁₀

This review is for the restaurant only, not the hotel. We dined here last night and it was an amazing experience. I have been to several French restaurants with multi course tasting menus and this was one of the best experiences I’ve had. We had the five course menu plus a cheese course and each dish was wonderful. Every member of the staff was gracious and welcoming and the service was excellent. They have a long wine list that can be overwhelming but they have multiple sommeliers on staff to assist if needed. I definitely recommend arriving early and checking out the grounds before you eat… The gardens are beautiful. This was one of the highlights of our trip and I hope to come back someday!

An icon for the French gastronomic-​invasion of the UK, courtesy of Monsieur Raymond Blanc (not forgetting Mama Blanc).
Beautiful restaurant, grounds, hotel and an amazing culinary garden (worth a visit in itself)… the definition of attainable haute cuisine in the UK.
Everything works elegantly, from the service to the plate to the palate.
If you have a chance to visit Oxford (and you have wheels — it’s out in the sticks), then try to budget this place in. And ask for a tour of the kitchen… but be careful, you might not won’t want to leave.

Le Manoir is a special place — it is beautiful, first of all, and just a treat overall. Our dinner was delicious, from beginning to end, and the service was very nice. Except for one fellow with red hair (?) who made a «confused face» when taking our order. The dishes are written in French, then underneath in smaller print in English, so my friend gave her order in French (reading from the menu.) He knitted his brow and said, «I’m sorry… what is it that you’d like?» He quite proudly let us know that he didn’t speak French (which is fine, but it is a French restaurant and the plates are listed in French on the menu…) and that British employees (non-​French or French speaking employees) were encouraged because it of the emphasis on local. At the end of the evening, we had a couple of things to sort out with the bill (amongst us) and he brazenly approached asking, «How’s the math coming?» Both of these behaviours took us a bit by surprise. He was, in all fairness, the only one who wasn’t completely gracious and appropriate — everyone else was lovely. Unfortunately, when recalling this evening, we will remember this fellow, too.

Really unique boutique hotel! The kitchen has its own farms and pretty much self sustainable kitchen. Very impressive!

Ordered: Tasting Menu
Price: Papa and Mama were too kind for my birthday so I don’t know
Review: This place excels in oral, visual, and most importantly a foodie’s pleasure. Its difficult to start writing about Raymon Blanc’s restaurant having been such an admirer of his passion for food, and most of all, someone who is far more superior than a casual foodie writing about his food. But a review is a review, so here is my attempt. The Garden is impressive ranging from rosemary, carrots, lettuce, grown right behind the restaurant, right through to the pleasantly quiet Japanese Garden tucked away.
The food now… every dish was phenomenally well crafted to say the least, the olive bread, right through to the duck that was so well cooked. If I were to have one point to criticise the restaurant, I felt that compared to other michelin star restarants around the globe. I felt that the service was somewhat lacking. The aura was not quite the same as say a Michelin star in Milan, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, Kyoto. Delightful nonetheless!

What a delight it was to dine here! We were not super familiar with the area and our GPS took us to Church Road in Wheatley instead of Great Milton but we made it! Upon arrival you are in awe of the beautifully maintained grounds. We arrived during sunset and it could not have been more gorgeous.
This is the first restaurant I have been to where you are first taken to a seating room and served some snacks, a few amuse bouche, and drinks instead of just being taken to your table. They also take your entire order here so once you are seated at your table everything is ready to go.
The sitting rooms and the dining room have an upscale but relaxed ambiance. I wish we came earlier in the day so we could walk and enjoy the beautiful grounds.
I don’t recall what our amuse bouche items were but I really liked one of them that was on a thin cracker with a sharp cheesy taste. Complimentary olives and popcorn were provided as well but the popcorn was not too exciting. We started out with a rose and then moved on to a red for dinner. The 2007 Château Belgrave we had with our meal was so smooth!
We opted for the 6 course tasting menu but one of us switched the seafood items to vegetarian. My favorite dish was the Summer Vegetable Risotto. So delicious I could have licked that bowl clean. For the Comte Cheese course, you are provided aged cheese, each aged for a different length of time. They provide complimentary wine that really brings out the flavor of the cheeses which is also from the Comte region! Dessert was quite delicious as well.
Overall the service was friendly and efficient. Our waitress was a particularly charming lady but the others on service that night lacked a bit of personality. They provide you a nice print out of your meal and all of its courses so you don’t have to ask them what you are eating but they still offer to tell you if you want.
2007 Château Belgrave
Terrine of baby beetroot, buffalo mozzarella, horseradish sorbet
Lemon Verbana Marinated Organic Scottish Salmon, Garden Radish, Yuzu Cream
Summer Vegetable Risotto, Sicilian Tomatoes, Mascarpone Cheese
Spiced aubergine, chick peas, Medjool dates, preserved lemon
Cornish Brill, Scallop, Cucumber, and Wasabi
Assiette of Cornish Lamb, Peas, Bacon, and Spring Garlic Purée
A Selection of three Comte Cheeses from Raymond Blanc’s native region
Wine from Le Comte
A theme on Strawberry Dessert

If there are Hotels /​Restaurants in Heaven then they will be modelled on Le Manoir … (or possibly the other way round!) it cant be faulted and nothing is left to chance … If you can get Bed /​Breaky /​Evening meal for two… for less than ‘a bag of sand’ that’s ‘a grand’ …you’ve done well! …but its worth every penny! get saving!
Whilst its near Oxford you wont want to leave … so if you want to take in the sights do that first and spend your last day/​s at Le Manoir. that way no matter where you stay /​eat in Oxford you will finish on a high at Rays Gaff!!!

As I was once a struggling student in Oxford (weren’t we all) In those remarkable and adventurous days of reading for degrees, the thought of ever dining at such a remarkable establishment as the ‘Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons’ would have definately meant far more mugging escapades after dark on Professors none of us really liked. The trouble was, us former ‘St Trinian’s Triads’ (as we were then known) seemed to always pick on the poorest of all our lecherers (eh, sorry… spelling error, Pardon — Lecturers) so this calculated brain wave didn’t actually work.
All meaningless waffle, satire and nostalgia aside, I had to actually reach a stage in my life where I could afford, due to ‘hard work of course,’ to be able… FINALLY, to have the best — and out of all the Oxfordshire Grand Manors that feed the gentry and the ‘well to do’ — as well as a few, ‘I struck it lucky,’ peon’s — this is the finest by far.
The marvellous grounds surrounding Le Manoir aside — that’s another glowing tale other’s can deal with, but let’s just say, gorgeous rolling downs — it’s what was on the plates that I was salivating over — and brothers and sisters, this is cuisine at it’s best — as is the impeccable service. All supremely superb to my delicate French toned palate. Only in Paris, my place of residence, do I ever come across anything nearly quite so delicious and refined.
I have also spent several nights sleeping at this marvellous residence, that is to say, when I could escape the delights on the table, naturally. This is plushness ‘à la carte’ and not one iota or even a hint of anything remotely kitsch. In fact, mention that last word and you’ll be fed to the ‘Groundsman’s Baskervilles’ for breakfast.
Don’t expect to find a cheap room at this ‘not too shabby joint’ however. Cheap is not in their dictionary. If you have the money, then they certainly have the time and it’s simply ‘le mieux.’ You’ll be treated like a King and the ‘once a Knight’s enough,’ principle just doesn’t work here at all, put aside at least a few days for this wondrous experience and of course… perhaps, someone else’s bank vault would be a bonus!

Le Manoir is one of our East Oxford team’s top 5 places to eat in the area. It is set in beautiful surroundings in Great Milton and has a large garden (which produces the vegetables and herbs for the kitchen). Le Manoir also has 32 bedrooms and offers private dining as well as cookery courses.