Best breakfast
Baker and Graze. Just look at their Instagram posts – tells you everything you need to know.
Best place for coffee
Black Gold on the High Street is cosy and comfortable, just as a coffee shop should be.
Best brunch
My mate Chris cooks the best brunch. He’s not a chef but he loves to cook and makes fantastic bread.
Best lunch
Purslane, of course. Three courses from the lunch menu for £18. You can’t argue with that!
Best places to go food shopping
Primrose Vale farm shop in Bentham has fantastic produce and picking fruit in the summer with the kids is what Sundays are made for.
Best place for a pint
The Langton in Charlton Kings is my local, so we stop by there for the afternoon with the Sunday papers and a magazine for the kids. It’s a real suntrap out the back in the warmer months, and in winter they have the log fire burning and mulled cider on tap.
Best place with the family
The Royal Oak in Prestbury does fantastic cheese, beer and sausage festivals on bank holiday weekends and if the weather’s good you can put a blanket down in the garden and play with the kids while trying new food and drinks. The Jazz Festival is great, too, for exactly the same reasons.
Best Sunday lunch
The meat at The Ox is always fantastic and the Yorkshire puddings are massive.
Best place for pre-dinner cocktails
The best place for cocktails is The Clarence Social on Clarence Parade. The speakeasy downstairs has table service and it’s not too noisy – which is perfect as I am getting on now!
Best place for dinner
My favourite place for dinner is 5 North Street in Winchcombe, a short drive from Cheltenham. The breads are to die for and every course just gets better from there. With Gus’s food and Kate’s charm, you'll always have a fantastic evening.
Best post-pub snack
On the way home from watching the rugby, it has to be The Dragonfly Chinese takeaway on London Road for its warm sesame toast. It helps to sober me up (a bit) before I get in and my wife realises how much I've had!
If you could eat only one thing in Cheltenham, it would have to be…
Go to Le Champignon Sauvage for the Thai green curry ice cream. David’s food is sublime and he is always ahead of the curve.
What’s the best-kept secret in Cheltenham?
The Vine is a Victorian pub just off the upper High Street that’s really intimate, totally relaxed and does fantastic Thai food. You'll pop in for a quick pint and end up there all night.
