The Cinnamon Stick

The restaurant has an appealingly straightforward character — there's no pretence here, just good food served in a relaxed atmosphere where you can easily spend an hour or two over lunch between countryside walks or settle in for dinner after exploring the surrounding farmland and stone villages.

What makes it work is the staff's genuine warmth and the sense that you're being welcomed as part of the community rather than processed through a formula. Middle Barton itself is a working village that hasn't been converted into a tourist experience, which gives the whole place an authentic feel. You'll find aromatic, well-executed South Asian dishes with proper spicing — the kind of cooking that reminds you how much flavour can be missing from day after day of traditional English meals.

If you're moving between the larger market towns like Chipping Norton and Bicester, The Cinnamon Stick works perfectly as a stopping point. You get a proper meal in surroundings that feel genuinely local rather than staged for visitors, which in the Cotswolds can be rarer than you'd think.