There’s a particular kind of Sunday that only really exists in the English countryside – low clouds, a faint smell of woodsmoke, and the promise of something slow, rich, and restorative at the end of a long walk.
HYLL leans into that mood effortlessly, the room humming with the quiet confidence of a place that knows exactly where it is.
Chef Mark Coleman cooks like a man who’s seen the white-tablecloth theatre of grand kitchens and decided to keep the discipline but ditch the fuss. His food speaks softly but with conviction – classic technique, deeply rooted ingredients, nothing trying too hard.
We started, as you should, with scallops – sweet, perfectly judged, resting on an onion purée that tasted like patience distilled, the roasted sweetcorn and pancetta bringing just enough comfort to keep things grounded. Alongside them, rabbit gnocchi: soft, earthy, the kind of dish that feels like it belongs to winter, to muddy boots and appetite earned.
Mains doubled down on that sense of place. Slow-roasted beef arrived exactly as you hope it will on a Sunday – generous, deeply savoury, with roast potatoes doing their crisp-edged duty and Yorkshire pudding acting as both garnish and edible architecture. The pork, with its apple and sage, was pure British comfort – familiar flavours sharpened just enough to remind you someone in the kitchen is paying attention.
There’s pleasure in the details here. Bread from Mark’s Bakery, still carrying warmth. Two butters – one classic, one paler and delicate – inviting curiosity. A cheese course that leans proudly into provenance, the kind of board that tells a quiet story about farms, fields, and the people behind them.
Dessert did exactly what Sunday dessert should do: sticky toffee pudding, unapologetically indulgent, sauce pooling, spirits lifting. Cheese followed, because restraint would have felt out of character by this point.
We finished with coffee in the snug – the kind of room that encourages you to linger, to let the afternoon stretch a little longer than planned.
Like many places finding their stride, there are a few gentle service teething moments still being smoothed out, but they feel incidental when the cooking is this assured. Because what HYLL is doing, and doing well, is building a restaurant that tastes unmistakably of where it sits.
It’s not showy. It doesn’t need to be. It’s honest, seasonal, and quietly compelling – the kind of Sunday lunch that reminds you why the ritual exists in the first place.
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Hyll
Campden Road
Charingworth GL55 6NS
01386 593555
welcome@hyllhotel.com
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Life-Styled!
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