Since opening its doors in 1987, Le Champignon Sauvage has staked its claim as one of the top eating places in the land, a proud recipient of a Michelin star and 4 AA rosettes. But it’s still a restaurant with a human face and it generates drools of delight and approval: one Mobile Food Guide reporter enthused about an ‘absolutely blissful birthday lunch’ with ‘faultless food’; others thought it was simply ‘brilliant’.

A recent refit has lightened the mood in the highly personal, relaxed dining room, which now has bright modern artwork on cream walls and swathes of pale maple panelling. David Everitt-Matthias cooks miraculously and Helen oversees proceedings out front with impeccable style, poise and good humour. ‘These people are saints,’ wrote Jan Moir in The Daily Telegraph, and who would disagree!

Le Champignon Sauvage still retains its famous Gallic title, but French has been banished from the menus, which now favour plain English descriptions. Nothing else has changed in the kitchen. David continues to thrill customers with favourite signature dishes like tortellini of eel with watercress cream and bitter leaves or Wiltshire pork with stuffed cabbage (‘chou farci’), but everything he produces is matchlessly conceived and staggeringly good to eat.

The fashionable pairing of seared scallops with cauliflower purée is given extra zest with raw cauliflower, wood sorrel and cumin froth, while fillet of megrim sole keeps daring company with wilted sea beet, land cress purée, cockscombs and kidneys. Desserts are inspired, audacious inventions like chicory cheesecake with chicory ripple ice cream or lemon and pine kernel parfait with lemon curd and pepper sorbet. The wine list leans heavily towards France and it provides remarkable value for seriously good, top-notch drinking.

Le Champignon Sauvage is also featured in: Michelin Guide, Good Food Guide, Hardens, AA Guide

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Modern French

David Everitt-Matthias

Lunch: 12.30 - 1.15pm Tue-Sat
Dinner: 7.30 - 8.30pm Tue-Sat

Visa, Master Card, American Express

• Disabled access
• 38 covers