Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park

Book the Wednesday opening night to beat the weekend rush — and call ahead to confirm availability

Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park operates Wednesday through Saturday, evenings only, which means demand concentrates hard on Friday and Saturday. If you want the most relaxed version of this experience — unhurried service, a quieter room, full attention from the kitchen , Wednesday is the booking to target. The restaurant does not publish a phone number publicly, so book through the Lucknam Park hotel website directly, and do it well in advance: this is a Michelin-starred dining room inside one of England's grander country house hotels, and the combination makes it genuinely difficult to secure a table at short notice.

The Verdict

If you are planning a special occasion in the West Country and the choice is between driving into Bath for dinner or staying within reach of Colerne, Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park makes a compelling case for the latter. This is a one Michelin Star restaurant (2024 and 2025) inside a Palladian mansion, with a cooking style that sits at the more classical end of modern British , refined technique, high-quality ingredients, no theatrics for their own sake. It earned its place on the Opinionated About Dining Classical in Europe list (ranked 468th in 2025), which tells you roughly where it sits in the national conversation: serious, respected, not chasing trends.

Book it for an anniversary, a significant birthday, or a business dinner where the setting needs to do half the work for you. Do not book it expecting a casual evening out.

What Lucknam Park Means for Colerne

Colerne is a small village in Wiltshire, a few miles northeast of Bath. It does not have a dining scene in the conventional sense , this restaurant is the dining scene. For anyone staying in the wider Bath and Cotswolds corridor, Lucknam Park functions as the anchor fine dining destination in the area, filling the same role that Gidleigh Park in Chagford plays for Dartmoor or Moor Hall in Aughton plays for Lancashire: a destination restaurant embedded in a country estate, where the journey to get there is part of the proposition.

That geographic isolation is a feature, not a drawback, particularly for a celebration dinner. Arriving through a mile-long beech avenue, having pre-dinner drinks in a drawing room surrounded by what the Michelin inspectors describe as extravagant furnishings and sumptuous fabrics, and then sitting down to a structured tasting menu , this is a format that relies on physical separation from the everyday. Colerne's quietness is what makes the whole thing work. For more on what else the area offers, see our full Colerne restaurants guide, our full Colerne hotels guide, and our full Colerne experiences guide. The Walled Garden at Lucknam Park is worth noting if you want a lighter, less formal option on the same estate.

The Food and the Room

Hywel Jones has been at Lucknam Park for over two decades, which gives the restaurant a consistency that is relatively rare in fine dining. The cooking is described by Michelin as relying on classic techniques with a light, modern style , ingredients are luxurious, sourcing is high quality, and the kitchen does not overreach. This is not the place to expect boundary-pushing experimentation; it is the place to expect cooking that is executed without fault and presented with full formal polish.

The room reinforces that positioning. Rich décor, silver service, structured front-of-house , Michelin specifically notes the service arrives with as much polish as the silver. If you find that kind of formality uncomfortable, this dinner will feel effortful. If you appreciate it, and especially if you are celebrating something, it provides genuine occasion.

Pre-dinner drinks in the drawing rooms are part of the ritual here, not an optional extra. Arrive with time to settle in. The kitchen operates from 6 PM on Wednesday through Saturday, closing at 9 PM, so this is not a late-night dining option.

How It Compares to Other Country House Dining in England

The strongest peer comparison for Lucknam Park is Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton , both are country house hotels with serious restaurants, both operate at the formal end of the spectrum, and both hold Michelin recognition. Le Manoir carries two stars and Raymond Blanc's decades-long reputation, which makes it the higher-prestige booking. Lucknam Park is the easier table to get and arguably the more relaxed room, which is not nothing when you are planning a celebration.

Further afield, L'Enclume in Cartmel and Moor Hall in Aughton represent the more contemporary, produce-driven end of destination dining in England , both hold multiple stars and both push the cooking harder. If you want technical ambition and seasonal creativity, those are stronger choices. If the Palladian setting and the formal country house experience are specifically what you are after , and if you are in the Bath or Cotswolds region , Lucknam Park has no direct local competitor.

For context on what Michelin one-star Modern British cooking looks like in other formats, Midsummer House in Cambridge and hide and fox in Saltwood show the range. The Hand and Flowers in Marlow is worth considering if you want Michelin-quality cooking with a less formal atmosphere.

Practical Details

The restaurant is priced at ££££, consistent with its Michelin-starred country house setting. It operates Wednesday to Saturday, evenings only (6 PM to 9 PM), and is closed Sunday through Tuesday. Google reviews sit at 4.4 from 24 ratings, which is a small sample but directionally positive. Given the booking difficulty and the formality of the setting, this is a dinner to plan specifically rather than fit around other plans. If you are staying at Lucknam Park, the in-house access simplifies the logistics considerably and is worth factoring into a wider trip to the area. See also our full Colerne bars guide and our full Colerne wineries guide for surrounding options.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What should a first-timer know about Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park? Arrive early enough to have pre-dinner drinks in the drawing rooms , that part of the experience matters. This is formal, structured Modern British dining at the ££££ price point, one Michelin Star, inside a Palladian country house hotel near Colerne. It is not a drop-in dinner; it requires advance booking and a willingness to engage with the formality. If that is what you want, it delivers it reliably.
• Is the tasting menu worth it at Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park? At ££££ with a Michelin Star, the value question is whether the full country house experience , the setting, the pre-dinner ritual, the formal service, the polished cooking , is worth the price to you. The cooking is technically accomplished and the ingredients are high quality. If you are comparing purely on food, L'Enclume or Moor Hall push harder. If the complete occasion is the point, Lucknam Park is worth the spend.
• Can Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park accommodate groups? Specific group booking policies are not confirmed in available data, but as a country house hotel restaurant in Colerne at ££££, private dining arrangements are likely available. Contact Lucknam Park directly to confirm capacity and availability for larger parties.
• Is Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park good for solo dining? Solo dining at a formal ££££ country house restaurant in Colerne can feel isolating without confirmed counter or bar seating , and there is no public data on solo-friendly arrangements here. If solo dining at Michelin-level is the goal, venues like Opheem in Birmingham or 33 The Homend in Ledbury may be more comfortable formats. That said, if you are staying at the hotel, solo dining here integrates naturally into the wider stay.
• What are alternatives to Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park in Colerne? Within Colerne itself, the Walled Garden offers a less formal option on the same estate. For comparable destination fine dining in the wider region, Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton is the highest-prestige alternative at the country house format, while The Fat Duck in Bray represents the more experimental end of destination dining within driving range.