Restaurants we would like to work with, Cheltenham & Gloucester

What makes a room right for this

A dinner is twelve people at one table, early in the week, when a good kitchen is at its quietest. We take a fixed menu, we tell you the numbers in advance, and we pay per head on the night. No room hire, no minimum spend, no deposit. These are the things that tend to make an evening like that work.

Independent, chef-led, not a chain

Roughly 1 to 4 years old

Well-reviewed but not fully booked

Room to seat a table of twelve

Visibly quieter early-week

Topoly's Italian

Southgate Street

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Bangkok Canteen

Westgate Street

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Aroma Indian

Southgate Street

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Photograph: Soul n' Seoul

Soul n' Seoul

Westgate Street

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Soul n' Seoul opened on Westgate Street in January 2024, in the unit that had been the Hubble Bubble cafe, and is the first Korean restaurant in Gloucester. The room is small and loud in colour: corrugated steel walls painted red and black, bar seating along the window onto the street. The kitchen cooks dolsot bibimbap in hot stone bowls, Korean fried chicken plain or in a sweet and spicy glaze, kimchi fried rice, bulgogi and kimbap. Starters sit around £7.50 and most mains between £9 and £17. It is independent, open seven days, and its own booking form already takes parties of more than six.

The Fountain Inn

Westgate Street

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