A celebrated food critic has described his most thrilling meal of the summer as one served inside a tent at a picturesque Gloucestershire location.
In a recent piece for The Times, Giles Coren highlighted a travelling restaurant as his standout dining experience of the season, offering three courses for a reasonable £50.
This distinctive eatery operates only seasonally and changes location approximately every week. At the time of his visit, Circus Sauce was based in Minchinhampton. However, visitors arriving now would find only an empty field, as the restaurant has moved on.
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Circus Sauce forms part of the renowned Giffords Circus, which is famed more for its traditional big top, spectacular acrobatics, and daring knife-throwing acts than its food offerings.
Giles Coren also praised other Gloucestershire venues, boldly declaring the Woolpack Inn in Slad, near Painswick and Stroud, as home to “the best burger in the UK, no question.” He also commended Juliet, a small but acclaimed restaurant in Stroud, as being “on peak form.”
The writer and TV presenter credited Dan Chadwick, who owns both establishments, with introducing him to Circus Sauce during its Minchinhampton residency. He wrote: “My most exciting meal of the summer came at Circus Sauce, the travelling, no-choice, three-courses-for-£50 restaurant in a tent that travels around the West Country for most of the year alongside the inimitable Giffords Circus.
“Supper was served family-style at long oak tables… a large squid to start, stuffed with pork and ’nduja and sliced onto a tomato and guindilla sauce, then a whole roast chicken for the four of us, neatly jointed, on a deep green watercress velouté with pickled lemon. Sides were baked hispi cabbage with anchovy and boulangère potatoes. It was top-flight, imaginative home cooking-not the kind of thing I had feared might resemble wedding catering.”
The “immaculate” profiteroles were a notable highlight, and he awarded the entire dining experience a precise 9.33 out of 10. Coren encouraged readers to visit Circus Sauce during its upcoming visit to Stroud later this month (September).
Giffords Circus organisers describe Circus Sauce as “a unique, travelling licensed restaurant” offering a weekly changing menu with three courses priced from £50 for adults and £30 for children. The restaurant aims to deliver a “rustic, extravagant, inspired three-course feast,” led by head chef Eva Maddison.
The circus performed at Minchinhampton Common for a 12-day run in July and August before moving to Marlborough in Wiltshire. Since 27 August, it has been at Stratton Meadows in Cirencester, where it will remain until Monday 7 September.
The 2023 season will conclude back at the circus’s headquarters, Fennells Farm in Stroud, where it will entertain visitors from 10 to 27 September. Tickets for Circus Sauce are sold separately from the circus performances, allowing guests to dine without attending the show, although they may feel they are missing out on the full experience.
In addition to the restaurant, Giffords Circus features wagons serving hot foods such as hotdogs, fries, candy floss, popcorn, and ice cream, alongside the Cantina Wagon offering Mexican dishes. This year also saw the introduction of The Woolpack on Wheels, a collaboration between Giffords Circus and The Woolpack, serving drinks and bar snacks.