As I neared the ninth mile of my leg in the Cotswolds Way Relay, my mind was singularly focused on one thing: lunch. The destination? Juliet in Stroud, a restaurant that’s been turning heads since opening its doors in October last year.
Garnering rave reviews, including high praise from food critic Grace Dent who named it one of her top five restaurants in the country, Juliet has quickly become a local favorite, drawing in a number of celebrities. Having visited before, I was eager to dive back into their enticing menu.
Housed in the charming Old Music Centre, this small but impeccably designed space offers two inviting rooms. The front room overlooks the bustling street and the famed farmers’ market just outside. Tucked away at the back is the intimate Piano Room, with just a few tables adorned with bistro-style mirrors and wax-dripped bottles, creating a cozy and stylish atmosphere.
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The service was warm and attentive from the get-go, making us—a family of four—feel right at home as we perused the carefully curated menu. As I waited, I decided on a gin martini that arrived perfectly chilled with a crisp lemony bite, making me reconsider my usual Negroni preference.
The menu is beautifully structured: small bites like gilda and pan con tomate; mid-sized dishes such as beef carpaccio with fennel salame and tomato mozzarella; and mains including delicate tagliarini with mussels and lemon, pork chop with peas and anchovy, Anjou pigeon, and mackerel with sauce vierge. Each dish sounded irresistible.
We started with house bread, gilda skewers, panisse topped with parmesan, and a white peach with burrata—a dish I would come to remember fondly. From the mains, we chose lamb cutlets with fasolakia (green beans in herbed sauce) and steak frites accompanied by a complex café de Paris butter sauce. Our children shared the feast, with my daughter enjoying a beautiful small-pasta pomodoro.
The dishes arrived at their own pace, filling our table one delight at a time. The panisse was feather-light and topped with a cloud of parmesan—a true standout. Yet it was the white peach and burrata that lingered, combining ripe, juicy fruit with creamy burrata and a slightly spicy herb sauce to elevate the flavors.
The lamb cutlets were perfectly pink and bursting with flavor, complemented impeccably by the fasolakia. As for the steak frites, despite my usual reluctance to order steak out—since it’s often just as good at home—this was a revelation. The steak was tender, charred to perfection, and the café de Paris sauce offered a harmonious blend of sweet, savory, and subtly spicy notes.
Though full, dessert was irresistible. We shared fig leaf ice cream, affogato, chocolate crémeux, and brown butter cake—each a delightful end to the meal.
The bill totaled £160, including tip. While this might seem steep, it’s competitive compared to many high-street restaurants, and the quality at Juliet far surpasses them all.
As for the Cotswolds Way Relay, our team finished 51st out of 100—a respectable score for ‘veterans’. But without a doubt, I’ll be booking Juliet again for the post-race celebration next year.
Juliet, Old Music Centre, 49 London Rd, Stroud GL5 2AD