LARDON

LARDON is in Cheltenham.

In the Cotswolds, a new Elkstone Studios opening might suggest soft-focus countryside lunch. The restaurant is more specific: a European-leaning place built around butchery, bakery, dry-aged beef, and Basque-inflected dishes, not a broad country-pub template.

Dry-aged beef is the reason to pay attention

The key reason to book is sourcing. The restaurant comes from the team behind Jesse Smith & WJ Castle and KNEAD Bakery, and the menu leans into meat, bread, and deli-adjacent cooking rather than treating provenance as decoration. The headline order is 4-5 week dry-aged Vacca Padana Italian beef, served as T-bone, sirloin, or rib, with a minimum 1kg cut for 2-3 people. There is also a dry-aged speciality steak option, with the day’s cuts handled at table level.

First-timers should treat this as a sharing-order venue, not somewhere to build a light solo meal from small plates. The menu points to grilled, protein-led cooking: lobster bisque, Provençal herb chicken with truffle and Parmigiano Reggiano, dressed crab with avocado and Piquillo, and grilled radicchio with fig and walnut around the beef. The Basque breakfast plate, soft baked eggs, Iberico chorizo, Piquillo pepper, anchovy, grilled avocado, salsa verde, and sourdough, gives a clearer read on the kitchen’s flavour direction than the European label alone.

Good for a planned group, less clear for a quick drop-in

The strongest practical fit is a planned meal for people sharing large-format beef. The restaurant lists a privatised space for parties of 10 to 30 guests, making it more useful for events than many small countryside openings. Dessert and cheese stay direct: ice cream floats, sorbetto, Taleggio, Gorgonzola, Manchego, or a three-cheese option. Go when shared steak is the point; choose elsewhere for a fully mapped tasting-menu structure or published chef-led format.