Bryn Jones

Bryn Jones

“…a modest but extremely accomplished chef-patron. Bryn cooks delicious food serving it with a minimum of fuss and maximum flavour.” by Rev. R.S.

Before Bryn with his wife Oxana moved to the Scottish Borders in April 2022 they were running The Oxford Arms multi-award-winning dining pub in Kirtlington village, Oxfordshire for 20 years.

After just six months from opening THE GORDON ARMS Restaurant with Rooms in Yarrow Valley, Scottish Borders, Bryn and Oxana Jones were pleased to be awarded four stars from the AA for the rooms and the restaurant and an AA Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence.

In January 2023 they received another prestigious quality assurance award – TASTE OUR BEST – which identifies the best places to eat and drink in Scotland.

Bryn and Oxana are also very conscious of the environment and carbon footprint. They are endeavouring to achieve sustainable tourism for our guests, employees and local community. And as a result, they were chosen one of the five UK nationwide finalists for the Boutique Hotelier Award in both years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 in the category “Best Sustainable Achievement”.

Bryn started his career graduating three colleges including Westminster College, London and then working in several London restaurant including Bentley’s Group, London. He was a co-founder and Operations Director of The Gourmet Pizza company and Riviera Restaurants Group operating six successful restaurants in London for more than ten years. Later he sold his business to Pizza Express and moved to Oxfordshire.

Bryn’s quality cooking excellence was included in the main entrances of the most prestigious International food guides like The Good Food Guide, Sawday’s , AA Pub Guide, The Good Pub Guide and others.

A lot of very positive food critics reviews in the regional and national papers.

His Oxfordshire establishment was included into “The best 500 UK’s places to eat and drink” by Sawday’s Great British Pub Guide. 500 best pubs are just only 1% of the total number of pubs in the UK, therefore, we are very proud to be in this prestigious list.

In December 2023 Bryn and Oxana’s GORDON ARMS Restaurant with Rooms was included into the main entrance of The Good Food Guide with the rating Good+.

Bryn Jones is a very modest Chef-Patron and let one of our customers to say on his behalf: “Dear Bryn, Just to thank you so very much for a wonderful Sunday lunch. It’s always a treat to be cooked for by you, but this meal was particularly memorable. I guess that because you are toiling away at your stove so much of the time, you sometimes don’t realise the remarkable (and consistently excellent) quality of your dishes, in which the flavours and textures of your fine local produce really sing. I eat out quite a lot in London, and get very irritated by expensive, fussy, ‘showing off’ cooking. What a relief to return to well-judged flavour combinations and real quality (that magnificent beef on Sunday, for instance) at very reasonable prices.I can only dimly imagine quite what hard work is involved in running a small eatery at a time of economic stringency; all I can say is that your industry, expertise and invariably warm welcome make eating at your place a consistent delight. With best wishes, Rev. R. S.”

Bryn Jones’s rules are very simple:

We do look after you from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave.

We don’t pile our food up so it looks like a bonfire.

We don’t serve anything but soup in soup plate.

We don’t have ‘A la this’ or ‘A la that’ on our menu.

We do serve only prime cuts of the aged beef.

We do serve more than 80% of local produce.

We do worry about our planet.

Our quality is remembered long after the price is forgiven.