THE Guardian's restaurant critic Grace Dent has given a thumbs up to the new Mollie's diner off the A420 - although she has admitted it was 'all a bit weird'.

Writing in her latest restaurant review for the paper, Ms Dent recounted how she had stayed at the motel on the Oxford to Swindon road on three occasions since it opened in February.

Calling it a 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a soft, sweet burger', she questioned why the motel exists at all, given the only things to do in the area are to visit the Marks & Spencer’s food outlet or lie on your bed 'feeling like Alan Partridge.'

REVIEW: IS Mollie's Diner in Buckland worth a visit?

But she praised the food and the Soho house style as well as the comfortable room and 'aggressive shower.'

She wrote that the only gripe locals have with the new eatery is that it is so hard to get a table, given its no reservations policy. 

She added: "Mollie’s is a cool blast of fresh air for anyone who has eaten through gritted teeth at a Brewers Fayre merely because it’s a family-friendly option and close to a Premier Inn."

The only thing to shatter the illusion was when the kitchen broke down during her stay, forcing her to come to the realisation that she was 'on holiday at a BP garage on the A420.'

Mollie's: look inside Soho House's stylish Oxfordshire diner

Celebrities including Jeremy Clarkson, Dec Donnelly and Richard Bacon, all attended the opening of the diner earlier this year. 

It has continued to attract attention with our own reviewer Katherine MacAlister writing it is 're-defining the budget hotel industry.'