Standout Sunday roasts
Published 31 October 2025

Describing their venue as a neighbourhood restaurant inside a 19th-century pub, the good folk at The Camberwell Arms have an appealing proposition on a busy road that slices through SE5. 'Compelling, simple, seasonal' food is the real deal, served up in relaxed, pared-back spaces where the bones of the old pub remain in its stripped floors, fireplaces and high Victorian ceilings. There's a hatch window out front so drinks can pass to thirsty locals on the pavement, and a private dining room with its own bar at the other end of the spectrum. The gauntlet is thrown down with 'Scotch bonnet pork fat on toast' – a dish of fire and fat, and not for the faint-hearted. Share a few small plates such as semolina gnocchi in a 'bright, fresh' San Marzano tomato sauce or charred onions with artichoke pesto and pistachios; otherwise, stick to the trad two- or three-course format. A bigger helping of grilled fish (wild bream or plaice, maybe) arrives with chips and aïoli, while thinly sliced porchetta is dressed with white peaches and rosemary. Two like-minded people can go for sharers such as half a spit-roast chicken (with blistered hispi cabbage and crème fraîche enriched with chicken fat) or aged Hereford rump steak with anchovy dripping. To finish, a 'beautiful' apricot and chocolate galette with crème fraîche and sour-cherry molasses sent one reader away very happy. Sunday lunches catch the eye with more of those sharers as well as roast potatoes cooked with sage and lemon. The drinking options include cocktails and well-chosen wines (from £26.50).

Pause a moment outside this spruced-up village hostelry to view the ancient construction over the adjacent lane, featuring a huntsman, a pack of hounds and a fox whizzing towards the pub. Then do likewise – it’s worth it. Inside, a 2018 refurb has retained the pubby feel, keeping the venerable weathered beams and bare brick fireplaces, along with a bar where drinkers can (and do) enjoy pints of local ale while lounging in armchairs. The dining area features flagstone flooring, an open kitchen, a skylight and French windows looking onto a smart, partially covered beer garden.

Executive chef and owner Brett Barnes has an impressive history, having rattled the pans at Arbutus, Mark Hix, and stellar Swedish venue Fäviken. With his head chef, Charlie Harrison, he produces a well-thought-out, fairly priced menu that’s equally appealing for slap-up celebrations or midweek drop-ins (anyone for a native-breed brisket burger?) The commitment to seasonality is real but understated, so an autumn meal might start with an exemplary pig’s head croquette (crisp coating, luscious, fatty interior) served straight from the pan with celeriac rémoulade and a sweet dollop of crab apple jelly. This could be followed by a sizeable hake fillet, flaky and succulent, atop a milky and flavoursome chowder of chestnut, spinach, sweetcorn and tender surf clams. Puddings, ancient and modern, are equally enticing, whether a caramelised panna cotta with blackberry compôte or a fresh-from-the-oven Bakewell-like apple pie. 

Service from a young, eager team is well-turned-out yet unpretentious (rather like the place itself). Drinks, too, cover most options, from original cocktails to a catch-all wine list, where it’s worth upgrading from the routine house white (£24) to the more intriguing ‘cellar selection’. 

If you are visiting Oban, we strongly recommend making the short detour to this family-run pub with rooms close to the shores of majestic Loch Awe. Once an 18th-century trading post, and set against a dramatic mountainous backdrop, it still functions as a local but is also an all-round destination.

The cosy restaurant offers a ‘top-tier' dining experience, whether you are hankering after a pub classic or something more fancy. The Kilchrenan’s signature Scotch eggs with celeriac rémoulade get a regular thumbs-up, likewise the locally sourced lamb, but expect anything from mussels in cider or wild chanterelles on sourdough toast to beer-battered ‘angel-cut’ haddock, venison and pheasant pie or pan-fried pork belly with salsa verde, onion purée, braised peas and new potatoes.

Lunchtime sandwiches, soups, burgers and suchlike make handy fuel for passing walkers and cyclists, the Sunday roast is regularly booked up, while desserts might include old favourites such as a chocolate brownie with ice cream. To drink, join the throng in the bar for a pint of locally brewed beer (from Fyne Ales just down the road), dip into the line-up of whiskies or pick something from the reasonably priced, accessible wine list. 

The stone-built St Kew, dotted with hanging baskets, and with an expansive trestle-tabled garden full of mature trees behind, dates from the reign of Edward IV, and aims to cover as many of the requirements of a village pub as possible. There are four dining areas, all imbued with an infectious air of country-inn conviviality, and the kitchen also works to the principle of broad choice.

In between the chicken Caesar salad, beer-battered haddock and short-rib cheeseburgers with pickles and fries, there are some more speculative options for the adventurous: raw scallop with ponzu, brown crab emulsion and apple; beetroot gnocchi with courgettes, romesco and feta; pork chop with pea and bean fricassee, Cornish new potatoes and cider sauce, for example. 

Desserts cover a lot of ground, from sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce, ginger crumb and clotted cream to poached pineapple with coconut ice cream. There's usually some Cornish cheese too (perhaps Trelawny from Whalesborough Farm Foods in Marhamchurch), while Sunday roasts might bring apple-smoked sirloin and rare-breed pork belly with their time-honoured seasonal  accompaniments – all cooked with consummate care and attention to detail. Local beers and ciders are the jewels in the crown of a drinks list that also takes in some well-chosen mainstream wines.

With forested hills sloping onto fields of grazing sheep and the Gothic remains of Byland Abbey towering over the entrance, this pub with rooms is a dream ticket – no wonder it was snapped up by chef Tommy Banks (the Black Swan at Oldstead is nearby). Inside, there’s a little bar with a snug for those wanting a drink, but the main action takes place in the three dining rooms, one of which is the former piggery – an expansive room with beams, giant flagstones and a double-facing log-burning stove, all illuminated by a conservatory-style skylight. The mood is relaxed and staff stay on top of their tasks, while cute details in the handsome finishes speak of Tommy Banks’ pedigree.

The food also makes a connection to the Banks family farm (without labouring the point), and chef Charlie Smith serves up a procession of seriously appealing, modern pub-style dishes – an incredibly original Dexter steak tartare, perhaps, cut into uniform nuggets resembling translucent rubies decorated with grated wild horseradish, fermented peppers and smoked bone marrow. Elsewhere, there might be a light, elegant plate of smoked Pablo beetroot with ewe’s curd, preserved Yorkshire rhubarb and linseed crackers for texture. Some of the meaty main courses such as a pork rib chop with fermented mushroom béarnaise could do with a little finessing, although fish dishes hit the spot – judging by a pitch-perfect serving of cod with a splendid mussel cream sauce and purple-red potatoes on the side.

Everything is executed with flair, professionalism and a deep respect for local ingredients – and that extends to the dazzling roasts served for Sunday lunch (check out the rare-breed Berkshire pork and Herdwick lamb from the family farm, just two miles away). If you're looking for real value, however, order the mighty Dexter cheeseburger with fries, plus a pint of Yorkshire-brewed ale and a shared dessert – say a soft-serve sundae topped with Douglas fir, blackcurrant and white chocolate. Aside from real ale, drinks include seasonal cocktails, homemade libations and a short but decent selection of wines with plenty by the glass.

Standing at a country crossroads on the edge of the Fonthill Estate, this handsome, ivy-clad 18th-century inn (part of the Beckford group, a collection of four independent pubs in the region), is surprisingly handy for the A303. It’s a hugely enjoyable place, very much an all-rounder, with a dog-friendly bar at its heart supported by various dining rooms, all suitably gentrified with cosy country-luxe decor, open fires, evening candles and auction room finds. When the sun shines, a covered terrace opens onto an acre of mature gardens.

The menu hits that ‘something for everyone’ note spot-on, with a line-up ranging from evergreens along the lines of fish and chips, sirloin steak (on the bone) with classic sauces, and an above-the-norm Sunday roast to seasonal ideas such as exemplary chalk stream trout tartare layered with yogurt and plum, or a combo of green and yellow courgettes, cut into ribbons and served in a pleasing jumble with goat's curd and pickled chilli dressing. To follow, our monkfish tail was perfectly cooked on the bone and teamed (deliciously) with leeks and curry butter, while a robust dish of flavourful pork chop with BBQ courgettes and preserved Isle of Wight tomatoes struck a more rustic note.

Desserts are mostly reworked classics – the star turn for us was a chocolate mousse with Wye Valley cherries and brandy. Fast, friendly service is delivered by a young team, while knowledgeable dabbling around the globe satisfies most palates and budgets on a wine list that offers good choice under £40.

Only a few miles from Hay-on-Wye, this former drovers’ inn close to the Welsh border is so peaceful and secluded that it's no surprise many visitors remark on the ‘spectacular setting’. Sympathetically renovated and reopened in 2021 by local regenerative food and farming company Wild by Nature, the pub has a timeless charm. Inside, the split-level dining rooms have thick stone walls, wonky-beamed ceilings, slate floors and a large open fireplace. Outside, a large, pretty garden offers tables with stunning views under the watchful presence of Herefordshire’s imposing Black Hill.

A strong connection to the land and a deep respect for ingredients shine through the seasonally changing menu. Dining here is farm-to-table and nose-to-tail, with ingredients grown or reared at a nearby farm owned by the restaurant group. Almost everything, from the charcuterie to the cheese biscuits, is made in-house. Whether this is a wild garlic soup with a fried hen’s egg and prosciutto, Black Mountain hogget and merguez with white beans and green sauce, or a buttermilk pudding with rhubarb jelly, hyper–local ingredients are treated with a respect and care that enables their flavours to sing. 

Everyone has a good word to say about the friendly and attentive staff, while drinks feature local beers and ciders as well as a short list of minimal intervention wines, which offers a better choice by the bottle than the glass. Accommodation is in four bespoke 'wild cabins' in the grounds of the pub.

‘Our local’ noted one reader proudly. For anyone with misgivings about pubs with restaurant inclinations, this urban hostelry should set you straight. As befits a sibling of Southwark’s Anchor & Hope, Stoke Newington’s Clarence Tavern, and the Magdalen Arms in Oxford, the Canton Arms is fully committed to its role as an old-fashioned city boozer. Low-lit and friendly, there’s pretty much a 50/50 split between drinkers knocking back pints of real ale in the front bar and diners in for some consistently delicious food in the dining area at the back.

Ingredients are seasonally spot-on, with the daily changing menu delivering anything from labneh with walnut and pomegranate dressing or crispy blood cake with homemade quince jam to roast hake with crab bisque, steamed potatoes and gremolata or duck confit with Puy lentils. After that, there might be bread-and-butter pudding with praline sauce, which was recently reported as ‘something I dream of weekly’.

It’s all considered good value, and that includes the line-up of drinks, which range from an ‘amazing’ selection of real ales on rotation and an impressive list of classic cocktails to a perfectly judged European wine list.

At the hub of a Sussex hilltop village, with a sunny terrace overlooking the local church, this reimagined 16th-century inn has all the nooks, crannies, inglenooks, oak beams and floral displays that you could wish for. Efficient, cheery staff keep things rolling along, bringing ‘pint milk bottles’ of water to each table as a matter of course. The place gets packed and everyone is here for the food – thanks to a confident kitchen that can deliver consistent crowd-pleasing dishes from a regular menu and a chalked-up specials board that included a tempting with a crab-topped crumpet with cucumber and almond cream.

Burgers, pies and battered fish keep the traditionalists happy, but there's room for invention too: a well-balanced goat’s cheese brûlée delivered on all fronts, with a fine lavosh cracker alongside, while cod fillet was perfectly pan-fried, with impressive accompaniments including a crayfish beurre noisette, silky-smooth celeriac purée, savoy cabbage and crispy Parmesan-crusted potatoes. Meaty choices range from Surrey ribeye steaks with peppercorn butter to haunch of local venison richly embellished with a braised shoulder tartlet, quince poached in mulled wine, potato terrine and a boozy sauce. And on Sundays, the prospect of three ultra-traditional roasts guarantees regular full houses.

The kitchen puts on a show when it comes to desserts: our deep-filled lemon tart had bags of citrus tang, with blackberry purée and blackberry sorbet on the side, while a dark chocolate terrine was lifted by a raspberry sorbet and maple-flavoured honeycomb. The well-considered wine collection offers oodles by the glass, including a range of Sussex sparklers.

Let's all get over the fact that it isn't geographically Cornish, but resident on a town-centre street in the west of Devon. This is a lively venue that manages an impressive balancing act between pub and restaurant, the more so since the extensive refurbishment it underwent back in 2022.

While the menu format rests on broad choice, as before, there is a distinctly more adventurous air to the nibbles, which now embrace buttermilk king prawns with smoked paprika mayonnaise or teriyaki chicken wings. The main menu continues to offer a broad range of options, with a mixture of traditional pub fare and modern classics. Expect ham hock Scotch egg with blue cheese and beer-pickled onions to open the show, ahead of roast cod with brown shrimp vinaigrette in béarnaise or a distinctly elegant butter-roasted breast of guinea fowl, served with Jerusalem artichokes, pearl barley and hazelnuts in sherry gravy.

Fifteen minutes seems a small investment of time to be rewarded with a mango soufflé, served with the full regalia of pineapple compôte, coconut sorbet and clotted cream or you could get instant satisfaction from a Yorkshire strawberry trifle in season. Fans also dote over the traditional Sunday lunch, which offers the likes of roast sirloin with sublime brisket to best end of Saddleback pork alongside maple-glazed pork belly. A user-friendly wine list is arranged by style, and the glasses come in all three sizes.

‘So consistent, cosy and welcoming,’ commented one regular visitor to this fine old 16th-century inn a short detour from some of the National Park’s best trails. Since taking over in 2019, the Barker-Jones family have given the oak-beamed, slate-floored interior a satisfying makeover, with lots of attention to detail (note the lovely hand-painted photos on the walls). ‘You would feel welcome to just pop in for a drink,’ noted a reporter, but it would be a sin to miss the pub’s main attraction – its menu of carefully sourced local and seasonal food.

The kitchen delivers ‘deep full-on flavours’ across the board, from hunks of warm home-baked bread with Netherend butter and bowls of verdant pea soup topped with seasonal ramsons to panna cotta with rhubarb and shortbread or treacle tart given extra zing with confit orange, candied zest and crystallised ginger ice cream. In between, Jail Ale-battered haddock with triple-cooked chips is a winner, likewise the cider-braised West Country pork fillet and the stone bass and Teignmouth mussels with fennel, samphire and mussel velouté. It’s also worth working up an appetite for the effusively praised Sunday lunch with its offer of roast moorland sirloin and the like. 

Service from really professional, welcoming staff is all you could wish for, as is the wide-ranging drinks list, which covers everything from local Dartmoor Ale to classic cocktails and a small but varied list of mostly Old World wines.

Are Oisín Rogers, Charlie Carroll and Ashley Palmer-Watts champions of a new era in pubs? The Devonshire is certainly one of the most enjoyable places to eat in the capital – if you can get in (far too many people want to eat here). Yet it looks set to become an institution – and long may it continue, for this is no ordinary pub. Ingredients are impeccable and the strong meat-focused menu serves the kind of dishes you want to eat, especially in the lively environment of a central London watering hole where drinkers have their own space and staff are noted for their relaxed expertise. Dining rooms are divided between the first and second floors where, under the direction of Ashley Palmer-Watts (formerly executive chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal), the kitchen applies a certain simplicity and accuracy of cooking to impeccable ingredients.

Flames are at the heart of the operation, with wood-fired Ibérico pork chops, lamb cutlets, fillet, ribeye and T-bone steaks (plus lobsters) keeping company with the likes of lamb hotpot or beef and Guinness suet pudding on the hand-scrawled menu. Three wonderfully meaty scallops, lightly roasted, served in the shell with nothing more than a buttery, vinegary sauce and strips of crisp bacon, is a terrific opener that hammers home the kitchen’s modus operandi – namely sourcing prime ingredients and treating them with the utmost simplicity. And there’s something deeply comforting about a fixed price, no-choice lunch that can deliver real quality and value in the shape of prawn and langoustine cocktail, skirt steak with excellent chips and béarnaise sauce, and light, luscious sticky toffee pudding – all for £29.

Sunday's roast ribs of beef carved from a silver-domed trolley are terrific value too and have helped restore the tradition in this part of town. To drink, everyone orders Guinness – it’s fast achieving cult status here – and you can drink well without breaking the bank from the mainly European wine list. The pub now has its own 40-cover rooftop terrace for fine-weather dining (note that you can't book this separately). 

Part of Charles and Edmund Inkin’s 'Eat, Drink, Sleep' trilogy – which also includes the Gurnard’s Head and the Old Coastguard in Cornwall – this ever-popular pub with rooms is, in many ways, an archetypal dream of a country inn. It transports you to a half-imagined heyday of fireside sofas, knobbly brickwork, low beams and quarry tiled floors, with craft ales at the bar and fresh, home-cooked food buoyed up by produce from the kitchen garden.

For all its heritage vibes, the Griffin is also a slick, modern operation, with polished service and a properly cheffy kitchen (headed by Gwenann Davies). Her repertoire includes traditional ideas such as broccoli and Stilton soup or lamb rump with faggot, peas and red wine gravy alongside more contemporary dishes – perhaps a sticky glazed BBQ short rib with sweet, spiky kimchi, luscious sriracha mayo and fresh herbs, ahead of pearly, crisp-skinned hake with a crunchy, breadcrumbed crab and chorizo cake, set on an intense, velvety, red pepper purée.

Each dish is carefully considered, right through to dessert. A voluptuous white chocolate mousse with berry ice cream, fresh raspberries and crunchy, bittersweet honeycomb provided a satisfying end to our most recent visit. Sunday lunch is an ultra-traditional feast featuring meat from the lowland hills, greenery from the garden and plenty of homely touches. In addition to real ales, drinkers can pick from a fair-sized wine list that has been annotated with personality as well as knowledge; the numerous options by the glass are well worth considering. 

On the fringes of a 1,000-acre deer park just four miles from the Norfolk coast, this idiosyncratic pub/restaurant with rooms is quite a prospect. The grey-stone exterior may seem rather stark but inside all is comforting, thanks to soft, warm furnishings, lots of varnished woodwork, leather, blazing fires and the owners' collection of contemporary British art from the likes of Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Lucien Freud.

A recently acquired walled garden and chicken coop bolster the kitchen's larder, while big-boned British dishes are the order of the day. Much attention focuses on the mighty Elk Room fire, where cuts of meat are dramatically cooked to order as you watch from your table – expect anything from Blythburgh pork chops, ribs of beef and herby Gunton venison sausages to flavoursome sirloin steak served with goose-fat roasties, sauces and rowan jelly. Rich, carefully seasoned pies are also something of a trademark (perhaps chicken, bacon and leek) and there’s fish from the coast too (sea trout with seashore vegetables and King’s Lynn shrimps, for example). For afters, a delicate Amedei chocolate mousse was the standout for one visitor, but there’s also comfort to be had from the vanilla cheesecake with rhubarb or the Bramley apple and almond tart.

Sunday brings roast Aberdeen Angus sirloin as well as roasted chickens, which are carved by skilled staff and served with veg from the walled garden, garlicky bread sauce and a spectacular gravy that elevates the whole feast to another level. Everyone praises the cheerful, prompt and ‘incredibly friendly’ service too. Norfolk ales are on tap in the bar and the short wine list offers a decent spread at fair prices.

Some pub restaurants flatter to deceive, with fancy menus that don’t deliver. Others offer a short repertoire of dishes that transcend expectations. The Howard Arms is of this second happy breed – and some. A handsome and venerable Cotswold hostelry, it is well-used by locals who gather in the bar to sup pints of local ale. Up a few stairs is the restaurant, which provides decorum as well as conviviality (note the old pictures of country scenes, all fashionably decorated with allium seeds in November). 

Chef Chris Ellis (formerly at the Killingworth Castle) has produced a brief menu that has space for the classics (burgers, fish and chips) as well as more elaborate dishes. Choose the latter and you’re unlikely to be disappointed. For us, a thick chunk of pork belly set the tone: luscious fat, crisp skin and tender meat, accompanied by mouthwateringly tangy homemade brown sauce, plus crunchy rémoulade and a mound of flavoursome black pudding. To follow, a perfect, plate-filling lemon sole was cooked with split-second accuracy on the bone and matched with an abundance of potted shrimps, samphire and new potatoes in a pool of butter. Meat-based mains more than pass muster too, judging by an equally generous portion of juicy duck breast with Puy lentils and beetroot.

To round things off, an exemplary apple and blackberry crumble with custard was zesty, crunchy and creamy in all the right places. The concise wine list provides admirable back-up, service is informative and friendly, and prices are moderate for the Cotswolds. What’s more, Sunday lunch receives special acclaim for ‘melt in the mouth’ meat, a ‘great veggie option’ and (our favourite) ‘unlimited gravy’. How civilised.

The venerable Merry Harriers is to be found in the village of Hambledon (not the Hampshire one) near Godalming, a rural enclave set in a buffer of fields and woodland. It has been kitted out to suit the modern mood, with a soft green colour scheme and bentwood chairs at unclothed tables, plus candlelight in the evenings and fires in winter. A menu that exhaustively lists all the kitchen's and cellar's local suppliers inspires confidence, and the food is just what country-pub aficionados want to eat, with plenty of praise lavished on the Sunday lunch offer – a choice of ‘impeccably cooked’ roast platters, piled high and designed for two to share.

On the regular menu, lightly horseradished smoked mackerel pâté might compete with Trenchmore Farm beef tartare and plum ketchup, before mains take flight with some more adventurous ideas. Pork chop with sweetcorn, girolles and pickled walnuts delivered an impressive array of flavours when we visited, the superlative quality of the meat shining forth; a pheasant schnitzel with pickled red cabbage and pink firs was almost as good, although it needed a little more in the way of lubrication than an evanescent suggestion of beurre noisette. A fish option could be baked hake in bouillabaisse with saffron-scented fennel, while pumpkin and spelt risotto with hazelnuts, sage and chilli provides robust sustenance on the vegetable front. 

At the sticky end of things, everybody will feel spoilt by the likes of gingered-up sticky toffee pudding or a version of knickerbocker glory that finds room for chocolate mousse, candied orange and bits of homemade brownie. There's an impressive varietal spread on the carefully compiled wine list, ascending to the majesty of a mature classed-growth St-Émilion at a fraction of what you would pay in the not-too-distant capital.

For decades, the Milbrook has defended its reputation as a reliable source of decent pub food in the South Hams but since Caitlin Owens took on ownership in 2021, it has found a new stride. Elegant restoration has amplified the cosy low-ceilinged hostelry into a sophisticated destination, whether you’re staying in the rooms across the road, or rocking up sandy-footed from the beach, ready for a pint of Salcombe Brewery Ocean Cider by the babbling brook at the back.

Beyond good looks, the menu is bolstered by its connection to Fowlescombe – a luxury rural retreat and working regenerative farm – and by Elly Wentworth, who works as executive chef across both sites, balancing prime ingredients with an approachable menu. Brixham crab and fresh corn chowder made for a swoon-worthy opener on our most recent visit, while a Toulouse sausage was packed with flavour and the triple-cooked chips were as good as you’d hope.

Sunday lunches and seasonal desserts such as Fowlescombe farm honey and fig trifle with roasted hazelnuts complete the package, while on dark nights the fireside beckons for a pre- or post-prandial trip through the adventurous wine list, which uses the Coravin system to offer maximum interest by the glass. Service can fluctuate with the seasons but it always supports a convivial hubbub of happy diners.

In historic Hereford, on the fringes of the Wye Valley, this coaching inn with rooms has been sympathetically renovated by its current owners. Delightfully wonky wooden beams divide the high-ceilinged dining room with large stone fireplaces at either end. Tartan banquettes in warming colours offer comfy seating at polished wooden tables and everyone praises the ‘welcoming, friendly and helpful staff’. Using excellent local produce, the kitchen makes almost everything in-house, from the bay-infused butter accompanying the complimentary olive focaccia to the ice cream laced with Wye Valley Butty Bach ale that is teamed with a moreish (indeed Moorish) sticky medjool date pudding.

You are welcome to mix and match between the carte and bar menus, which is good news because the warm, runny-centred Welsh Dragon Scotch egg with fruity brown sauce from the former is a cracker. Otherwise, choices from the main menu might include a Lancashire Bomber cheese soufflé with red onion jam followed by fillet of cod on a bed of monk’s beard and herby potato cake dressed with a slick of hot homemade tartare sauce. Generous desserts might feature a ‘coffee lover’ duo of tiramisu and affogato puddings, and there's a tempting, locally sourced cheeseboard too.

Sunday roasts featuring perfectly aged sirloin of Herefordshire beef or leg of lamb garner particular praise from locals.‘Every element is reliably spot on; comforting, indulgent and absolutely delicious,’ notes one fan. The short, workaday wine list is supplemented by excellent local ales and cider on tap, plus an enticing cocktail selection.

Squeezed between a busy road and the Stourbridge Canal basin, this recently renovated industrial-era pub attracts fervent local support – especially for its Sunday roasts, where ‘perfectly pink’ beef, ‘amazing’ beetroot Wellington, and ‘phenomenal’ Yorkshires are singled out. The modern interior, with wooden flooring, sensitive lighting and a woodburning stove, has a homely, family feel in winter, while a tarmacked beer garden with views of the canal adds summertime appeal and is soon to be converted into a separate dining area.

Local suppliers are proudly name-checked on the main menu, which offers an appealing blend of modern pub food and Mediterranean-accented cooking. The kitchen is renowned for 'very generous portions’, and our visit began with an unnervingly huge ‘small plate’ of tender beef brisket surrounded by cheesy Parmesan polenta and topped with salsa verde. A request for horseradish brought a saucer of the freshly grated root in cream – the kitchen’s attention to detail is impressive. The ensuing ‘large plate’ was equally full flavoured and bountiful: a glisteningly white fillet of cod resting on a stew of beans, tomatoes and chorizo.

Puddings are also enticing – our tangy Bramley and cranberry crumble (paired with salted-caramel ice cream) came with unexpected squares of toasted gingerbread to boost its crunch. Staff receive universal praise; we found them polite, on-the-ball and exceedingly prompt. Breakfast (served Thursday to Sunday) includes the likes of kedgeree and shakshuka as well as the ‘Full Monty’. Wines are supplied by a local vintner, and the brief, good-value list is a cut above the norm; alternatively, enjoy a pint of real ale from a choice of four regularly rotated brews. This is, after all, a proper pub.

A pubby success story if ever there was one, this handsome stone hostelry was gifted to Clipsham by a local squire in 1890 and rescued from extinction by three friends in 1999. Since then, it has become a shining star on the Rutland scene with its open-minded community spirit and forward-thinking approach to food and drink. The Olive Branch was an early adopter of local sourcing and still name-checks its ever-growing list of suppliers, as well as topping up its larder with home-grown produce from an increasingly productive ‘pub paddock’.

The kitchen caters for all appetites and predilections – whether your preference is for haddock and chips, courgette and sage tagliatelle or venison haunch with braised onion, roast beetroot and chocolate tortellini. Starters are equally creative, ranging from cockle-warming leek velouté bolstered by Westcomb Cheddar dumplings, miso leeks and croûtons to trendy cured salmon with nori, yuzu, pickled tapioca and buttermilk sauce, while dessert might bring tonka-bean panna cotta, mulled poached figs or an Eccles cake with Barkham Blue cheese.

Sunday lunch also ‘delivers on every level’, with locally sourced beef sirloin or roast pork loin supplemented by a ‘full house of veggies’ and rich, dark gravy. On the drinks front, top-notch regional ales and an ever-changing list of good-value wines receive equal billing, with Coravin selections signalling the owners’ serious intent in this field. Readers are also keen to praise the pub's relaxing, homely vibe and the top-drawer service from polite, attentive staff who are happy to ‘go that extra mile’. Accommodation is available at Beech House, across the road. 

Tucked away in a remote valley in the southwest corner of the North York Moors National Park, Hawnby is an estate village of mellow sandstone, with a church, a pub and a village store. John Wesley visited here in 1757 calling it ‘one of the pleasantest parts of England’ – and we agree. Surrounded by forest and the heather-covered Hawnby Hill, it is a beautiful spot attracting walkers and shooting types who pay handsomely for a day on the estate’s grouse moor. The Owl (a former drover’s inn) sits at the top of the village and gives a commanding view over this stunning countryside.

Here Sam Varley, who previously ran Bantam in Helmsley, has created a welcoming retreat, a place to come for unfussy food and a comfortable bed for the night. Whether you eat in the stone-flagged bar in front of a warming stove, the dining room or the splendid terrace on sunny days, you'll find crowd-pleasing dishes such as chicken, leek and bacon pie or pork T-bone with roasted peach, green beans and pine-nut vinaigrette. Back in the day, cheap monkfish was often passed off as scampi; nowadays it’s a luxury fish and Varley’s monkfish scampi with curry mayo is fabulous.

Also expect devilled kidneys on toast, piles of hot, melting cheese gougères and cracking Sunday lunches – generously sliced aged sirloin of beef with horseradish cream, rolled shoulder of Yorkshire lamb or game birds in season (red-legged partridge or pot-roast grouse, perhaps). Puddings might be a refreshing grapefruit and Campari sorbet or a homely rhubarb sponge and custard. To drink, there are hand-pulled Yorkshire ales, while low-intervention wines figure prominently on a list that offers plenty by the glass.

Hayfield in the Peak District was the birthplace of Arthur Lowe, Dad's Army's Captain Mainwaring, and is a favoured rest-stop for those tramping the Derbyshire hills. At its heart, the stone-built Pack Horse aims to be more than just the standard village pub, with a conscientious ethos of sustainable supplies from local sources, ranging from meat butchered only four miles away to unimpeachable regional fresh produce.

Menus follow the rhythm of the seasons (as celebrated in the kitchen's own cookbook) and the food has the kind of contemporary appeal that makes the place a destination. Glazed High Peak lamb belly appears surprisingly in a starter with a leafy salad and yoghurt, while scallops in brown butter gain an edge from pickled apple and kohlrabi.

Fish is generally handled with assurance, producing a main course of charcoal-roasted halibut with mushroom and smoked bacon bourguignon and pommes Anna accompaniments, while similar inspiration from the French provincial cookbook informs a dish of pork belly with a cassoulet of trotter and beans plus a salsa verde dressing. The charcoal oven comes into its own on Wednesdays, when a special menu includes Barnsley chops and rump steak.

To finish, there might be blood-orange and olive-oil cake with whipped ricotta or salted-caramel custard tart and almond Chantilly. Quality growers abound on the inspiring wine list, which opens with small glasses at £5.70, before darting acquisitively around both hemispheres.

On a rural stretch of road three miles from Rye, the Plough encapsulates many people’s idea of what a country pub should be like. A garden with ‘exceptional views’ beckons in fine weather and a convivial atmosphere prevails. Indeed, a complete lack of pretence is an undoubted plus, from the scuffed floorboards, plain tables and wood burners to an informal approach to eating – ‘delicious, seasonal and locally sourced,’ is how it appeared to one visitor.

The simple, good-value weekday lunch is well reported and is bolstered by a straightforward carte – a mix of pub classics (battered haddock and fries, Winchelsea lamb shoulder pie), and more complex combinations ranging from cured chalk stream trout pastrami with cornichons, cabbage and mustard crème fraîche to a ‘sensational’ main course of onion bhaji Scotch egg Madras with Bombay potatoes, mint yoghurt and greens.

Sunday roasts are reckoned to be ‘leaps and bounds better than anywhere else in the area’, with the Yorkshire puddings and cauliflower cheese (made with Sussex Charmer and Twineham Grange) singled out for special praise. To finish, the sticky toffee pudding has also impressed, as have the staff, whose warm welcome and good humour extends to small children and dogs. As for drinks, Harvey’s Sussex Best is on draught, while the compact wine list offers reasonably priced drinking from £27 a bottle. Accommodation is in 'the loft' – a self-contained flat above the pub.

Following on from the Tamil Prince in Barnsbury, Prince Durairaj (of Roti King fame) has repeated the formula in what was the old Charles Lamb pub on Elia Street, just behind Angel station. The Tamil Crown is almost a carbon copy of its predecessor, although it feels calmer and there’s more space: the venue is spread over two floors with a traditional dining room upstairs and a ground-floor space including a bar, complete with a cosy fireplace, candles and a sofa – ideal if you fancy a pint and a quick bite.

Staff are keen to upsell, but we prefer to keep it cheap and simple by ordering just one dish – the beef masala uthappam (like a smaller, thick dosa spread with spicy meat) is an ‘absolute standout’. Quite a few staple dishes have made the move from the Prince to the Crown, notably regional classics from the eponymous Tamil Nadu region of the subcontinent: the crispy okra fries, robata lamb chops and Thanjavur chicken curry are all present and correct, although our prawn moilee suffered from cloying coconut overkill.

The billowing, flaky roti breads are excellent (as you would expect given Prince Durairaj’s background) and drinkers have plenty of ales on tap, as well as some spiced-up cocktails and well-chosen wines. Also check out the Sunday menu, with its masala-roasted chickens and lamb shanks plus Indian veg, roast potatoes and gravy. 

*Peter Eaton (long-serving executive chef at the Woodspeen) has replaced Grahame Wickham as head chef.*

‘It’s the whole package,’ affirms one of the White Hart’s many advocates. The setting is a sprawling 15th-century pub a short drive from Oxford featuring a stunning dining hall with a soaring beamed ceiling, weighty wooden furniture and a stone fireplace. A mezzanine, a bar serving local ales, and an ‘orangery’ (popular for summertime pizzas) are further enticements. Happy young black-clad staff help to lighten the mood, aided by an all-encompassing drinks list and a menu of tempting modern assemblies ranging from posh fish and chips to more ambitious French-accented dishes.

Co-owner Mark Chandler has handed over the day-to-day cheffing duties to Grahame Wickham, who is maintaining the pub's reputation for assured, seasonally attuned cooking. Our November visit opened with a pairing of goat's cheese mousse and deep-fried goat's cheese bonbons with fig chutney and fresh figs from the owners' tree, while a main course of pan-roasted duck breast upped the ante, the juicy, tender meat well-matched with zesty preserved plums, kale and mashed sweet potato. Fish is also impressively handled, witness a handsome serving of succulent on-the-bone monkfish ‘bourguignon’, presented with pommes Anna and smoked pancetta in a tasty red wine jus.

Best of all was a gratifyingly large portion of lusciously creamy custard tart with poached pear, pear ice cream and a crunchy mouthful of honeycomb, full of bonfire-night flavours. There's also high praise for the Sunday roasts, topped up with seasonal vegetables from the pub's own garden and served with ‘pride and enthusiasm’. Small wonder that this package is often bursting at the seams with customers.

Opened under new ownership at the end of 2023, this old red brick pub on a city-centre backstreet has a deceptively large and modern interior. For drinkers, there’s a bar and a cosy snug (along with high-quality real ales and cider on tap), while diners have various options: a section off the bar with round tables as well as seating for couples, a first-floor space (the Gallery) for private parties, and a bright ground-floor ‘Orangery’ overlooking the little urban garden.

Like the decor, the food is contemporary in style – a collection of small and large plates (available all-day on Fridays and Saturdays) served by enthusiastic young staff who also get an honourable mention from readers. There’s ambition here, both in the drinks selection (pairings from the well-thought-out wine list are offered with main courses) and the food, which incorporates fusion assemblies as well as pub food of the burger/meat-platter ilk.

Results can vary, with the stars at inspection being an expertly judged ‘small plate’ of three ox cheek tacos (tender meat and crunchy cucumber salsa, topped with a generous squiggle of spicy chermoula), and a moreish pudding of warm carrot and pecan cake with delectable ‘beurre noisette’ cream cheese and ice cream. Less accomplished was a ‘large plate’ of smoked tofu laksa (one of several diverting vegetarian options), where authentic Asian flavours were hard to discern among the general creaminess. A convivial hubbub and a groovy soundtrack of obscure 60s and 70s tunes (chosen by the staff) add to the vibe, and we've had abundant praise for the Sunday roasts.