With travel so disrupted because of the Coronavirus pandemic, it seems likely that the first – and potentially most affordable – places we’ll be able to travel to are within the UK. If hearty fare, excellent walks and a comfortable room in the glorious wilds of England is high on the agenda, take a look at our expert guide to the country’s best pubs with rooms – that are wonderful whatever time of the year you stay.
The feel good, revamped country inn may not be a fully-fledged hotel, but it does the same job, and the best of them make perfect weekend boltholes for the modern metropolitan. In many formerly run down country pubs, style, sophistication and good food have been liberally injected by enterprising young owners, but – crucially – not at the expense of their original charm and character. The most genuine of them attract a faithful local clientele to the bar, creating a real sense of their place in the community; others are more cosmopolitan, like mini boutique-hotels-with-beer-and-beams but just as alluring for an affordable few nights away from the city. Here’s our pick of the 50 best pubs with rooms in England.
Buckinghamshire
The Hand & Flowers is hidden in plain sight in Marlow – it looks like an ordinary pub from the roadside, but Tom Kerridge’s two Michelin-starred pub is the reason many come to the charming riverside town. As a destination restaurant (think slow-cooked duck, ganache-covered chocolate and ale cake) with a few off-site rooms, it lends itself to an experiential stay, encouraged by personable staff and cosy, contemporary furnishings in the rooms. Expect wooden beams and original fireplaces alongside stone baths, furry rugs and bold feature walls.
The Mash Inn
Radnage, Buckinghamshire, England
This diminutive 18th-century rural inn with low ceilings is all hiddledy-piggledly wooden beams and soft lighting – and that’s only part of the charm. The unfussy yet exemplary restaurant facing onto the Chiltern Hills is worth a visit alone, and the Mash Inn’s six rooms means guests won’t have far to roll home afterwards. A combination of chef Jon Parry’s talent, the wood-fired open grill, and the on-site, foraged or locally sourced ingredients means there’s depth to dishes like the Medmenham lamb with purple sprouting broccoli and ewe’s curd.
The Crown
Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
This Tudor coaching inn, in the heart of the English shires, is a low-ceilinged period property with heavy wooden furniture, creaking floorboards and cobbled courtyard. Given its Tudor look and feel, the 45 on-trend rooms are a surprise. For what seems like a small inn, there are plenty of facilities such as the Red House Spa, which offers a small gym plus treatments and yoga classes for an extra fee. The cosy tavern, with its encyclopaedic bar staff, offers numerous wines on tap and craft beers. For lunch and dinner head to Hawkyns restaurant, run by the two Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar.
The Chequers
Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England
A tastefully renovated, spacious, unpretentious pub dating from the 18th century. There’s a long bar (propped up by a healthy showing of locals on the night we stayed). You can eat in the bar area (think cushioned wall seats, bare wooden tables, mismatched chairs, olive-green walls), in the high-ceilinged dining extension, and, weather permitting, out on the terrace or on picnic tables on the lawned garden to the rear. The pub champions local produce – in the form of the ales and cider on tap, and the meat, fish, fruit, veg, eggs, cheeses and yogurts, all of which are sourced from named local suppliers. There are seven individually decorated bedrooms.
Pulling up outside The Roebuck it’s pretty much love at first sight; a highly photogenic affair, with gnarly little olive trees planted among the cobbles, red geraniums in the window boxes and a frieze of stencilled deer skipping across the putty-coloured exterior. Inside is like being transported into a rustic-chic corner of Provence, with red-and-black tiled floors, a handsome wood-burner and retro café tables, topped with pots of herbs and candles in wax-covered bottles. The bistro menu, tweaked with the seasons, is European in style, and everything comes in generous portions, , whether it’s ‘small plates’ of cassoulet, caponata and crostini; mains such as saffron risotto, venison bourguignon and moules marinière; or puds of tarte au citron, profiteroles and crème caramel.
Anyone who went to a Victorian school will feel instantly nostalgic when they walk into the pub, with its lofty ceilings, huge windows and chunky iron radiators. This, though, is school gone shabby chic, with a country charm that continues through to the six bedrooms. The bar offers five local cask ales, sourced within a 35-mile radius, but gin is the main event here, with almost 400 different varieties to choose from. Food-wise, you can expect generous portions of superior pub grub, from a menu that’s a mix of sharing plates, seasonal specials and old-school favourites (the hand-raised steak and kidney pie is particularly popular).
Getting here takes you on a rural drive along winding lanes up into the hills, where, just before the top you spot the group of sandstone buildings that make up this popular Cheshire pub. In winter, there are nooks and crannies to cosy up in indoors; in summer; you want to be out in the beer garden or – prime position – sitting on the terrace, soaking up that view. ‘Good, honest, wholesome food’ is the promise, but if you’re expecting standard pub grub, you’re in for a pleasant surprise – it’s definitely a step up. The 12 rooms, divided between the pub and two outbuildings, are a bit of a mixture in terms of style, views and space.
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Cornwall
St Tudy Inn
St Tudy, Cornwall, England
This beautifully renovated 17th-century inn, situated in the charming Cornish village of St Tudy, possesses outstanding culinary credentials. Cosy, with a stripped-back elegance, it combines effortless style with contemporary flavours. The four beautifully appointed rooms, designed by owner and head chef Emily Scott, have been converted from an adjacent derelict barn. Pretty succulents and comfortable bolster cushions add laidback luxury, while the complimentary homemade fudge adds a personal touch. The menu is bursting with colourful dishes, driven by the seasons: frequent use of edible flowers and micro herbs add an exciting and creative twist to the variety of seafood and game.
A country inn offering outstanding food, fabulous sea and moorland views, situated close to St Ives and Land’s End. The bar is a cosy refuge from the elements: log fires burn at each end on cool days. There are stone floors and an assortment of scrubbed pine tables; old hardback books line the walls. The dining room is painted a warm dark red and deep cobalt blue. Lit by church candles, what could have been a cold space takes on a warm convivial atmosphere, especially at night. Plates are kept simple with the short, daily changing menu – dishes include turbot, cauliflower, apple and sultana curry, cod asparagus, dill and cucumber butter and pork belly, black pudding, mash and rhubarb. There are seven simply-decorated rooms.
The New Inn
Tresco, Isles of Scilly, England
This is the only pub on car-free Tresco and has been designed in keeping with the heritage of the building, styled with a New England, nautical theme throughout. It’s home to an eclectic mix of interiors, reclaimed from Tresco Abbey, for example, or Lloyd Loom wicker chairs. Guests can order from regularly changing menus inspired by the seasons using the finest produce from across the islands and the West Country. Expect pub classics, alongside the freshest lobster and crab from Bryher, succulent Tresco-reared Beef, fish landed across the water in Cornwall, and fresh vegetables from Tresco Abbey Garden.
This hidden treasure is a modern day version of a country tavern – it’s at once a genuine pub that brews its own very smooth ales; a lovely restaurant with real local flavour; and a charming hotel with rural-chic bedrooms. There are wood-burning stoves, exposed beams and settles crafted from old barrels. Yet it’s the local spirit that makes this pub particularly special. Many of the vegetables are straight from surrounding Drinkwater Farm and dishes are beautifully presented and packed with local flavour – the likes of hot-smoked Bibury trout salad, and Cotswold lamb with stuffed tomatoes.
From
£
99
half board
This haven of eco-elegance sits in the centre of pretty, honey-stone Kingham, between the church and the village green. In the restaurant, modelled on a vision of an ideal farmhouse kitchen, staff will give you enthusiastic chapter and verse on ingredients (all organic) and cooking techniques. Much of the menu is based on what’s in season from the Daylesford estate – and you get the best of the organic best. Expect slow-cooked pig cheek with smoked eel salad (a fabulous combination) and exquisite partridge with lingonberry berry sauce.
The Royal Oak
Tetbury, Cotswolds, England
Come to the Royal Oak Tetbury at lunchtime or in the evening and you’ll usually find this place buzzing: it’s a much-loved local as well as a weekender’s haven. Décor has been kept simple so as to show off the character of this 1780s building. In keeping with the overall feel-good factor, the restaurant offers well-priced fare based on seasonal produce. There’s a good range, from hearty and traditional pub dishes (burgers, risottos) to salads. For a treat, consider booking the Oak Lodge Suite, spectacular for its wood-beamed ceilings, free-standing bath, and views of the rolling Cotswolds countryside.
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County Durham
Surrounded by the sheep-dotted fields and moors of the North Pennines, you come to this creeper-covered, Georgian coaching inn to eat, relax and then walk it off. Its well-judged sense of rustic charm strikes a happy balance between old-fashioned clutter and contemporary smartness. The Modern British menu shows confident cooking that lets the ingredients shine through; no fuss but definitely interesting (think ham hock terrine with saffron-pickled carrots, or lamb and rosemary sausage with colcannon potato). Eat in the candle-lit dining room or buzzier bar; the latter offers three real ales and a good selection of single malts.
Single rooms from
£
131
Lord Crewe Arms
Blanchland, County Durham, England
A lord-of-the-manor building that oozes atmosphere at every stone-flagged turn. The original fabric of the building – the Abbot’s lodging of a 12th-century priory – has been blended with a 21st-century country manor look. It’s big yet cosy, with quirky corners and an atmospheric barrel-vaulted bar. To relax, there’s an upstairs sitting room, comfy seats in the bar plus a large garden set with tables and chairs. Cooking is robust, with punchy flavours and unpretentious presentation: sweet-cured bacon chop with apple sauce, for example, or cod with aubergine stew.
The modest pale-pink rendered building, set back from the road and opposite the parish church, gives little away. Inside, the former drinkers’ pub has a sassy, metropolitan feel with lots of parquet flooring, panelling, exposed brick walls, and velvet curtains and armchairs. The brasserie-style menu offers pub classics: wholly crowd-pleasing and comforting. There’s no lounge as such, but the bar area has quieter corners, with Chesterfield armchairs, as well as a separate snug with gas fire and comfortable seats. Most guests are one-nighters happy to chill-out in the spoiling bedrooms.
The Millbrook has a long-standing reputation as one of South Devon’s best gastro pubs, with a Gallic, nose-to-tail menu featuring escargot and pigs’ trotter and foie gras patties. The food, served up in a cosy, wood-beamed restaurant, is original, delicious and beautifully presented. Keen drinkers are well-catered for, with a selection of local ales on tap, craft beers, local gins and Scottish single malt whiskies. In the rooms, ticking linens, plump cushions, soft blankets and deep-pile carpets are teamed with hard-edged industrial furniture and statement copper lighting, giving a cool, yet wonderfully cosy feel.
Since it first opened in 1867, The Cricket Inn has had strong seafood connections. The current landlords stay true to its identity, showcasing black-and-white photographs of traditional village life on the walls. The pub is apparently named after the loud insects along this part of coastline, and also centuries ago, when the beach stretched far out into the bay, playing cricket on the beach was a popular pastime. Boutique New England-style bedrooms offer a comfortable bolthole by the sea at the heart of Beesands village, set right on the South West coast path. Be sure to try the seafood pancakes jam-packed with Queen scallops, prawns and cod fillet.
This Grade II-listed pub is the hub of town where the locals gather at the bar. Comfort is king here and the room layouts have been well thought out without a whiff of the clichéd nautical theme – instead; simple light fittings, a wooden trunk at the end of the bed, and luxurious bathtubs for two. Food is served all day at the pub from 12pm (lots of seafood features), plus wood-fired pizzas in the late afternoon. The lively Ship’s Bar is popular with music nights, snooker tables and sports television. Hotel guests have access to a small sunny roof terrace covered in Astroturf.
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Dorset
There’s over 400 years of history at this coaching inn, but your focus is likely to be on late Victorian – it’s the inspiration for The Sow and the Acorn in Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Most charm effuses from the Four Poster rooms: Hardy features an antique carved oak bed, believed to be 350 years old, and Tess has a square bay window hanging over the pavement. The main bar thrums with locals’ ribbing from 5pm. Next door at the restaurant, choose from ‘classics’ and à la carte menus; the latter really excites: trio of beef (fillet wrapped in bacon, braised ox cheek, cottage pie) with a glass of Malbec may be foodie apogee here.
The Fontmell
Shaftesbury, Dorset, England
From the outside The Fontmell is unassuming, boxy and bright white. Inside, there are modern touches – high stripey chairs fringing the bar, for example – but it retains the low ceilings, nooks and fireplace that ensures it remains a cosy local boozer. Rooms, six in total, are upstairs, found along creaking corridors of whitewashed walls and slanted doors; the building’s character has been retained in these details. The cuisine is part of the reason to stop off. Menus change each day but tend to embrace British classics and infuse them with modern, international direction.
With white stone walls, a grey roof peaked by chimneys and a thatched cottage next door, the Anchor fits the bill as a shore-perched West Country bolthole. Inside, the bar is a scrubbed-up smuggler’s haunt with low ceilings, smart wooden textures and knick-knacks on the walls. People flock to this destination gastropub for its elevated British classics. Menus from head chef Jean-Paul De Ronne – who previously worked under Masterchef winner Mat Follas – reveal commitment to local, seasonal fare from land and sea, such as the fresh crab salad using crustacea caught only metres away.
The Milk House name stems from the original name of The Street, Mylk Street, and gives rise to a light-hearted dairy theme: fresh flowers are displayed in milk pails, an intimate dining area is separated from the restaurant with plaited hazel hurdles. Facilities include a large, popular garden with a pizza oven in the summer months; virtually all-day dining; and free parking with direct access to the bedrooms – elegant in soft milky colours. Virtually all ingredients for the restaurant and pub are sourced from a 20-mile radius and the seasonally changing menus focus on fresh Kentish meats, seafood and vegetables.
The Five Bells’ authentic pub feel is combined with design touches like exposed brick walls, a bar that doubles as a deli counter, sheep skins draped over antique chairs, and an old village shop-style corner selling local jams, wines and soaps. The four rooms – named after Kentish grapes and hops (Bacchus, Ortega, Fuggle and Golding) – feature eclectic design courtesy of Rogers, who sources furniture from local reclamation yards and house clearances. The ‘Daily Doings’ menu features the chef’s current inspiration (slow-cooked pork with watermelon) and catches of the day like Dungeness plaice in a buttery, lemony sauce.
A medieval pub in a rural village, run by an enterprising local family, that serves exceptionally good food – perhaps rich pork and pistachio terrine with pineapple jam followed by melt-in-the-mouth Moroccan spiced lamb – and features eight attractive bedrooms. The pub dates back to the 13th century and retains period features such as thick timber beams, large open fires and vaulted ceilings. The resulting contemporary interiors, London-style gin bar and excellent cuisine have won over locals and drawn national acclaim. Six of the eight rooms are dotted above the original pub, accessed by creaky old staircases, with the remaining two in the separately accessed Doghouse.
The Duke feels every inch the village pub, set in pastoral Kent countryside on the east bank of the Little Stour. The village green is lined with thatched cottages and overlooked by an 18th-century church while country walks criss-cross the surrounding fields and woods. The menu is a roll call of posh Kentish pub grub: potted Dungeness shrimps; whole roasted partridge with creamed parsnip; whole pan-fried plaice with sea aster. Named after chefs who have inspired Sargeant (Ramsay, Stein, Floyd and Marco Pierre White), the Duke’s four rooms are snug but artfully decorated; adopting the style of old school rooms.
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Lake District
Perched on a hilltop between Coniston and Hawkshead, this Lake District bolthole is ideal for an epicurean escape to the country. Though the inn dates back to the 18th century, inside it’s the epitome of rustic-chic. There’s a hefty beamed bar and walls covered with sporting prints, fox’s heads and vintage beer adverts, but the neat blackboard menus and neutral colour schemes feel more London gastropub than Lakeland inn. The short-choice menu, which kicks off with a savoury taster, might include treacle-glazed beef shin as starter then hake with pickled samphire and fennel jam as mains. Go for one of the five Superior rooms located in a renovated out-building across the courtyard, featuring luxurious touches such as Herdwick wool carpets, rococo-style furniture, Roberts radios and walk-in showers.
Kirkstile Inn
Lake District, Cumbria, England
This 17th-century Lakeland inn has a deserved reputation for its food, own-brew ales and genuine welcome, and is a hit with walkers and cyclists. Inside it’s all whitewashed walls and black window mouldings with beamed ceilings, exposed-stone and solid wood tables. Smallish rooms reflect its coaching inn history with a simple, though comfortable, cottagey style of plain walls and carpets, pine or oak furniture, and colourful check or floral furnishings. Most have wake-you-up views of the striking Melbreak fell. Serious walkers’ food is served here, designed to fuel you up for the day or replenish batteries in the evening.
A smart but relaxed country inn, in a quiet corner of the Lake District, with a deserved reputation for its classy food. It’s well off the beaten tourist track in an area of soft green valleys and damson orchards which is beautifully peaceful. Some bedrooms have open four-poster beds, others dreamy views down the Lyth valley, many have high ceilings and open beams. All have freestanding roll-top baths. The city-standard restaurant serves the likes of crab and lobster salad and cod with Morteau sausage. For active types, there are packed lunches, local walks and cycle storage.
Millions must have been spent on recreating the look and feel of The Gunton Arms. What’s surprising is the astonishing (for a pub) collection of modern art on the walls. Where else would you find a Damien Hirst spot painting in the ladies’ loo or a Magritte above the residents’ lounge fireplace? Chef Stuart Tattersall cooks superb steaks on a huge open fire in the restaurant, another welcome twist. Guests sit at large wooden ‘sharing’ tables; everything, from spicy aubergine and crispy duck salads to those steaks, are excellent.
Depending on the season, you may find members of the village cricket or football teams propping up the back bar, which comes decorated with sporting paraphernalia, or locals thronging the drinking rooms at the front. While the dinner menu includes sharing dishes and classics (fish and chips, scampi baskets), it also punches above usual pub grub fare with seared scallops accompanied by roast butternut squash purée or pan-baked pigeon breasts with spiced beetroot. The 16 bedrooms are cosy and unpretentious, decorated in a simple, modern style with a hint of nautical cool.
A country pub with good food and rooms, often full and with a joyous noise of people drinking, eating, chatting and generally kicking back and enjoying themselves. The menu changes daily, at least a little, and is somewhat dependent on the chef’s preferences, so as well as high-quality country cooking using mainly seasonal local ingredients you get the odd French-Caribbean twist. But the heart of the menu is pure Norfolk, making the most of meat from local butchers and estates and fish and seafood from the north coast. Six rooms in the converted barns next door are all good sizes, with contemporary bathrooms and a bit of individual character.
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Wiltshire
One of the country’s most sought-after and appealing new wave inns: welcoming, comfortable, stylish and fun. It perfectly balances its three elements – local bar, restaurant and small hotel – and thanks to intelligent, hands-on ownership, attention to detail and panache, succeeds with aplomb. There are eight bedrooms in the inn, not large but homely yet stylish and beautifully equipped, with thoughtful touches. Dining areas include an elegant private dining room (gleaming antiques and silver), animated bar, pretty conservatory and garden. The high-quality menu might include roasted lamb rump with boulangere pototoes and Porthilly mussels in chorizo cream.
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East Sussex
Perched on the crossroads, the 450-year-old pub is the beating heart of Ditchling village. With low-slung beamed ceilings, a brace of roaring fires and cosy snugs, The Bull could easily play the role of ‘romantic country pub’ in Richard Curtis’ next movie. The inn dates back to 1560 and behind its pistachio-green façade is a cosy village pub with rustic oak beams, crooked ceilings and vast brick fireplaces. The six guestrooms have a plush, contemporary vibe with colourful velvets, tactile soft furnishings and modern artwork. It serves up a concise modern British menu, all locally sourced with fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden.
The Bell
Ticehurst, East Sussex, England
Outside the sign, The Bell “Apparently” (conversations in pubs always start with ‘apparently’, apparently) is just a hint of the fun which lies behind the heavy wooden door. The décor is unconventional to say the least from the top hat lampshades to the neon ‘I will always love you my friend’ Oscar Wilde quote. Designed by Richard Brett from Brighton-based design house, We Like Today, the dining room’s style is charmingly haphazard. The restaurant offers a gastropub menu with a South American bent; think ribeye steak with chimichurri, salmon cerviche and a simply magnificent fish and chips.
Built in 1575, the George is a Rye institution – but a dusty old inn this is not. The interior is very much ‘country manor-meets-Liberty’ with stacks of cool vintage finds such as the Sixties movie posters which adorn the walls and highly covetable designer furnishings. The Tap bar is a real locals’ hub. It has a clutch of cosy snugs, all scented by wood-smoke from the open fire, and serves local ales, and wine from nearby Kent and Sussex wineries. The bar follows into the restaurant, and is swathed in Farrow & Ball teal, obscure marine art and a shower of vintage globe lights. The menu is big on seafood and steaks.
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West Sussex
The Cat Inn
West Hoathly, West Sussex, England
This cosy 16th-century inn has a wealth of character and a rural location, made particularly cosy by oak beams and inglenook fireplaces. One dining space was originally home to chickens that supplied guests with eggs. There’s a good mix of locals and visitors, and it can get buzzy on the weekends. The well-proportioned bedrooms in a Victorian-era extension above the pub are furnished in contemporary style and soft hues. High-standard comfort food is the stock in trade, with dishes like confit duck leg, belly of pork, goat cheese hash browns, sticky toffee pudding and crumble. The drinks list champions local real ale and the county’s well-respected sparkling whites.
The 200-year-old inn, tucked into East Lavant village and backed by fields, has a cosy bar with beams and fireplaces. The food, from an enthusiastic young chef, is excellent; locally sourced and seasonal produce are to the fore (moules marinière, turbot, garlic gnocchi). The rooms, above the pub and in a stable block, have their own quirks. Five en-suite bedrooms and three cottages – all with muted colours and deep, comfortable beds with Egyptian cotton sheets – have views to fields or downs. The suite-style cottage on site sleeps two, the others, nearby, have kitchens and two bedrooms.
The Crab & Lobster sits near birding hotspot Pagham Harbour with marshland and south-facing benches at a one-time quay on one side and a pretty hamlet on the other. The safe decorative style in the accommodation uses restful, muted colours. There are four double bedrooms (Standard and Deluxe), plus a cottage with two double bedrooms. All are furnished to a high standard with carpets, thick blackout curtains, deep armchairs/sofas and comfortable beds. The menu, as this gastro pub’s name suggests, makes good use of locally caught seafood. Baked Selsey crab with a salad or crab cakes is a highlight.
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Somerset
Unlike the majority of pub bedrooms, those at The Talbot Inn are big enough to dance around in. The dining space, however, is snug, intimate and candlelit. Once a stopping off point for abbots travelling to Cornwall, the inn’s old flagstones hide secret tunnels dating from the Reformation. Expect Berber-style rugs, tactile sofas, fireplaces decorated with logs, and earthy colours enlivened with modern splashes of pink. Larger rooms have freestanding baths and enormous emperor beds. A down-to-earth dinner menu can include dishes such as peppery grilled wood pigeon breast with sweet radish and tarragon crème fraîche, and posh baked Alaska.
The thatched Lord Poulett Arms dates from 1680 and oozes character from every pore. Inside, the interconnected bar areas have beams dripping with dried hops, boarded and flagstone floors and antique tables laid out with brass candelabra and fresh flower. The five rooms and their bathrooms vary, as befits a 17th-century building, in shape and size and two have bathrooms across the corridor, which somehow adds to the character. In-the-know locals come from afar to eat at the pub. The menus change with the seasons and make good use of local ingredients. Pretty much everything is made, cured or smoked in-house.
The Swan
Wedmore, Somerset, England
A tastefully renovated, spacious, unpretentious pub dating from the 18th century. There’s a long bar (propped up by a healthy showing of locals), and a lounge area. You can eat in the bar area (think cushioned wall seats, bare wooden tables, mismatched chairs, olive-green walls), in the high-ceilinged dining extension, and, weather permitting, out on the terrace or on picnic tables on the lawned garden to the rear. The pub champions local produce – in the form of the ales and cider on tap, and the meat, fish, fruit, veg, eggs, cheeses and yogurts are sourced from named local suppliers. There are seven individually decorated bedrooms.
From
£
85
per night based on a one-night stay
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Yorkshire
Ray and Jane Carter have owned and managed The Sportsman’s, nestled in the pretty Yorkshire village of Wath-in-Nidderdale, for more than 30 years. If game’s your thing, you’re in for a treat. Ray is an avid sportsman and grouse, pheasant, partridge, woodcock and mallard, all shot within a mile of the restaurant, often grace a menu that combines modern British elegance with resolutely old-school portions. Sunday lunch is always a highlight (booking essential) and breakfast, bursting with local produce, is cooked to order. The 11 bedrooms all have countryside views.
This formerly run-down old coaching inn has echoes of Andrew Pern’s Star at Harome, where James Mackenzie was head chef before moving here, and doubles as a popular bar and a destination restaurant with ease. There’s something for everyone: from pub classics in the bar to short menus in the Michelin-starred restaurant embellished by daily specials and a comprehensive choice of vegetarian dishes. There’s no tasting menu – it doesn’t suit the pub setting. Popular dishes include fillet of English beef, ox tongue fritter, pickled red onion, watercress and Harrogate blue cheese salad, horseradish hollandaise and chips. Try James Mackenzie and Andrew Pern’s specially created ‘Two Chefs’ beer, sweetened with honey and thyme.
The Blue Lion
Leyburn, Yorkshire, England
The style is rustic French tavern meets a traditional Yorkshire inn at this stone-fronted, 18th-century coaching inn in East Witton. Voted one of The Good Food Guide’s top 10 pubs for the past two decades (Jamie Oliver has also declared himself a fan), The Blue Lion’s food and drink offering is impressive. An à la carte menu (changed seasonally) is served in both the restaurant and bar, where there is also an extensive specials board hung above the fireplace. Expect dishes along the lines of cassoulet of Yorkshire duck confit, Morteau sausage, roasted tomato and white beans. Some rooms have lovely views over the main street and Wensleydale beyond.
Life at Shibden Mill Inn centres around the whitewashed original pub itself, which is all low, exposed wooden beams, open fires and trophy stag’s heads. Take your pick from the cosy bar-lounge, a weekend-only grill restaurant and a private wine-themed dining room. As you’d expect, there’s a heavy local influence to menu items – mainly the cheese board selection that offers a good choice of Yorkshire’s finest. Other offerings include duck leg croquette in a peanut butter “soup” and a 65-day salt-aged pave of beef. In a neighbouring converted barn there are 11 rooms, lovingly curated by owners Simon and Caitlin Heaton.
The stone-fronted Pheasant is set in an acre or so of private gardens, with its own duck pond, in the quintessential market town of Helmsley. The main building contains 12 of the 16 rooms, with a small indoor heated pool, the Pheasant Suite and the one-storey Plum Cottage accessed from a gravelled central courtyard. Head chef and co-owner Peter Neville (previously at Star Inn at Harome) is an advocate of wild, foraged food, reflected in both his tasting and bar-lounge menus: think elderberry-cured salmon carved at the table and Earl Grey panna cotta with passion fruit and blood orange.
The Timble Inn
Nidderdale, Yorkshire Dales, England
A pub that does two sittings for Sunday lunch is serious about food, and has been awarded two AA Rosettes for it. It’s ambitious stuff – previous dishes have included wood pigeon with quail’s egg and black pudding; and venison loin with celeriac remoulade and chestnuts. The seafood platter and chateaubriand steak are excellent. It’s not really a beer pub but offers a wide-ranging wine list – including fine ones by the glass – plus local gins. The nine rooms are country-smart with vintage-style furniture, velvet or tweed headboards and feature walls.
The Star Inn
Harome, Helmsley, England
Whitby-born chef-owner Andrew Pern was one of the first champions of local sourcing and now has a huge kitchen garden at the back of this pub. His menus are punchy, robust yet skilfully balanced and as much about texture as taste: think crab stick with seashore vegetables and avocado ice, perhaps followed by roasted lamb chop with truffled faggot or honey-roasted duck with tea-poached quail’s egg. There’s an element of fun, too – a beer and cider-menu to match the Tasting Menu – while black-pudding bread is always available. The nine bedrooms with their comfortable mix of plaids and faded florals, rustic furniture and bold feature wallpapers, exposed beams and faux-fur throws.
The Angel has real Yorkshire pub character with mounted shotguns on the walls, gnarled, ancient beams and an 18th-century bar with a delightful coal fire. Its rise from backwater boozer to leading restaurant led to its late owner, Dennis Watkins, being dubbed the ‘Godfather of the Gastropub’. Now it’s helmed by two Michelin-starred chef Michael Wignall. Starter specials are along the lines of Saddleback pork shoulder, fennel risotto and apple; mains could include local rare-breed suckling pig or Bolton Abbey lamb. The Angel is a popular choice for travelling foodies, including comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in their BBC hit The Trip. There are nine stylish rooms.
Studios from
£
130
Contributions by Suzy Bennett, Sophie Butler, Gill Charltonl, Tracey Davies, Fiona Duncan, Martin Dunford, James Ellis, Shilpa Ganatra, Charlotte Johnstone, Suzanne King, Gabriella Le Breton, Fred Mawer, Natalie Millar-Partridge , Harriet O’Brien, Natalie Paris, Benjamin Parker, Helen Pickles, Steve Sharp, Anna Turns, Tina Walsh, Debbie Ward
