Pub restaurants in England
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A
Garrison
The Garrison’s traditional green-tiled exterior and rather distressed, beach-shack interior are both appealing, and it boasts an actual cinema in its basement, but it’s the food – pressed ham-hock terrine, calf’s liver with smoked bacon, lamb with rosemary and garlic – that lures the punters to this evergreen gastropub. If you don’t fancy nearly bashing your neighbour’s elbow every time you lift your fork, though, come for breakfast (8am to 11.30am weekdays) or weekend brunch (9am to 11.30am).
reviewed
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B
Eagle
London’s first gastropub may have seen its original owners move on, but it’s still a great place for a bite to eat and a pint, especially at lunchtime, when it’s relatively quiet and there’s an alluring spread of its much-loved Mediterranean-led fare on the bar counter.
reviewed
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C
Anchor & Hope
The hope is that you’ll get a table without waiting hours because you can’t book at this quintessential gastropub, except for Sunday lunch at 2pm. The anchor is gutsy, unashamedly carnivorous British food. The critics love this place but, with dishes such as salt marsh lamb shoulder cooked for seven hours and soy-braised shin of beef, it’s decidedly not for vegetarians. Its sister-restaurant, Great Queen Street in Covent Garden, is smaller, does not have a pub and takes reservations (which are, in fact, essential).
reviewed
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D
Lots Road Pub & Dining Room
No one has a bad thing to say about this tucked-away gastropub, aside from the minor affectation of listing prices in hundreds of pence. Light floods through the windows into the high-ceilinged, wood-lined curved dining area and onto the black-and-chrome bar, where choice wines are sold by the glass. The regularly changing menu reads as pretty standard fare – roast pork, salmon, lamb – but it’s all delicious and dependable. For dessert, try the sticky-toffee pudding or the honey-roasted figs.
reviewed
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E
Cow
Owned by Tom Conran, scion of celebrated former restaurateur Sir Terence, this attractive boozer was one of London’s original gastropubs and the upstairs dining room is so cool it creates its own ventilation. Name of the game both upstairs and downstairs at the main bar is seafood: Irish rock oysters, haddock fishcakes, pasta with cuttlefish and samphire. Despite its fair share of trust-funded West Londoners, it’s still a great hangout.
reviewed
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F
Empress Of India
This exquisite, much welcomed pub conversion on the western edge of Victoria Park belts out excellent modern British cuisine, with such fine dishes as sorrel soup with Cheddar scone, saddle of venison and roast suckling pig. We love the elegant bar, the Raj-era murals on the wall, the chandeliers made of mussel shells and the seamless service. Breakfast is available daily from 08:30.
reviewed
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G
White Swan Pub & Dining Room
Despite looking like any other anonymous City pub from the street, inside the White Swan is anything but typical – a smart downstairs bar that serves excellent pub food (£10 for a main with a glass of wine) under the watchful eyes of animal trophies and an upstairs dining room with a classic, meaty British menu (two-/three-course meal £24/29).
reviewed
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H
Wells Tavern
This popular gastropub, with a surprisingly modern interior (given its traditional exterior), is a real blessing in good-restaurant deprived Hampstead. The menu is proper posh English pub grub – Cumberland sausages, mash and onion gravy, or just a full roast with all the trimmings. At the weekends you’ll need to fight to get a table.
reviewed
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I
Cafe Rene
For a decent but predictable choice of pub grub head to this cheery joint through the archway on Southgate. There's live music on Wednesday nights and a pleasant beer garden outside. Food is served until 21:30 and includes everything from wraps and sandwiches (£4.50) at lunch to burgers, chilli, pasta and curry by night.
reviewed
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J
The Ox
Manchester's only gastropub has elevated boozer-dining to a whole new level and earned plenty of kudos in the process. The Brit nouvelle cuisine - how about an oven-roasted T-bone steak with tempura onion rings, beefsteak tomatoes and Portobello mushrooms - is complemented by an almost exclusively Australian wine list.
reviewed
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K
Coach & Horses
For our money this is Clerkenwell’s best gastropub, which sacrifices none of its old-world pub charm in attracting a well-heeled foodie crowd for its range of great-value dishes (prices in increments of £2). The signature beer-battered cod, chips and mushy peas is well worth its £11.50 price tag.
reviewed
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L
Brackenbury
The Brackenbury is very much a neighbourhood restaurant, with a friendly vibe and a relaxed atmosphere. Its modern European menu is enticing, with some imaginative starters and a good selection of wines at reasonable prices, ensuring the Brackenbury stands out from the many gastropubs in the immediate vicinity.
reviewed
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The Red Lion
This beautiful 15th-century coaching inn is the town's oldest pub - look out for the carved medieval figurines just underneath the eaves. The main bar serves up local dishes such as Cumberland sausage in yorkshire pudding and steak and Hawkshead bitter pie, and there are pleasant unfussy B&B rooms upstairs.
reviewed
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M
Old Sun Inn
The pick of the town's watering holes, but which retains an Edwardian-era ambience. Low ceilings, antique light fittings, flagstone floors and a different crowd in every cranny of this warrenlike ale-house make it the place to head for a pint - not to mention the surprisingly sophisticated pub grub.
reviewed
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N
Armoury
There's an irresistibly infectious bonhomie to this converted riverside warehouse. Towering bookshelves, old pictures and curios help straddle the divide between posh restaurant and informal pub, while a plethora of blackboard menus invite you to sample wines, guest ales and hearty British dishes.
reviewed
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O
Malthouse
Facing the river, this former malting house is the best of several similar pubs strung out along the Wharfage. Food comes in generous portions and there's live music nightly from Thursday to Saturday. Tasteful contemporary rooms are also available.
reviewed
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P
Rambler Inn
Ales, B&B rooms (per person from £38) and a petting zoo for the kids.
reviewed
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Q
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R
Lewinnick Lodge
Nestled on Pentire Head, this lively gastropub wins the sea-view prize hands down, with a grassy terrace and gloss-wood dining room offering panoramic Atlantic vistas. The food's not bad, either, with mains including rump steak, chargrilled chicken and confit of duck.
reviewed
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S
Big Bang
It's small, not much to look at and has a very simple menu, but deciding between the tasty sausages, choosing a speciality mash and selecting just the right gravy can be very difficult indeed. Come on a Wednesday and you'll even get live jazz thrown in.
reviewed
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T
George
Flagstone floors, and the tankards dangling from the ceiling give this ageing local a measure of ‘olde worlde' charm. But it's very much on the beaten tourist track – and the food, though it comes in big portions, isn't up to much.
reviewed
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Eclectic
Eclectic by name, eclectic by nature; this three-floored café-venue-bar has something of a split personality, with a funky beer and wine bar on the ground floor, a fusion restaurant on the first floor, and a private party room on the top level.
reviewed
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U
Princess
Meaty Mediterranean dishes and funky designer wallpaper are the order of the day at this Shoreditch gastropub in the tangle of lanes south of Old St. The restaurant is above the pub floor, reached via an old-fashioned spiral staircase.
reviewed
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V
Bumpkin
One of a string of funky gastropubs along Westbourne Park Rd, Bumpkin styles itself as a ‘country brasserie’, which translates to rotisserie chicken, grilled salmon, out-sized sirloin steaks and roasts.
reviewed
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W
Black Lion Hotel
Surprisingly, despite a vast choice, few of the pubs in Richmond are up to much. After extensive research, the best we found was the Black Lion Hotel, with cosy bars, low beams, good beer and food, plus B&B.
reviewed
