Greyhound Inn

At its heart, this gem of a village pub is a proper boozer, ‘pouring great drinks with passion and consideration’, although much depends on the sheer inventiveness of chef Adam Spicer’s menu. There’s more than a passing nod to the ‘St John’ school of cookery (devilled pheasant livers and hearts on toast), with its emphasis on beautiful ingredients, unadorned simplicity and full-on flavours. Great-value bar snacks are perfect with a pint, but that’s just the start. The kitchen’s black treacle and rye sourdough bread is a thing of beauty, while openers on the weekly menu might run from onion, mushroom and sherry broth to fallow buck tartare with St Ewe’s egg and Gentleman’s Relish. Main courses also have an East Anglian flavour, from Suffolk sea bass with mussels, samphire and vadouvan sauce to Naunton Hall partridge with bread sauce and Muscat grapes. Weekday ‘landlord’s lunches’ are great value, and the ‘Sunday Club’ is something special, with whole hay-roasted chicken as the centrepiece, bookended by Colchester oysters, game broth and desserts such as ‘Great Granny Rose’s’ bread pudding. The top-drawer wine list fits every occasion, whether you're after a vintage Burgundy or a lunchtime sip from the Languedoc.