Dining Pub of the Year: Great Food Club Awards 2020
Winner
The Wheatsheaf at Greetham
Finalists
The George at Alstonefield, Staffordshire
The Queen’s Head at Belton, Leicestershire
Bells Kitchen at The Bell, Finedon, Northamptonshire
The winner is The Wheatsheaf at Greetham. There are fewer pub classics than you might expect on the menu at The Wheatsheaf. Instead, you are presented with a choice of more ambitious dishes – each hearty, as you would expect in a pub, and each packing seriously big flavours. We were impressed by what we found, and we loved the kitchen’s ambition.
At The Wheatsheaf, we enjoyed a perfectly cooked roast fillet of cod with saffron and garlic mayonnaise sitting on greens and new potatoes in a rich, flavoursome mussel sauce. The grilled quail, potato pancake and truffle oil was also excellent.
The George at Alstonefield is another top dining pub and it came close to taking the title. Nestled in an idyllic Peak District village, it has bags of character and style. Our starter of hen’s egg with black pudding crumble and green tomato ketchup was simple but delightful.
At The George, our main of local pork belly was cooked to perfection and we particularly enjoyed the smoked celeriac mash.
Bell’s Kitchen at The Bell in Finedon offers a retro dining experience in a wonderful old inn dating back to 1598. If you are looking for old-fashioned, honest cooking then this is your place.
Meanwhile, The Queen’s Head at Belton gave us a friendly welcome and some solid pub classics.