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 Wheatsheaf’s roast fillet of cod

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.

The George at Alstonefield
Pork belly at The George

At The George, our main of local pork belly was cooked to perfection and we particularly enjoyed the smoked celeriac mash.

The dining room at The George

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.

Inside The Bell
Our food at Bell’s Kitchen

Meanwhile, The Queen’s Head at Belton gave us a friendly welcome and some solid pub classics.

The Queen’s Head at Belton
Our steak at The Queen’s Head
The author:

Philip lives in West Cambridgeshire in the Parish of Catworth with his wife. He loves eating out which he does for both pleasure and business. His other interests are collecting cookery books and menus, driving his tractor and working on the renovation of their old farm.