THE CROWN AND CASTLE ORFORD, SUFFOLK
Before Ruth Watson was hotel-inspecting on TV, she did herself proud with her small hotel on the Suffolk coast, The Crown and Castle. The hotel’s policy of serving local grub extends to a breakfast of Suffolk dry-cure bacon, black pudding and pork sausage; eggs Benedict with Suffolk ham; Church Farm yoghurt with spiced fruit compote and toasted granola; or Wester Ross oak-smoked salmon with eggs, all served in the super-civilised Trinity restaurant. +44 (0)1394 450 205, crownandcastle.co.uk
IGLU BAR & BISTRO EDINBURGH
Behind Iglu’s unpretentious food — pan-seared wood pigeon with Stornoway black pudding or sweet potato and butternut squash curry, say — is a painstaking commitment to suppliers that demonstrate transparency and honesty. Owner Gus Niven uses ‘green list’ fish, RSPCA-labelled Freedom Foods, local and organic produce wherever possible. +44 (0)131 476 5333, theiglu.com
HIX OYSTER & FISH HOUSE LYME REGIS, DORSET
Mark Hix has done much to remind his countrymen how good home-grown food is. At the coastal counterpart to his hip London dining rooms, the menu features Lyme Bay fish soup with Julian Temperley’s cider brandy, pan-fried herring roes with capers and parsley, roast Cornish coley with mussels and sea greens, and grilled or steamed whole John Dory, gilthead bream or lemon sole. Sea views, oysters, Hix oyster ale – it’s as good as seaside eating gets. +44 (0)1297 446 910, hixoysterandfishhouse.co.uk
THE POT KILN FRILSHAM, BERKSHIRE
Housed in the red-brick pub where owner Mike Robinson drank his first pint, the Pot Kiln is a game-lover’s idyll with a winter menu that might feature hare, rabbit, pigeon, pheasant, partridge, woodcock, wild duck and venison. Mike himself bags the deer — fallow, roe, muntjac — marinades the meat in black pepper, olive oil, thyme and garlic, and serves it with buttery mash and greens from the garden out back. It’s no frills: the little bar still pulls pints for locals. +44 (0)1635 201 366, potkiln.org
MONACHYLE MHOR PERTHSHIRE, HIGHLANDS
‘Beef, venison, lamb – it’s all off the farm,’ says chef Tom Lewis, who runs this small hotel, fine-dining restaurant and farm on Loch Voil, along with his brother, sister and wife-to-be. The Mhor empire extends to the tearoom (Mhor Tea) at Balquhidder, and a bakery and a chippie (Mhor Bread, Mhor Fish) in Callander. They also run fantastic tailor-made cookery courses and guests can go stalking and learn game butchery. +44 (0)1877 384 622, mhor.net
THE STAR INN AT HAROME YORKSHIRE
The Star Inn began in 1992 as a cosy bar in a former dairy and a humble-looking but fantastic restaurant in the next-door byre (now with new kitchen, chef’s table and terrace). Since then, owners Andrew and Jacquie Pern have added the Corner Shop deli and gift shop in Harome, butcher Pern’s of Helmsley and, in 2008, the family-friendly Pheasant Hotel. +44 (0)1439 770 397, thestaratharome.co.uk
THE BELL AT SKENFRITH MONMOUTHSHIRE
A former coaching inn, the Bell opened as a restaurant in 2001 with 11 country-chic rooms, where the kitchen gardener (it’s certified organic) is in close cahoots with young chef Rupert Taylor, mentored by Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck. A few years ago, owner and oenophile William Hutchings convinced his wife Janet they needed a walk-in wine cellar, where guests can ponder his incredible list, which is particularly big on Champagne. +44 (0)1600 750 235, skenfrith.co.uk
THE INN AT WHITEWELL LANCASHIRE
Down-to-earth but top-drawer, this forest-encircled inn with rooms, on the banks of the River Hodder, has a bar to which you can tramp up to in walking boots, but also a beautiful blue dining room where you can put on your jewels to eat partridge or pheasant from the Dunsop Bridge Shoot. Local produce is ‘old hat’ here, says owner Charles Bowman, whose egg man has been supplying the inn for 35 years, from hens that roam the side of the fell. +44 (0)1200 448 222, innatwhitewell.com
MR UNDERHILL’S LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE
A pioneering restaurant with rooms on the banks of the River Teme, where you’ll eat British food prepared with creative and contemporary flair. Among the dishes is a rarebit with mustard ice cream, anchovy sauce and salted-apple butter. The cheeseboard is 75 per cent English: from nearby, there’s Oakley Park cheddar, Remembered Hills blue and washed-rind Croft Gold. There’s also Tor Negus from Glastonbury, Wigmore and Waterloo from Berkshire and Ragstone goat’s cheese. +44 (0)1584 874 431, mr-underhills.co.uk
NEW YARD RESTAURANT HELSTON, CORNWALL
The produce here — oysters, beef, game — comes largely from within ten miles of this historic Lizard estate, one-time inspiration to Daphne du Maurier and now a unique environmental development with timeshare properties. There’s a new estate shop and a bakery with a wood-burning oven for pizza. A gardener has recently been appointed to transform the old walled garden, bringing the menus even closer to home. +44 (0)1326 221 595, trelowarren.com
RESTAURANT SAT BAINS NOTTINGHAM
Recognised by Restaurant magazine as the UK’s fourth best place to eat, Sat and Amanda Bains’ restaurant with rooms is known for its unlikely location (a rustic spot beneath the A52 flyover) and for its salad-shoots supplier (the local postman). Gastronomes come from all over the world for the tasting menus, which do extraordinary things with oysters, turnips, wood sorrel and blackberries. +44 (0)115 986 6566, restaurantsatbains.com
THE SPORTSMAN WHITSTABLE, KENT
Lamb from the marshes, seaweed that goes into a special butter for Dover sole and, famously, chef Stephen Harris’s home-made sea salt. Not everything on the Sportsman’s chalked-up menu is foraged, but its offering is, says co-owner Phil Harris, driven very much by its remoteness. It’s a commonsense place – if a local turns up at the back door with a couple of bass or a bag of ceps, they’ll be on the menu within quarter of an hour. +44 (0)1227 273 370, thesportsmanseasalter.co.uk
