Hearty plates, honest pints, and pubs worth the detour.
Not every midday meal needs to become a three-hour roast operation. A shorter weekday visit, ordered with a bit of thought, can be the best-value hour in the pub.
There is no statute that says the table nearest the flames is yours because you got there first. A practical, mildly opinionated guide to sharing the best winter seat in a British pub without behaving like a squatter.
Anyone can hide a mediocre main under gravy. The dessert board is where a pub kitchen has nowhere to hide. Here is what a proper sticky toffee pudding, crumble or treacle sponge reveals about the place you are sitting in.
Every decent pub is competing with the three closer ones you could reach in ten minutes. This is a light-touch field guide for deciding when the extra miles are worth it, and when you should just stay local.
A highly unscientific ranking of the UK's classic pub bar snacks, judged on crunch, salt, and whether they actually keep you going until dinner. Pork scratchings, scampi fries, crisps and peanuts all face the index.
An affectionate defence of pies, fish and chips, and menus that resist foam and tweezers. The best pub food is often the least complicated, and the gastropub label has not always helped.
The best roast is the one you've walked for. Eight routes across coast, moor and river, each finishing at a country pub worth arriving at hungry — with the plate to order and the details that make a proper day out.
A score doesn't go as far as it used to, but it can still buy a proper pub lunch — if you know what to look for. We set a simple £20 test and explain how to spot an honest plate before you order.