Claughton, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“An amazing setting – beside the River Wyre – by a historical toll bridge” sets the scene at “The Beaumes’ comfortable yet quirkily decorated pub, which continues to offer the best food on the Fylde (that sticky-out bit of Lancashire on the edge of which sits Blackpool).” The “mouth-wateringly good” cuisine is just the start of it at the 2024 AA Inn of the Year, with the site housing seriously stylish rooms (in the main building but also luxury tree-house style lodges), plus a deli, farm shop and gallery stocking homewares and jewellery. Top Menu Tip – “Meat, fish and vegetarian choices are all excellent. Cheese Beignet starter is mouth-wateringly good. Beef suet pudding is gorgeous”.

“Craig Wilkinson continues to offer well-above-average, classically inspired food at his pub in the eponymous hamlet of Bay Horse, opposite what was once the similarly eponymous Bay Horse station on the West Coast Main Line”. Even those who have been “dining there for circa 20 years” (Wilkinson’s family has owned the venue even longer) just “cannot fault it” – and, “whether you’re sat in the bar area mixing with the locals, dining in the restaurant, or enjoying a drink in the beautiful garden”, the “atmosphere is fantastic” too.

“The huge success of recent years has done little to change anything” according to the many fans of this “still-cosy, unpretentious and pubby” venue in the Forest of Bowland, whose renown has grown continuously over the years to become one of the top 100 most commented-on destinations outside London in our annual diners’ poll (although, “maybe, at times, those who are just drinking are more likely to be banished to the garden now”). “Really caring” staff are “led by the indefatigable bearer of dog treats for all canine guests, AJ” and create “an atmosphere that celebrates rather than reveres the food”. The main founder of the feast is chef Stosie Madi, whose food “continues to be a touchstone of what’s in season, with much being foraged by Stosie and her assistant in the kitchen, Vlad” (“eg. wonderful local mushrooms and blackberries on an autumn visit”). “In season, game is plentiful and comes from local shoots and farmers”, and fans say that pies here remain a “must try”. “As well as being able to judge cooking of meat and fish over charcoal perfectly, Madi continues to show a very deft hand with desserts, and knows very well why classics such as Mont Blanc or Rum Baba (both exemplary) are classics”. Perhaps inevitably, the establishment’s tear-away growing success inspires some push-back amongst a growing minority of reporters who say that “we keep trying it as it gets rave reviews, but just do not get it how it wins so many awards”. More common though still are those who feel that “the quality is so high, so no complaints!”. Top Menu Tip – “Among other dishes we had a silky chicken liver parfait, a steak that bettered a recent trip to Hawksmoor, a perfect hollandaise sauce, and a Basque cheesecake with local rhubarb that was simply perfect”.

2021 Review: “A top option on the Fylde coast” – Paul Moss and Caroline Upton’s well-established and jazzily decorated bar/restaurant near Blackpool only attracted limited feedback last year, but still good all-round.

Even in the foodie hotspot that is the Ribble Valley, chef-patron Michael Heathcote’s well-known destination stands out for its “relaxing pub atmosphere, great real ale and copious pub fare at fair prices”.

2023 Review: “Simplicity” combines with “top quality” at Carlow-born Breda Murphy’s deli-restaurant, a popular destination in the Ribble Valley since 2006 for her Anglo-Irish home-style cooking. “At first it feels overly conservative, but every dish is perfectly cooked, often with a small and interesting twist such as thick-cut lime and soy-cured salmon.”

“Fantastic food… fantastic value for money… and you can even take the dog”: this pub with rooms in a Ribble Valley village has emerged in recent years as one of the area’s top food-led destinations despite – in fact maybe because of – its easygoing and “cosy” style and the fact that what it serves is “so much more than pub grub – clever, no-fuss, local food of the highest order, all served in a relaxed environment”. In June 2024, after our annual diners’ poll had concluded, chef Steve Smith departed, and chef Matt Smith (who had previously worked at the pub) returned. Exactly how the dust will settle on this switcheroo is still not definite but we have rated it on the optimistic assumption that it retains its high quality.

2024 Review: The “best afternoon tea ever” – arguably the main event at this “Art Deco masterpiece” of a hotel, in a “stunning location” overlooking Morecambe Bay. The food in the dining room – the ‘Sun Terrace’ – is “always enjoyable”, too; although the odd cynic says “you’re paying for the views”.

2024 Review: This crowd-pleasing pub once served as a hospital, but since its takeover and refurb’ by the Brunning & Price group some years back, it’s now a proper country gastroboozer (also with a handful of rooms); on the menu – high-quality British dishes abetted by some more exotic influences from around the world.

In its current format since 1984 (and originally built in, er, 1688), this pub and restaurant won renewed interest and good all-round feedback in our annual diners’ poll, in part down to a favourable December 2023 visit from The Observer’s Jay Rayner: he praised a listed building that’s “deliciously seasoned with history” and “seriously impressive”, proper “cheek-slapping, belly-pleasing” food – notwithstanding being massively let down by its décor and “eye-achingly awful” website.