Aston Cantlow Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Much improved by a change of owners” (the all-conquering Brunning & Price), this seventeenth century pub in “beautiful surroundings” – a hamlet “out in Warwickshire’s lush countryside” – wins applause for “upmarket pub food at a reasonable price point”, and which comes “allied to lovely service” to boot.

Wild food chef and hunter-gatherer Mike Robinson is behind this “regular favourite” in a Grade II-listed building dating back to 1500 (and now host to the Indigo hotel chain). Reporters “love the excellent offering of game – particularly venison” (they manage their own deer herds and have a deer larder in the Cotswolds) and “everything is delicious” (“there’s an à la carte, thank god”) and given that they’re “cooking with flame” there’s also “plenty to watch”.

Stop Press – in October 2024, Glynn Purnell announced that he was shuttering his eponymous Birmingham restaurant, which had held a star since 2009, but was apparently no longer financially viable. Fortunately, this two-year-old outpost from the Brummie chef is still in business, turning out hearty, high-quality pub food like pies and steaks in a period building on the high street. Reports this year were a little muted – mostly to do with the “very noisy” dining room (the garden and pub areas are usually preferred) and the slow service, both a “pity as the basic food is very reasonably priced and interesting”. Perhaps in time the chef will re-focus here?

Solid initial ratings in our annual diners’ poll for this Grade II-listed, Tudor-fronted hostelry in Shakespeare country, which was extensively renovated by Heartwood Inns and relaunched in late 2023. It now boasts a new oak-framed extension, and an attractive outdoor space leading to a stream, alongside a solid range of pub fare.