Aston Cantlow, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Excellent game – particularly venison, cooked to perfection over an open flame” – is the prime attraction at this Grade II listed building, which was standing in Stratford when Shakespeare was a boy. Wild-food specialist Mike Robinson presides over the kitchen, where game from their own estate and produce from their own botanical and herb garden is cooked over charcoal or wood (mostly oak and elder). Top Tip – “we’ve had Xmas lunch here for the last few years: always wonderful!”.

Glynn Purnell’s three-year-old operation has a bright, modern interior that’s in contrast to the period building it inhabits on an attractive high street and is hailed by its biggest fans as “a great pub where food, drinks and service are all very good”. As with last year, though, its ratings in general are middling and dragged further down by the odd more critical report.