11-15 of the top 30 Gastro Pubs
The Anglesea Arms, The Three Fishes, The Cow, Felin Fach Griffin and the King William.
11 The Anglesea Arms
Wingate Road, London W6. Tel:0208 749 1291
One of the pioneering London gastro pubs, and still going strong after 10 years, little has changed at the Anglesea Arms in the past decade and it's very much a neighbourhood pub with a well-heeled clientele that includes musicians and media-types.
With manager Jill Mann at the helm, this is a place that prides itself on being accessible and friendly, and this has been repaid by the fiercely-loyal customers, many of whom have been dining here since Dan Evans started it all in the mid-1990s.
Dark wood floors, exposed brickwork, comfortable leather sofas, village hall furniture and a bustling open kitchen help to create a cracking atmosphere day or night. Menus change twice a day - and sometimes during service. The rustic, unfussy dishes are governed by what arrives in the kitchen that day and the chalk-board menus are written at the very last minute, often when the first customers have arrived.
After 10 years, there is still no booking policy, with diners treated equally on a first come, first served basis. It may not be to everybody's taste, but it's a system that clearly works, for this remains one of the busiest and highly-regarded gastro pubs in the capital.
Behind the scenes at...The Anglesea Arms
Owner/licensee: Fiona Evans
Head chef: Henrik Ritzen
Turnover: Confidential
Wet:dry split: 50:50
Covers a week: 1,000
Covers for diners: 40, plus 16 outside
Best-selling dishes: Calf's liver Veneziana; ox tongue; cote de boeuf.
On the menu: Six Irish oysters, shallot relish & Guinness bread; breast of organic chicken with braised Jerusalem artichokes, Savoy cabbage, French beans & tomato confit; lemon posset with raspberry coulis and biscotti.
Top tip: "Look after your locals and always give value for money"
12 The Three Fishes
Mitton, Lancashire. Tel:01254 826888 www.thethreefishes.com
After many years of neglect, this 400-year-old inn re-opened its doors in 2004 in a blaze of publicity following a £250.000 investment by the owners of Michelin-starred Northcote Manor - Nigel Haworth and Craig Bancroft.
The inn hit the ground running as hordes of eager diners flocked to Mitton to see what all the fuss was about. Business has been brisk ever since and on Sunday lunchtimes head chef David Edward now serves a staggering 450 meals.
Instrumental to this success has been the menu devised by Nigel, which embraces regional dishes and Brittish classics. more importantly, all the meat, vegetables and dairy produce are sourced from local suppliers and no less than 33 north-west businesses and producers are regular suppliers to the Three Fishes. What's more, menis feature a local map pin-pointing the location of farmers and traders who supply the food to the pub, and both the pub's website and interior walls feature a photo gallery of all the suppliers.
The Three Fishes is certainly a champion of local produce and, as David Edward says, "the producers are the real stars of the show".
Behind the scenes at...The Three Fishes
Owner/licensees: Nigel Haworth & Craig Bancroft (free house, Ribble Valley Inns)
Head chef: David Edward
Turnover: £1.3m
Wet:dry split: 28:72
Covers a week: 1,700
Covers for diners: 120 plus 60 outside
On the menu: Morecambe Bay shrimps (£6.50); Farmer Sharp's slow cooked shoulder of mutton (£10.50); Lancashire curd tart (£4.50)
Top tip/why successful: "Marketing ourselves from the outset as a food pub with an emphasis on regional British food."
Best business ideas/innovation:"Buying our own herd of British white beef cattle."
13 The Cow
Westbourne Park Road, London, W2. Tel: 0207 221 0021
Following in the footsteps of his renowned restaurateur father, Sir Terence Conran, Tom Conran started his own mini-empire in 1990, when he opened Tom's Deli in Notting Hill.
It was followed in 1995 by the Cow, which has become something of a gastropub grandee itself. Downstairs, it's a bustling drinkers' bar with an Irish theme - oysters and Guinness are its trademark - but climb the stairs to find a small dining room, with lino floors, church pews, mismatched chairs and a French bistro atmosphere. White paper tablecloths, flickering candles and a vintage Guinness poster brighten up the simple room, where food arrives via the dumb waiter from the kitchen.
The food is modern British with Mediterranean flourishes. Oysters form the basis of an extra starter course, Wild Falmouth Bay natives at £12 for a half-dozen being a particular favourite with the Notting Hill crowd, but gutsy cooking appears in dishes like topside of veal, ceps, parsley and garlic or roast halibut, sea kale, laver bread and cream.
Prices can be on the high side, some starters are over £11 and mains can tip the £18 threshold. But this is W2, where it seems no price is too high for great food.
Behind the scenes at...The Cow
Owner/licensee: Tom Conran
Head chef: Will Leigh
Wet:dry split: 60:40
Covers a week: 700
Covers for diners: 100 (dining room and bar combined)
Best-selling dishes: oysters; seafood platters; sausage and mash; Côte de boeuf
On the menu: Smoked eel, potato salad, bacon; boiled ham, carrots and mustard sauce; prune and armagnac crème brûlée
Top tip: "Maintain the standard of food and quality of the service all year round."
New for 2006: The business may begin outside catering.
14 Felin Fach Griffin
Brecon, Powys. Tel: 01874 620111, www.eatsleepdrink.ltd.uk
Located in a quiet valley in the shadow of the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons, this Welsh pub with rooms adheres to brothers Charles and Edmund Inkin's uncompromising belief in "the simple things in life done well".
When the pub opened in 2000, Charles Inkin was chef/proprietor, but he has handed over the reins to dutchman Ricardo van Ede, who was the youngest chef in the Netherlands to win a Michelin star.
Ricardo's menu is based around local and seasonal ingredients, some of which come from the pub's new organic garden, which provides salads, vegetables, herbs and soft fruit.
No stranger to awards, the Felin Fach Griffin is the 2006 Les Routiers Wine Pub of the Year for Wales and is a former AA Restaurant of the Year for Wales.
Behind the scenes at...Felin Fach Griffin
Owners/licensees: Charles and Edmund Inkin (freehold)
Head chef: Ricardo van Ede
Wet:dry split: 33:67
Covers a week: 500+
Covers for diners: 60
Best-selling dishes:Welsh rib-eye with braised leeks, red onion confit, chips and Béarnaise; rump of Local Welsh lamb, Dauphinoise potatoes and red wine sauce.
On the menu: Black Mountains Smokery smoked salmon, crème fraîche and cucumber; Oven roasted partridge, Muscat grapes, braised Puy lentils and mash; Chocolate Nemesis and Welsh clotted cream
Top tip: "Believe in your vision, communicate it to your team so they believe in it, and allow them the space to make it become a reality."
Best business ideas/innovation: "The Griffin Hangover Buffet has been a very popular way to soak up the excesses of Ne
