The Gunton Arms in Thorpe Market wins Pub of the Year in 2013 Michelin Eating Out In Pubs Guide

The pub is owned by London art dealer Ivor Braka, who bought the site in 2009 and has restored it over the past three years.

Guide editor Rebecca Burr said: “This pub has got it all. The welcome will be just as warm whether you’re staying for the weekend, you’ve come for a meal or you’ve simply popped in for a pint and a game of darts.

“This pub has the sort of buzzy yet laid-back atmosphere that makes you feel instantly relaxed and the cooking suits the bucolic setting perfectly – it is robust, satisfyingly unfussy and fiercely seasonal.”

Typical dishes include deep-fried cod cheeks with caper mayonnaise or slow-roast shoulder of lamb with dauphinoise potatoes, along with specials such as 28-day hung Aberdeen Angus beef or Gunton Estate venison sausages cooked over the fire.

This year’s guide holds 81 new entries, recommending more than 550 pubs altogether. The new entries include the ETM Group-owned Jugged Hare in London, the Hare & Hounds in Fulbeck, Lincolshire, the Albion in Islington, London and the Cholmondeley Arms in Cholmondeley, Cheshire.

Burr said: “The standard of pub cooking just keeps getting better and better. Pubs are often the heartbeat of the local community and it’s been exciting to see that more and more of them are specialising in their own regional ingredients.”

She added that many pubs are also doing well in offering value: “Chefs are becoming more adept at using lesser-known cuts as a means of creating cost conscious set menus, particularly at lunch. They are also more flexible than in the past, with bar and restaurant menus becoming more easily interchangeable. Some pubs have even started offering breakfast, brunch and afternoon tea.”

The Michelin Eating Out In Pubs Guide 2013 will be available in bookshops and online from Friday 2 November 2012, priced at £13.99.