The Merrie Lion

The renowned Mallory Court – a classic English country house combined with a modern spa – is the setting for this wood-panelled restaurant that’s elegant and relaxed in equal measure. The part-Edwardian manor, built in a Lutyens style, also boasts a garden terrace which adds to the appeal in warmer weather. The cooking is ingredient-led, with exacting presentation and bold flavours in dishes like Hilltop Farm hogget with potato terrine, garden beans and salsa verde. The ‘Taste of the Season’ menu is an homage to local, seasonal produce.

It may sit within a 17C former pub, but there’s now more of a restaurant feel to this intimate family-run operation – where you’re guaranteed a warm welcome. The regularly updated menus showcase cooking that is well-balanced, thoughtfully composed and makes great use of the local larder. Flavour and texture combinations are both original and effective, in dishes largely served by chef Harry Flockhart himself. When the weather allows, head for the terrace.

In the market square of this historic town, you’ll find a lovely little restaurant. Named Hem in reference to previous incarnation ‘Tailors’ – which before that was an actual tailor’s – it’s a simple and unpretentious place, where long-standing friends Dan and Seb run the show with a smile. Dan is the chef of the pair, cooking hearty and satisfying dishes that are classic in their origins but executed with refinement and a playful touch – such as venison haunch with pear, walnut ketchup and bacon jam. Go for one of the carefully curated wine flights.

Siblings Adrian and Tania – owners of toiletries company Baylis & Harding – preside over this immaculately kept pub. It was once a boarded-up boozer, but these days a loving touch and keen eye have seen it reestablished as a welcoming, fashionably attired inn with bedrooms to match. The cooking mixes timeless British pub fare, like a prawn cocktail or a Scotch egg, with more modern and playful options like the 'quack and chips' – confit duck leg with a spiced gravy and refreshing carrot and sesame salad.

Parts of this attractive roadside inn reputedly date back to the 16th Century, providing a lovely setting for cooking based around local ingredients. Several of them come from the owners’ own smallholding and others from nearby producers who are named on the menu – sometimes alongside their distance from the restaurant. These ingredients are fashioned into dishes that burst with flavour and don’t overcomplicate matters, like bright, fresh-tasting roasted cod with mussel sauce.

Situated right in the centre of this historic market town and encased within glass walls on three sides, this self-described ‘illegitimate trattoria’ is a love letter to straightforward Italian cooking, fused with seasonal British ingredients. In the day, it operates as the coffee shop and bakery Ferment & Flour, before the Italian vibe takes over in the evening. Start with a couple of cicchetti before one of the stand-out homemade pastas, be that casarecce with preserved wild garlic, truffle and parmesan, or well-crafted crab agnolotti. Add in friendly service and you have a winning formula.

An appealing mixture of the vintage and the contemporary lend a certain stylishness to the décor at this smart brasserie occupying two former shops in the heart of a small market town. The attractive dishes are packed with flavour and make the most of quality British produce, as with delicious, sweet Cornish crab turned into a simple, fresh-tasting tartlet. Sit in the larger room with its comfy banquettes and copper-topped tables, then treat yourself to a stay in one of the characterful bedrooms.