Pheasant

Charming, old-fashioned bar in smart hotel with enjoyable bar food and fine range of drinks; excellent restaurant, and attractive surrounding woodlands; comfortable bedrooms

Of course this is not a pub but a civilised, particularly well run hotel (which many of our readers love staying at) but it does house a surprisingly pubby, unchanging bar – which is charming and old-fashioned and just the place to enjoy a quiet pint or informal lunch. There are mellow polished walls, cushioned oak settles, rush-seat chairs and library seats, hunting prints and photographs, and Bass, Coniston Bluebird, and Jennings Cumberland on handpump served by friendly, knowledgeable staff; also, 12 good wines by the glass and over 60 malt whiskies. Several comfortable lounges have log fires, beautiful flower arrangements, fine parquet flooring, antiques, and plants. Dogs are allowed in the residents' lounge at lunchtime and they do let them into the bar during the day too, unless people are eating. There are seats in the garden, attractive woodland surroundings, and plenty of walks in all directions.

Enjoyable lunchtime bar food includes open sandwiches, ploughman's, good soup with home-made bread, chicken liver or stilton, walnut and apricot pâté, their own potted silloth shrimps, baked goats cheese tartlet with red onion marmalade, various caesar salads, crab cakes with pickled cucumber and chilli and tomato salsa, shepherd's pie, daily specials and puddings.