RELY on Fleet Street's legendary food critics, and you would labour under the impression that the only restaurants of note were found in a few square miles of London.

But Hungarian Egon Ronay has always enjoyed a more open outlook. In his guides, a fashionable location is not important. It is the food that counts.

On that basis, the Star Inn at Harome fully deserves its latest award, being named the Gastropub Of The Year in Ronay's 2006 guide. And as that same guide says British gastropubs serve better grub than French bistros, it is an even more lip-smackingly satisfying honour.

Updated: 10:54 Monday, November 21, 2005