Britain’s Best Gastropubs 2018

Britain’s best gastropubs have just been unveiled and it’s a 'three-peat' for Stephen Harris and his pub The Sportsman at Seasalter in Whitstable, Kent. He also picked up top spot in 2015 and 2016 at the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub Awards and it’s just the latest in a string of accolades for the self-taught chef. It’s also good news if you live within striking distance of Clitheroe in Lancashire with both the Freemasons at Wiswell and the Parkers Arms at Newton-with-Bowland (pictured in header) making the top 10 list:

1) The Sportsman, Whitstable, Kent
2) The Pony & Trap, Chew Magna, Bristol
3) The Star Inn, Harome, Yorkshire
4) Freemasons at Wiswell, Clitheroe, Lancashire
5) The Coach, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
6) The Drapers Arms, Islington, London
7) The Beehive, Maidenhead, Berkshire
8) Parkers Arms, Newton-in-Bowland, Lancashire
9) The Hardwick, Abergavenny, Wales
10) The Marksman, Hackney, London

The Sportsman at Seasalter in Kent is Britain's Best Gastropub for the third time 

Specialist awards included:

Newcomer of the Year
The Oxford Blue, Old Windsor, Berkshire

Best Front-of-House Team
The Unruly Pig, Woodbridge, Suffolk

Gastropub Chef of the Year
Craig Johnston from the Royal Oak Paley Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire

Check out the full Top 50 Gastropubs list

Craig Johnston from the Royal Oak Paley Street was the youngest-ever winner of BBC's Masterchef, aged just 21.