Unruly Pig named UK's best gastropub

By Restaurant

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The Unruly Pig in Suffolk is the best gastropub in the UK

Related tags Estrella Damm Top50 Gastropubs Gastro pub Pub & bar

Suffolk’s Unruly Pig has been named the best gastropub in the UK in the Estrella Damn Top 50 Gastropubs 2022 list.

The Unruly Pig has moved up from last year’s 10th place, when it also won the Highest Climber category. It is one of five East Anglian pubs in this year’s list, more than ever before.

The pub is owned by Brendan Padfield who took on the pub following a 36-year career as a solicitor. However, within just 12 weeks of opening, a fire destroyed large parts of the building forcing it to close for six months. During this period changes were made to the structure and feel of the pub to make it more welcoming and accessible.

It entered the Estrella Damn Top 50 Gastropubs list in 2017 and has also been named by the Michelin Guide as one of the top six food pubs in the east of England.

“For any UK gastropub this list is the ‘gold standard’. It’s the business. To be a part of such a prestigious group is a huge honour and a very real privilege,” says Padfield.

“There are some very famous chefs and talented operators here… and for us to be a small part of this amazing list means so very much to all our team. They can rightly hold their heads up proud yet again as our listing is because of their dedication, loyalty and sheer hard graft”.

The Top 50 Gastropubs list, now in its 13th year, ranks the UK’s best gastropubs according to the votes from more than 400 gastropub owners, food critics and other industry experts.  This year there were 10 new entries on the list with Adam Handling’s The Loch and The Tyne, in Windsor, named as the Highest New Entry. “I’m so happy and proud that our little pub with guest bedrooms has made it in to the Top 50. This is our first time opening a pub and it’s been great fun to adopt our restaurant style into a super informal setting,” says Handling. “Co-chef proprietors, Steven and Jonny, have worked for me for 13 years and have always wanted a pub, so to give them an opportunity to run one and for it to go straight into the Top 50 is bloody fantastic.”

New for 2022, Sally Abé’s The Blue Boar in central London was voted One to Watch for its menu reflecting the very best of British pub dining, with Dylans at The Kings Arms in St Albans winning Front of House team of the year. The Princess of Shoreditch in East London, headed up by Great British Menu’s Ruth Hansom, was Newcomer of the Year.  

“This is the seventh year that we have sponsored the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub Awards, an awards ceremony that celebrates high calibre ingredients, culinary excellence and innovation, qualities that are also shared by Estrella Damm,” says James Healey, UK Country Manager for Estrella Damm,

“We want to extend our congratulations to all 50 gastropubs on the list and hope more pub-goers are lucky enough to experience their talent in 2022.”

The Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs 2022 list in full

1    The Unruly Pig, Woodbridge

2    Parkers Arms, Clitheroe

3    The Star Inn at Harome, Harome

4    The Angel at Hetton, Hetton

5    Freemasons at Wiswell, Clitheroe

6    The Sportsman, Whitstable

7    The Guinea Grill, London

8    The Fordwich Arms, Canterbury

9    The Mariners, Rock

10   The Hand & Flowers, Marlow

11    The Beehive, White Waltham

12    The Kentish Hare, Bidborough

13    The Coach, Marlow

14    The Cornish Arms, Tavistock

15    The Harwood Arms, London

16    The Red Lion and Sun, London

17    The Pyne Arms, Barnstaple

18    The Rat Inn, Anick

19    The Broad Chare, Newcastle Upon Tyne

20    The Hardwick, Abergavenny

21    The Bull & Last, London

22    The Masons Arms, Knowstone

23    The Pipe and Glass, Barnsley

24    The Longs Arms, South Wraxall

25    The Swan, Bampton

26    The White Swan at Fence, Fence

27    The Loch and The Tyne, Old Windsor

28    The Duncombe Arms, Ashbourne

29    The French House, Soho

30    The Moorcock, Norland Moor

31    The Shibden Mill Inn, Shibden

32    The Pack Horse, Hayfield

33    Heft, High Newton

34    The Felin Fach Griffin, Brecon

35    The Five Bells Inn, Cullompton

36    St Kew Inn, Bodmin

37    The Castle Inn, Castle Combe

38    The Canton Arms, Stockwell

39    The Higher Buck, Waddington

40    The Duck Inn, Pett Bottom

41    The Hovingham Inn, Yorkshire

42    The Plough, Coton

43    The Three Hills, Bartlow

44    The Hind’s Head, Bray

45    The Dog at Wingham, Wingham

46    The Bell Inn, Langford

47    The Black Bear Inn, Usk

48    The Cadeleigh Arms, Tiverton

49    The Bailiwick Free House, Egham

50    The Cross, Kenilworth

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