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The King's Head may have acquired its name as a result of the restoration of the monarchy, but now it is one of the most highly regarded pubs with restaurant and rooms in its area. This in no small way must be due to the location which is about as traditional as England gets, provided you don't trip over the walk-on ducks. Inside, it's even better with all the trappings of a pub steeped in history, except that these have the aura of conviction.

So, what about the food? If we had a handle for 'traditional' in our armoury of definitions, the King's Head menus would qualify. For dinner there is a choice of pre-nibbles, with a bread board, garlic bread with or without cheese, and olives. Amongst the starters are home-made duck spring rolls served with sweet chilli sauce and greenery, devilled lamb's kidneys with mushrooms and fried bread, or a blue cheese and port pate with toasted walnuts and delightfully crusty bread.

Main courses draw on the local resources, with a steak and Hook Norton ale stew topped with mash and puff pastry, or the smoked haddock and crayfish version with mash and petit pois. The fillet or sirloin of beef with home cut chips, grilled tomato, mushrooms and Dijon sage butter deserves a hearty appetite, and for the veggy brigade there's a tasty dish of spiced chickpea cakes with char-grilled red onion and coriander salad and a lime and chilli yoghurt.

In the summer people spread out on to the village green and a compelling informality prevails. This is a pub for all men through all seasons.

Cooking is accomplished, making good use of predominantly locally and regionally sourced ingredients, and practically creating everything possible from scratch in the kitchen. Chicken liver or fish cakes may be followed with exotic preparations that include homemade steak, Hooky ale and mushroom pie or the slow roasted Cotswolds' lamb shank. A separate children's menu and a light bites carte give a good choice to your appetite.

Apart from a fine selection of cheeses with biscuits, The Croft has to hand some classic afters that include the likes of carrot cakes, Baileys chocolate mousse and fruit crumble.

The thought occurs that ministers of religion did not fare too badly in the 18th century, and this handsome house makes an ideal place to eat in the middle of a setting as delightful as this picture-book village, with the River Windrush flowing gently past a few yards from the front door.

The interior is every bit as handsome as the outside, with exposed stone, log fires in season, panelling and warm, welcoming colours. Meals are served in the restaurant, with light meals available in the bar. Cauliflower and Stilton soup, smoked salmon or a traditional prawn cocktail feature amongst the starters, and pan fried halibut, a grilled tuna steak, or pork medallions make appetising reading.

Traditional apple pie, blueberry cheesecake and a well presented cheese board all suggest the safe approach, but then this is what so many people appreciate, a point that sometimes appears to be lost on over-active chefs anxious to demonstrate their prowess at the stoves.

If for no other reason I find a modern wine list producing some names almost as ripe as their contents a heart warming prospect. One Tree Hill, Moondarra, Flat Rock, yes, they are often Australian, but they certainly conjour up visions, often of thirst which I suppose is the game.

Welcome to the Which Awarded Most ravishing restaurant with rooms 2005. Now that's quite a title to live up to but indications are that it's all in a day's work for this charismatic, mellow stone manor house in deepest Gloucestershire where there is a constant round of log fires, fresh flowers and the sort of service that in some parts of England seems to have disappeared for ever.

Dinner can take the form of a seven-course appetiser menu at £55, or a more conventional three course, with starters of roast quail with a salad of confit leg and beetroot or pan-fried breast of local woodpigeon. Fresh seafood comes from Cornwall, to yield dishes such as roasted fillet of halibut with fennel barigoule, caramelised garlic and langoustine beignet, or from Scotland a pan-fried rump of beef with an oxtail ravioli and celeriac fondant.

Desserts include the mouthwatering salted butter caramel with roasted hazelnuts and malted vanilla ice cream.

The Dial House is rural sophistication at its best.

Sitting prettily amidst eight acres of gardens and parkland, this 17th century former rectory of Cotswold stone could not have had a better name. And if relaxation for you means doing 'nothing but sinking into a large sofa with a drink and a book', then there are only a few places that can be compared to the Lords of the Manor.

The elegant dining room has been awarded a Michelin star and three AA rosettes. The emphasis, needless to say, is on serving the finest modern European cuisine. And with dishes such as terrine of smoked eel and foie gras, apple, sweet wine jelly; sirloin of Cotswold longhorn beef with a fricassee of Hereford snails and broad beans, and a dessert of Cox's Farm rhubarb and custard sauternes, Executive Chef Matt Weedon proves just why Lords claims to be one of the best restaurants in the country.

The rambling cellar produces a wine list to complement even the most diverse palate.