The best pubs and grub for autumn

Where to eat, drink, and hunker down as the nights draw in

There’s something unbeatable about this time of year. Weekends stretch lazily between woodland walks, Sunday roasts, and the kind of long lunches that make you forget what time it is.

In celebration of the season, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite pubs and dining rooms across the UK – from proper pies and pints in Chelsea to beef dripping candles in Sussex and the tiniest pub in Kent. Whether you’re staying local or escaping to the countryside, here’s where to settle in for autumn.

The Pig’s Ear, Chelsea

Best for: fireside pies and pints

Nestled on Church Street, The Pig's Ear is the Gladwins' much-lauded pub in Chelsea. A gorgeous juxtaposition of countryside and city, you’ll find roaring fireplaces lit every day, huge vintage chandeliers, antique French dressers, and old barrels laden with fresh Irish oysters piled into enamel basins. It's the perfect spot for a post-Battersea Park pint and pie, with a different pie on the menu daily, made using ingredients ranging from prawns to beef, cauliflower cheese, and celeriac and mushroom – changing weekly to avoid any unnecessary food waste. If pies aren’t your thing, The Pig’s Ear also serves up a mean roast every Sunday (they’re so good that tables tend to book up well in advance, but it’s completely worth planning ahead for).

www.pigsearpub.com  | 35 Old Church St, London SW3 5BS |  Images here

The Black Horse, Amberley, West Sussex

Best for: big feasts and soft beds for post-walk slumbers

Opened earlier this year by the Gladwins, The Black Horse in Amberley is a 19th-century pub with rooms in the South Downs – their first venture outside London, and their first pub with bedrooms. It brings together seasonal cooking, local wines, beautiful design, and the warm, personal hospitality the family is known for, with every detail reflecting their hands-on approach and their love for the Sussex countryside that shaped them.

Expect handmade pies at the bar, rotisserie chickens, and Oliver Gladwin's famous Sunday roasts, alongside a wine list from the family's own Nutbourne Vineyards, run by brother Gregory just down the road. The garden at the back is perfect for drinks outside in the warmer months, and the 12 bedrooms upstairs are classic and comfortable, with deep mattresses, crisp linens, and Amberley Pottery dotted throughout.

www.blackhorse-pub.com/ | The Black Horse, High Street, Amberley, West Sussex, BN18 9NL | Images here

Boys Hall, Kent

Best for: a roast worth travelling for

With centuries of stories layered throughout this lovingly refurbished 17th century house, Boys Hall serves a Sunday roast worth travelling for. Settle into the beautiful dining room for a leisurely, seasonal lunch, built on the finest produce the county has to offer – then head for a drink in what may very well be the smallest pub in England, with draft beers, seasonal cocktails, and their own English Sparkling Wine, Seventeen Sovereigns, by the glass. Dust off a board game or tuck up in the dinky armchairs by the fire, and enjoy the warmest welcome around.

With Boys Hall's brand-new cabins about to open, there's never been a better time to visit. Taking the property from nine to fifteen bedrooms, each is set around a new wild swimming pond, plunge pool, and sauna – the perfect antidote to a lazy roast lunch. Book in for autumn and be among the first to try them.

www.boys-hall.com | Boys Hall Rd, Willesborough, Ashford TN24 0LA | Images here

The Swan Inn, Fittleworth, West Sussex

Best for: a cosy autumn stay

In the picturesque hills of the South Downs, The Swan Inn is a beautifully preserved 14th-century coaching inn – with crackling fires, low beams, and cosy corners made for settling in as the nights draw in. Stay Sunday to Thursday this autumn and they'll give you £100 to spend on food and drink during your stay – plenty to put towards their legendary sticky toffee pudding, back on the menu for autumn. We’d take a long walk on the Sussex Downs before hunkering down in the Inn for a long, leisurely lunch with friends.

www.swaninnfittleworth.com | Lower St, Fittleworth, Pulborough RH20 1EL | Images here

The Blue Ball, Bruton

Best for: pre-dinner sharpeners

Tucked inside the beautiful Number One hotel in gastro-epicentre Bruton, the Blue Ball is the place for a proper pre-dinner drink. Perch on mismatched barstools for a cocktail, or settle in for a good pint of locally brewed beer over a game of darts, before heading next door to Briar – the beautiful British restaurant from award-winning chef Sam Lomas. For those gathering friends or family this autumn, Briar's private dining room is the perfect spot to linger over a long, leisurely meal together.

www.blueballbruton.com | 2 Coombe St, Bruton BA10 0EP | Images here

Knepp Wilding Kitchen, West Sussex

Best For: sustainable sustenance after a wildland walk

Deep in the West Sussex countryside, Knepp Wilding Kitchen is where a walk through Britain's most famous rewilding project ends in a lunch that's grazed the very same landscape. The wildland's free-roaming longhorn cattle, Tamworth pigs, and red deer live off the shrubs, trees, and hedges around you – and end up on the plate, alongside produce from the market garden just outside. Roam the wild lands first – or book an autumn safari to experience rutting season, with dramatic stag battles, roaring red deer, and the clacking of antlers echoing through the woods – then settle in for a meal that's travelled about as short a distance as food can.

www.knepp.co.uk/wilding-kitchen/ | Car park off Worthing Road, Dial Post, RH13 8NQ | Images here

Sussex, Soho

Best for: a proper beef Wellington 

And so, to Soho, where you'll find Sussex, the Gladwins' most metropolitan outpost – a perfect patch of rural living in the heart of London, and the city-based manifestation of their "what grows together goes together" ethos. This September, across the Gladwins' Local & Wild restaurants, harvest menus celebrate the season with ingredients from the family farm in Sussex and those grown, reared, and foraged close to home.

Sussex is also famous for its beef fillet Wellington, each made to order every day with beef from their own herd of cattle, grazed on that same family farm. Pair it with a glass of red from Richard Gladwin's wine list for a knockout meal by all accounts. Or, for the full experience, book the chef's table private dining room, with large crittall doors into the kitchen for the ultimate Wellington experience: a masterclass in the making, before the chefs fire them up and serve.

www.sussex-restaurant.com | 63-64 Frith St, London, W1D 3JW | Images here

The Potting Shed, The Cotswolds

Best for: award-winning roasts

This idyllic country pub, just a stone’s throw from The Rectory Hotel, looks as though it’s been plucked straight from a Cotswolds postcard. With ancient stone fireplaces, gnarled beams and, most importantly, delicious, simple food and fine ales, it embodies the essence of a traditional pub. The menus celebrate local and seasonal ingredients, showcasing creative British dishes, as well as good-old pub classics done right. Wrap up a long weekend in the Cotswolds with one of their famous Sunday roasts – acclaimed by many to be best in the area.

www.thepottingshed.com | The St, Crudwell, Malmesbury SN16 9EW | Images here

Rowan at Rothay Manor, Ambleside, Lake District

Best for: tasting menus worth making a weekend of

Autumn is a good excuse for a few days in the Lakes, and dinner at Rowan is reason enough to stay the night. Under chef Simon Ulph, Rothay Manor’s restaurant serves one of the best tasting menus we’ve had recently, bringing together the best of the season from Lake District meat to fruit and veg from the Lyth Valley. Start with a drink beside the fire – they even have their own gin – before settling in for the full tasting menu, a delicious reward for a day’s walking. We’d book a room and leave the journey home for tomorrow.

www.rothaymanor.co.uk | Rothay Manor, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 0EH | Images here