The story
A free house in the village of Pettistree, near Wickham Market, the Greyhound Inn has earned a Michelin Recommendation for its focused, ingredient-led cooking. Head Chef Adam Spicer draws inspiration from the pub’s rural surroundings, changing the menu daily based on what is best from local producers.
The cooking is described by the Michelin Guide as “serving the kind of menu where you could happily eat every dish,” a sentiment echoed by critic William Sitwell, who called it “a tour de force of gutsy, hearty, flavourful food.” The Good Food Guide has also recognised the pub, placing it at number six in its Top 100 UK Pubs for 2025 and naming it the Best Local Restaurant in Central & East of England.
The seasonal menu is concise and direct. Recent starters have included hand-dived Orkney scallops with saffron and Pernod butter, and Isle of White tomatoes with stracciatella. Mains range from wild Suffolk bass with clams and bouillabaisse sauce to a whole roasted guinea fowl for two, served with dripping potatoes. A Landlord’s Lunch, available on weekdays, offers simpler fare like cod’s roe on toast or liver with slab bacon, priced at £25.
The drink selection is equally thoughtful, with a short, ever-changing list of local cask ales and a wine list focused on Old World producers to reduce air miles. The team also takes non-alcoholic drinks seriously, crafting seasonal syrups and shrubs. Dogs are welcome throughout the pub and garden, and the garden itself offers a separate menu on summer weekends.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
A gem of a village pub, owned and run by Will Orrock and his wife Cassidy Hughes, where there’s more than a passing nod to the Fergus Henderson (St John) school of cookery. Chef Adam Spicer's menu is brisk – beautiful ingredients are left relatively unadorned, and flavours are full. What a vol-au-vent lacks in flighty height it makes up for in crispness and the springtime deliciousness of foraged morels and wild garlic, and how good to see tenderly seared cuttlefish among the starters, alongside a silken ink-black mayonnaise studded with cod's roe – don't forget to save some of the excellent house bread for mayo-scooping purposes. A terrine of brawn and ‘blood cake’ is as muscular as its name suggests, but alongside the heft is deft culinary balance from the crunchy bite of radishes and some zippy piccalilli. As for seafood, expect a few luxuries. The delicate flavour of lobster is somewhat swamped by its coronation sauce, although a turbot main course is memorably good. Served with fat mussels, the saline pep of monk’s beard and a gently spiced mouclade sauce, it’s a dish to hurry back for. Local produce stars throughout – from vegetables and leaves courtesy of nearby organic Maple Farm to chocolate from Pump Street or the St Jude cow’s curd served alongside a caramel tart. This is ‘proper cooking,’ notes one reporter. The Greyhound is also a proper boozer, welcoming drinkers for honest sustenance. Do check out the great-value bar snacks – say Welsh rarebit or a ploughman’s including homemade pork pie and house pickles. Perfect with a pint, or a glass from a wine list which is fit for every occasion – be it a classy Burgundy (a 2021 Saint-Aubin 1er cru ‘Clos du Meix’ from family-owned Domaine Hubert Lamy, perhaps), a steely Austrian Riesling from the Arndorfer winery or a simple lunchtime sip from the Languedoc.
Location
Instagram