Essex pub ranked 19th in UK's top 100 pubs guide
Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 2 Nov, 23:26 · Archive
The Sun Inn in Dedham has been ranked 19th in The Good Food Guide's 100 Best Pubs for 2026.
The Sun Inn in Dedham, a 15th-century coaching inn and gastropub on the High Street, has been ranked 19th in The Good Food Guide's 100 Best Pubs for 2026. The guide was published on 2 November in partnership with Timothy Taylor's and celebrates pubs that serve as community hubs, prioritise the origins of their ingredients, and offer more than good food and drink.
The Good Food Guide praised owner Piers Baker for balancing the pub's heritage features, which include 'clattering floorboards, heavy beamed ceilings, real fires galore', with 'all the trappings of a contemporary dining venue and an on-point kitchen'. Sitting on the pub's terrace in summer 'feels like a touch of Europe in rural Essex', the guide noted.
The menu receives particular acclaim. Soups are described as 'always a stand-out', with the spiced Crown Prince squash with lentil and coconut yoghurt highlighted. Pastas and aged British steaks are also highly recommended, whilst other dishes carry 'a noticeable Mediterranean accent', including house stracciatella with black fig and golden beetroot dressing, and salt-marsh lamb chops accompanied by merguez-stuffed olive, aubergine and chickpeas.
Desserts feature 'the comforting glow' of dishes such as warm apple and spiced raisin tart. The guide also commends the pub's selection of local beers and its 'carefully curated, predominantly Old World wine list with plenty by the glass and carafe at refreshing prices'.
How it is being reported
- Essex pub visited by King Charles is named among UK's top 20 in new guideHistoric Essex pub The Sun Inn in Dedham ranks 19th in The Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Pubs for 2026, praised for heritage, modern dining and local produce.Colchester Gazette · 2 Nov, 17:02
- Essex pub visited by King Charles is named among UK's top 20 in new guideHistoric Essex pub The Sun Inn in Dedham ranks 19th in The Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Pubs for 2026, praised for heritage, modern dining and local produce.Echo (Basildon) · 2 Nov, 17:02
- Essex pub visited by King Charles is named among UK's top 20 in new guideHistoric Essex pub The Sun Inn in Dedham ranks 19th in The Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Pubs for 2026, praised for heritage, modern dining and local produce.Brentwood Guardian · 2 Nov, 17:02
In this story: The Sun Inn · Dedham · The Good Food Guide · Piers Baker · Timothy Taylor's
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