LANDLORDS have been humbled after their pub was named "almost certainly the best in England" by a food critic less than one month after taking over.

The claim was made by legendary food critic, Giles Coren, who wrote a column in The Times about The Horse and Groom in Bourton on the Hill. 

Landlords Nathan Eades and Liam Goff who also operate The Halfway at Kineton, reopened the Horse and Groom on June 28.

New landlords: Nathan Eades and Liam GoffNew landlords: Nathan Eades and Liam Goff (Image: The Horse and Groom)

Mr Eades said: "We are humbled by the fact that a prestigious journalist wrote about us and the fact that we scored so highly, although we understand that we are probably not the best, the fact is that he listed it on several factors and the pub did well. 

"It's a nice thing to read about yourself, but the hardest part now is too live up to peoples overhyped expectations.

"Obviously we are not the best pub, it's just a tagline, but it has had an affect on business and we have had people come in saying that they had read the article. 

"Our first month has been good, much better than expected, our numbers are good and it has surpassed all expectations.

"But the point I would like to make is that we are still just a pub, people can still come here for a drink and we still show sport."

(Image: The Horse and Groom)

The 54-year-old food critic has been writing for The Times for two decades.

Writing in The Times, he said: "The Horse and Groom... a cosy spot with stunning views and lovely people but pretty average food, I always thought, which has been taken over by Nathan Eades and Liam Goff of The Halfway at Kineton and is thus, now, with their immense cooking bolted on to the rambling old space and fantastic gardens, almost certainly the best pub in England. 

"It has not changed much inside, nor should it. 

"It is lived-in and lovely. 

"The English rural pub is the greatest of all things on earth and the Horse and Groom is perhaps its apogee."