A low-ceilinged spot with a terracotta tiled floor and a noble red dining room, the Billet is the country pub from romance novels and detective stories. Out the front is the twisting lane that brings walkers here, but mostly people book and drive: the Billet is a destination, not a stop-off on a journey elsewhere. The offering is both generous and egalitarian: you might eat from the set menu (two courses for £29) with an £8.50 glass, or go for silk-like fillet steak with a trio of brawny scallops for £58, and take each bite with a little beautiful Mersault, £115-a-bottle. This, in fact, offers uncommonly good value, marked up only very little.
Country pub of the week: The Crooked Billet, Stoke Row
