The 2007 edition of Michelin's Eating Out in Pubs guide lists over 550 of the best dining pubs in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland

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If you want to read a review of the new 2008 edition of Michelin's Eating Out in Pubs guide then click here.

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British and Irish pubs used to be places where you only went for a drink. Some served good pub grub, but many only had kitchens staffed by one chef and four microwaves. These days the food has improved enormously, and Michelin (famed for handing out Stars to only the best gourmet temples) now publish an annual guide to Eating Out in Pubs. The 2007 edition lists over 550 of the best pubs for gourmet pub food throughout the UK and Ireland.

Eating Out in Pubs has over 600 pages of listings, with each selection having a full page to itself, including a colour photo. Contact details are listed, driving and parking information given, the types of beer served and the times when food is served (but not the full opening hours). Sample menu prices are indicated too.

Each entry in Eating Out in Pubs then gets a lengthy description, inside and out, before focussing in on the food. In the corner of each page a neat little blackboard shows a typical starter, main course and dessert – the first thing I look at after the photo. Hmm, chicken, truffle mash and asparagus, eh? Truffle mash – now what does that taste like? I'll have to go to The Beehive in Cheltenham to find out.

Lacking the time to eat at all 550 places, I decided to check how good the guide was by looking at my own area in and around Cambridgeshire. The entries listed include every good eating pub I can think of near my home, from the closest, The Crown at Broughton, to The Falcon in Fotheringay, well worth a 20-mile drive.

I want to eat in some of these pubs from the names alone, like The Snooty Fox, The Gin Trap Inn, The Drunken Duck, The Crazy Bear and The Trout at Tadpole Bridge. The reviews of others that I have eaten in, like The Angel in Hetton in Yorkshire and The Pheasant at Keyston here in Cambridgeshire, give me confidence in the guide – they know what they're talking about.

And the Pub of the Year? Which inn combines location, looks, service, drinks, guest bedrooms and fine food? Michelin chooses The Bell at Skenfrith in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh side of the English border. Why? Maybe their own website will give a clue: click here. It certainly makes me want to visit. Comfy sofas and marmalade soufflé? Cheers!

The 2007 Michelin Eating Out in Pubs Guide costs £14.99 in the UK, $19.95 in the USA and $23.95 in Canada.

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