Heston Blumenthal liked his local pub so much that he bought it – and then left it alone. The wooden-panelled oak-beamed hostelry is just a few steps away from his three-starred Fat Duck, but there is no snail porridge or tobacco chocolate here – just classic pub dishes, reworked without deconstruction or desecration. Freshly opened Colchester oysters are a sweet-salty delight and standards such as Lancashire hotpot and oxtail and kidney pudding are a far cry from the gloopy, sodden messes that usually trade under their names.