A HUNTINGDONSHIRE pub has won a coveted ­county-wide award for the quality of its food.

The Pheasant, at Keyston, has been chosen as The Good Pub Guide 2014 Cambridgeshire Dining Pub of the Year.

Simon Cadge and his partner Gerda Koedijk have been running the pub since January 2012 with the support of John Hoskins, owner of the Old Bridge Hotel, in Huntingdon.

Mr Cadge is chef patron while Ms Koedijk leads the front-of-house team, offering a menu including a-la-carte dishes as well as traditional classics, sandwiches and snacks.

The menu is updated daily and customers can also enjoy real ales and award-winning wines.

This is the second accolade for the pub, which was also awarded a ‘Bib Gourmand’ by the Michelin Guide for offering “excellent quality at sensible prices” last year.

Judges from the Good Pub Guide, publised by Ebury, visited the restaurant unannounced. Their write-up in the guide states: “This neatly kept and thatched white building has come a long way since it was the village smithy. It’s now a civilised dining pub offering several real ales and excellent food cooked by the landlord.”

Ms Koedijk said: “We didn’t really know about it until we got a message saying we’d won. When I got the letter I showed everyone and gave them a high five.”

The Pheasant was in the Hoskins family from when Mr Hoskins’ father set up the business in 1964, until it was taken over by Jay and Taffeta Scrimshaw in 2007.

The pub went on to win Gordon Ramsay’s Best British Restaurant in 2009, but in January last year it went into liquidation.

It reopened as part of Huntsbridge Ltd, the company that includes the Old Bridge.

The couple have worked in the hospitality and catering industry for many years. Mr Cadge was a sous chef at the Old Bridge Hotel from 1999-2003 and ran The Crown, at Broughton, until 2008. He then returned to the Old Bridge as head chef.

Ms Koedijk also worked in the industry before becoming an account manager at a nutritional supplement company.

They combined to run the Pheasant in January 2012 and took over as landlord and landlady in April this year.