YouTuber left amazed after uncovering big differences between Clarkson’s and May’s pubs
YouTuber Gary Eats went to compare Jeremy Clarkson and James May’s pubs recently and made several stunning observations.
The pair, who are part of the beloved motoring trip that headed up Top Gear and The Grand Tour for the past two decades alongside Richard Hammond, have had a famous back and forth since venturing into the industry.
May revealed that Jeremy Clarkson is not banned from his pub despite his former Top Gear co-star banning him from his own Oxfordshire boozer.
He has also co-owned a pub, The Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe, Wiltshire, for several years, but was recently joined in the trade by his Clarkson’s Farm co-star.
Clarkson purchased The Windmill in Asthall near Burford for around £1,000,000 and renamed it The Farmer’s Dog, opening in August 2024.
But which pub is best?
Starting at May’s, The Swallowcliffe in Wiltshire, Gary had nothing but praise for the service and food at the quaint and quiet pub in the Cotswolds.
In a quiet setting, he was recommended a bitter – beloved by Mr May – and then asked for a change of sauce on his main, a flat iron steak, to which the staff happily obliged.
The self-proclaimed ‘happy chappy’ then proceeded to call his main, of which there was ‘a great portion’, ‘absolutely brilliant’ and ‘gorgeous’, in the space where you could hear a pin drop.
To finish, Gary went with the ginormous sticky toffee pudding. “That sponge, like the onion rings, is incredibly light. But the toffee sauce, holy moly, that is sweet. That’s the way you do it!
“This is a beautiful pub, I love this place. Absolutely bang on. Jeremy, you’re under pressure!”
In contrast, he then “whizzed over” to visit the famous The Farmer’s Dog in Oxfordshire, not too far from James May’s pub.
Jeremy Clarkson’s new and extremely popular venture has proven a huge hit with viewers of the Amazon Prime TV show Clarkson’s Farm.
Outside, he noted that the car park was “Extremely busy, so I don’t wanna hang around out here, I just want to get straight in there.”
Inside, he opted for the same order he had at The Swallowcliffe, the ham hock terrine, a gammon steak (beef at the other), and also whatever ale they recommended.
“This feels different; it has a more modern feel to it than the other, which felt traditional. However, I still like both pubs.
He said James May’s pub starter offering was ‘stupendously good’, whereas Clarkson’s was a lesser ‘very good’.
His main, the gammon, was a large portion. “That, to me, is a perfect piece of gammon. It’s got a lovely saltiness in there, but the thing about it is how it cuts. Super tender.”
He then gave it his signature, “bang on.”
To conclude, he ended up giving The Swallowcliffe a rating compared to The Farmer’s Dog.
The Swallowcliffe pipped it by one point. 47 to 46.