Great steak is pub benchmark, claims top chef.

The benchmark of a good food pub is a great steak, according to top chef Marco Pierre White.

The chef says people will travel to a pub with a "good quality, fairly priced steak".

White runs several Wheelers of St James's restaurants and steak houses as well as several pubs, including the Angel Hotel in Lavenham, Suffolk, and the Pear Tree Inn in Whitley, Wiltshire.

He said: "If you look at pubs that serve really good steak they tend to have a very good business because they have invested in quality and charge accordingly.

"I choose 10oz rib-eyes over 8oz cuts because they cook better and look better and more generous on the plate. The working man will dig deep down into his pocket and pay £20 for a good quality steak."

Instead of working to a GP, White prefers to look at cash profit for the reason that it is "impossible" to get a target GP on some dishes. "You have got to be flexible on price. It balances out."

White, who is a brand ambassador for Unilever's Knorr brand, adds: "Pubs like mine are restaurants that serve a pint rather than pubs that serve grub. You have got to decide what you are going to be.

"It is most important to serve a great pint in an environment that people want to sit in. I think the food offering needs to be of a very good quality and you charge accordingly."

On the blurring of the lines between restaurant and pub dining, White said: "There are a lot of very good cooks who started life in Michelin-starred restaurants and now run very good pubs, but they are two different monsters.