Bars & Pubs

The TV career of landlady Roxy Beaujolais may have stuttered, but her flagship pub goes from strength to strength. People pile down here on weekday evenings, knowing full well they'll probably be forced to drink on the pavement outside - but they don't care. It's a fantastic social hub for London characters, from eccentric lawyers to burlesque babes. If you can squeeze into the small but perfectly proportioned interior, you'll get a slice of low-rent, bohemian London: archive film posters, checked tablecloths and an antique dumb waiter bringing food down from the tiny kitchen upstairs. The grub is top-class but unpretentious; there are no extensive menus to browse, just a few words chalked on the blackboard, which invariably promise high quality. It's one of the few London pubs where you're happy to pay £6 for a large glass of burgundy because you know you aren't being ripped off; the beers are also wonderfully kept, and the house martini a must-try. It's higgledy, it's piggledy, and if you want to go to the toilet you'll have a nail-biting clamber up some rickety stairs - but at the weekend, when it's less hectic, this is one of the most perfect pubs in town.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009