Restaurants

Although not the only pub to request an email address for table confirmations, Tom Conran’s highly popular Cow has a ramshackle retro-Irish vibe at odds with such a booking system. Downstairs, punters cram in like sardines, happily standing in the limited space by the bar to drink; preference for tables is given to diners. In the first-floor restaurant, up a red linoleum staircase, long-haired bambis with expensive handbags eat with doe-eyed boyfriends in tight sweaters. Wherever you sit the smart order is seafood – say a half dozen clean creamy Irish natives served with shallot vinegar, or the platter of fruits de mer. There’s a good range of drinks, from Fuller’s ESB and London Pride on tap, to OK martinis made with Gordon’s, and the occasional novelty such as Byrrh. The wine list has its heart in France but flirts elsewhere. We appreciated the careful details – lovely breads and focaccia, delicious rosemary-laden dauphinoise, discerningly peppered chargrilled steak – but there was no excusing the mean cubes of veal in the blanquette. Service ranges from sweet to smart-arse; the Cow knows it’s cool and the crowds do nothing to dissuade it.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009