Restaurants

No great makeovers were needed to gastro-ise the Queen’s Head – the bar’s grand original wooden panelling and giant leaded windows provide all the right ambience. You can eat there, or from the same menu in the quieter surroundings of a distinctively chic upstairs dining room; there’s also a small pavement terrace and a tiny patio. Tables were at a premium in the bar, even early on a midweek evening. We soon realised why. Diners can choose between a long, pan-Mediterranean list of tapas, or an attractive full menu; portions are very generous, but this is no case of quantity without quality. A platter of mixed tapas made a great starter to share, with excellent tabouleh, grilled mushrooms, houmous, various Spanish meats and other good things. Mains were even better, with every ingredient just right: a huge but sumptuously juicy ribeye with punchy anchovy butter, and a similarly flavour-rich pan-fried salmon with pesto potatoes, beans and cherry tomatoes. The wine list shows the same fine level of care and nous, with superior modern wines at decent prices, such as the Spanish Martín Berdugo red, a snip at £17. A very enjoyable refuge in an under-supplied area.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009