Restaurants

On the phone and in person, it’s rare to find a welcome as warm as that proffered by this spacious pub discreetly positioned in one of Islington’s leafiest quarters. The barman immediately volunteered a taster of the guest ale, Wyre Piddle’s Piddle in the Hole, which tasted like it too – how we all laughed as we ordered pints of London Pride instead. The wine list features several by the glass, plus 500ml carafes, while a blackboard advertises bin ends. Outside is a pretty heated garden with smart metal chairs; inside are grey-green walls lined with colour photographs loosely maintaing a drapers theme. The menu typically offers eight dishes for each course. Chilled white gazpacho with crayfish was well suited to the hot weather, though it didn’t need a dollop of tsatsiki in addition to flaked almonds and grapes. Field mushrooms on tapenade toast with melted brie was surprisingly lacklustre: the cheese fine, the mushrooms strangely bland. A fine example of fish and chips came with breadcrumbed rather than battered fish, served with a crème fraîche variation of tartare sauce, but best was a rich confit of lamb shoulder with meltingly tender red onions and garlic potatoes – enough to feed a small army. The Drapers Arms is a great find.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008