Earl Spencer

A cavernous Edwardian pub that's more deserving of the 'gastronomic' epithet than most. The Earl Spencer was refurbished and reopened back in 2003, yet has never felt like a calculated exercise in filling a gap in the market. It serves inviting food, less formulaic than most, and gives the impression the menu has followed a steady evolution.

Chef Justin Aubrey's starters veer from simple tomato soup to inspired devilled lambs' kidneys and bacon on toast, with Cox apple and shallot salad - both dishes, slightly perplexingly, priced identically. Rugged potato and spinach croquettes, a little under-seasoned, came with an overly runny taleggio dip. Better was the main of red bream on a plate laden with a rainbow of veg: sautéed potatoes, black cabbage, carrots, and roast pepper and olive relish.

Service was friendly, though far from polished. A side of corn on the cob was missing from our piri piri chicken, never to materialise despite our enquiries. However, you can sit where you like, order and pay at the bar, choose cask-conditioned ales, and get a complimentary basket of own-made bread. For the refreshing lack of conceit alone, this pub is quite a find.