Queens Pub & Dining Room

Glorious stained glass, floral ironwork, ornate plastering, mahogany panelling and many other details greet arrivals at the Queen's. This magnificent piece of over-the-top Victoriana was built in 1899 to show respectable locals that a pub need not be anything down-at-heel. So big is it that the dining room and bar areas are separate, but equally spacious, and for smokers and summer visitors there's a courtyard garden too. Food adds to the allure. Able and friendly staff invite you to settle in and feel at home, while the menu, rather than aiming for anything too ambitious, focuses on enjoyable versions of modern pub standards: great steaks, salmon and haddock fish cakes, delectable beer-battered fish and chips, and Jude's irresistible salted caramel ice-cream among the puds. De rigueur roasts are offered on Sundays, and though the weekday lunch specials have increased in price a little (from £5 to £7.50), they're still a bargain. The wine list shows the same enterprising generosity, with a well-chosen range at modest prices and weekly special offers. What's more, the capacious bar has kept a real pub feel, with a very respectable array of international beers.