Lady Ottoline

Mosaic floor tiles at the door and Charrington brewery-etched windows give away this pub's original incarnation: it was built in its present form as the King's Arms in 1898.

The beautiful interior is evidence that no one knew pubs like the Victorians. And it's in safe hands: it was recently bought by the people behind the Princess of Shoreditch, who have undertaken an extensive (and expensive-looking) refurb.

Salvageable elements have been restored to nineteenth-century glory, and sympathetic pastiche applied where necessary. Research has been conducted for the new name: the Lady herself was a member of the Bloomsbury Set, with all the connotations of intellectual elitism and aristocratic shagging that brings.

The ground floor is smart and wood-panelled, but definitely a pub. Up the narrow staircase is undoubtedly a restaurant, lit by candle and filled with heavy tableware and furniture. You can eat downstairs - there's a less formal bar menu - but on our visit it would have been too noisy, filled as it was with unbuttoned suits.

Drinkers can partake of a select range of four ales, including a couple from Purity (Warwickshire) and Sambrook's (Wandsworth). The wine list, though, is the main attraction. There are ten by the glass in both red and white, including interesting and versatile wines such as picpoul de pinet (from Languedoc) and Austria's grüner veltliner. Mark-ups aren't indecent and there's a lot to choose from that are less than £30 a bottle.

The dishes, especially starters, are elaborately constructed. Cured duck breast came as three tiny slices, artfully surrounded by pickled ginger, micro-leaves and goat's cheese mousse.

That old gastropub stalwart, pork belly, came in a perfectly cooked square with a chunk of braised cheek, a strip of crackling and a black pudding croquette. The lobster and crab risotto was unremarkable, however: the flavour of the meat wasn't apparent enough.

As a pub, this Lady already has a pleasantly lived-in feel. As a restaurant it has yet to reach the heights of its more noble Shoreditch sister, but it's worth a peer in all the same.