Golden Lion

Set opposite Christie’s auction house, this august Nicholson’s hostelry cannot fail to attract a discerning suit-and-tie clientele delighted to find superior ales (George Gale Seafarer’s, Sharp’s Cornish Coaster), sandwiches (honey-and-mustard roast ham and cheddar) and mains (home-made Aberdeen Angus burger, boeuf bourguignon).

A wine selection of 16 low- to mid-range standards seems relatively modest given the surroundings and customer base. With heraldic crests set into glazed windows that shut out the 21st century, and a dark-wood interior as cosy as when Oscar Wilde and Lillie Langtree imbibed between acts at the long-gone St James’s Theatre opposite, the Golden Lion does little to dispel the feeling that you may be getting home by horse-drawn hackney.