QUEENS HEAD & ARTICHOKE

Sometimes nothing will do but polished Victoriana, rich dark-wood panelling, and vast mullioned windows filtering the afternoon light or keeping out the night. Oh, and tasty tapas snacks, gastropub greats, beguiling beer on tap and a tidy wine list.

At such moments, head to the Queens Head & Artichoke, a discreetly charming pub that’s a cut above. It’s on a tree-lined street close to Regent’s Park, and close to, but a world away from, the stark plate-glass office buildings of the Euston Road. The kind of find you return to.

The wooden tables on exposed wooden floorboards surround the long, ornate Victorian bar, and they tend to be busy – it’s a magnet for a mix of local professionals: publishing, media and medical types (the Royal College of Physicians is nearby). At the back of the pub is a divine little glass-roofed anteroom with Moroccan seating

You’ll eat the same dishes upstairs or down, but for the bigger occasion, head upstairs. Calmer, quieter and grander, it’s ideal for a serene lunch or dinner. The interior features a piano, pale wooden floors, linen napkins, tall ceilings, large windows overlooking the tree-lined street and walls lined with graceful kitsch (think the lady with the green face paintings).

The menu changes daily, with a good mix of Greek, Middle Eastern and Spanish tapas and a range of adventurous, well-presented dishes that make choosing a challenge, such as organic salmon & mussels in cider papillotte, wild rice, tomato & cucumber salsa (£12) or cassoulet of haricot beans, sausage, mutton & duck (£11.50). If you visit in Autumn, try the organic sweet pumpkin filled with red onion and stilton (£9.50); a whole green baby pumpkin arrives on a bed of pardina lentils – this is about as cute as a vegetable gets.