WILLIAM IV

At last, a gentrified pub that stays loyal to the name on the sign. With its shabby-chic, scuffed white interior and gastronomic leanings, the William IV feels like the kind of place that a playboy monarch would hide one of his mistresses to keep her out of the public eye. Everything inside is beautifully worn and white, but there are splashes of colour – a faded, furled union Jack in one corner, a case of stuffed game-birds on the wall, a giant portrait of King William in all his puffed-up finery. It sounds a little wild, but it works, with just the right level of glam, pomp and circumstance.

The design flair continues in the upstairs dining room. All pinstripe wallpaper and old school photo- graphs, this could almost be the refectory at an exclusive Oxford college, and the menu fits the old boy theme – lots of gourmet takes on fishcakes, burgers, and sausage and mash. For diners with grown-up palates, there are classic salads and some very enticing seafood dishes (the salmon and black pepper ravioli and marinated mackerel with pickled fennel particularly tickled our fancy).

Against this posh backdrop, it’s a pleasant surprise to find some old-fashioned pub activities taking place during the week. Monday is quiz night (the main prize is a free lunch – so they do exist) and Sundays feature board games, jugs of Bloody Marys, evening movie screenings, and a stuff-yourself-silly Sunday roast for a tenner. Every few Saturdays, acoustic bands jangle in the main lounge followed by breakbeat DJs till the wee hours. For our money, this is quite a find in the urban jungle north of City Road.