The Red Lion & Sun

Tucked deep within Highgate at its most herbaceous, the Red Lion & Sun makes every effort to appeal to what a dining clientele expects to find in a modern pub. Inside, it's done out in cool light blue, with simple wood furniture and a long bar with stools, plus a glassed-in conservatory room and two open garden areas (with heaters) too. It's as near to the ‘country pub’ experience as a hostelry in the metropolis can get.

A well-drilled team fronts the place, and the kitchen turns out a daily changing menu, updated every morning on the website, and formulated in conjunction with the local Highgate butchers: not surprisingly, the Sunday lunch session is always wildly popular, when prime cuts of 35-day, dry-aged Aberdeen Angus beef are the stars (including côte de boeuf for sharing). Meanwhile, the regular repertoire covers a lot of ground: Korean-spiced chicken wings or Dorset crab served in Basque style suggest a cosmopolitan approach to starters, or there might be chargrilled sardines doused in olive oil, lemon and garlic. Roasts typically take in slow-cooked, properly crackled pork belly with a cloud of buttery mash, but casserole cookery is good too – duck cassoulet appears in its canonical bean stew, elevated by the fat from chunks of smoked sausage. 

Desserts plough a populist furrow, taking in Eton mess, sticky toffee pudding or passion-fruit cheesecake. For those who are already sweet enough, British artisan cheeses come with Dorset pear paste and crackers. A conscientiously curated wine list starts at £8 for a glass of organic Montepulciano d'Abruzzo; there are also good cask ales, and not one but a whole selection of mezcals for the truly intrepid.