Noble gastropub lording it over competition
I fully intended to kick off 2008 by recommending some sort of salad bar that would make even a vegan rabbit feel virtuous. Then I thought - stuff that.
It's freezing outside, we're all still vaguely hung over from New Year parties and it's the first day back at work.
Where would you prefer to be: nibbling lettuce, or by a local pub fireside eating pies? Thought so. Even among the stiff neighbourhood competition - including Gordon Ramsay's newest gaff - this corner gastropub is a real stand-out beauty.
A thriving large front bar, luxuriating in beautiful old tiled fireplaces, leads into a pleasingly airy dining room.
The high ceilings romping with plaster cherubs are cosily lit up by chandeliers, chunky dripping candles and the smiles of the properly friendly young staff. This is the sort of place that you would actually like to work in as well as eat at.
Here, all-day dining for once wondrously means "all-day dining". As we discovered to our delight when we sloped in at 5pm on a Sunday, with no reservation, looking for a proper dinner.
The generous wine list is thoughtfully selected so you can splash out and go for a "good" one and it's still around the £20 mark. The food is classic British with a stimulating Spanish twist: so the fantastic value main courses included tortilla, squash, red pepper and goat's cheese (£10) alongside fish and chips (£8.50).
I'd expected my Scotch broth with pheasant (£4.50) to be heavy and meaty - instead it was so fresh and chunkily vegetable-based I almost scraped the pattern off the bowl.
My friend's cheddar and leek tart (£5.75) drew similar praise for being "warmly cosy and not too eggy". Her aged Somerset Angus roast rib of beef (£13), however, contained our one disappointment.
While the other diners' plates boasted big, puffy Yorkshire puds the size of chefs' hats, hers looked as if it had been sat on. Still, the meat was "perfectly pink in the middle", and I certainly had no complaints with my braised rabbit, excitingly heartied-up by chorizo as well as butterbeans (£12) - except that devouring its every last morsel left me too full for a pud.
I made a solemn vow there and then to return for the rice pudding with caramelised oranges (£5).
Hey, this is the one new year's resolution I might actually keep...
The Duke Of Sussex
South Parade, London, W4 5LF
