The Cow

This achingly hip pub, owned by Tom Conran & inspired by an old-fashioned Irish boozer, continues to exert a magnetic pull, with crowds squeezing into the cramped downstairs bar & spilling out onto the pavement. The dining space at the back of the bar serves simple & usually well-prepared dishes, with a heavy emphasis on seafood. Order a dozen oysters, a huge seafood platter or a pint of prawns washed down by a properly pulled pint of Guinness. Mains include the likes of sausages & mash or a tasty fish stew. Grumbles focus on the cramped surroundings & stretched service; you can eat in the pretty dining room upstairs to avoid this, though the sophisticated seasonally inspired fare – smoked eel, potato & bacon salad, roast halibut with leeks, laverbread toasts & orange butter sauce – doesn’t come cheap. Regular celebrity sightings are thrown in for free.