Smithy's Wine Bar & Restaurant

If this dimly lit cobble-floored wine bar’s name doesn’t give the game away, black-&-white pictures of Edwardian farriers at work & a collection of horseshoes certainly will: tucked down an obscure King’s Cross backstreet, Smithy’s is a charming conversion of an old blacksmith’s premises. Wines range from reliable workhorses, a £12.95 Verdicchio or a Cahors at £19.50, to thoroughbreds you can bet your shirt on, notably a £55.50 1990 Gevrey-Chambertin. Otherwise, fancy fizz Laurent-Perrier Rose comes in at around the same price. Spring rolls & fish goujons with sauce tartare are typical bar snacks, while a daily changing menu of competent Franco-Brit classics is worth a flutter.