Hat & Feathers Dining Rooms

You might not expect to find top-notch cooking in a room above a lively Clerkenwell pub, but this restaurant is full of surprises. Though lit by flickering gaslights & elegantly decked out in creams & browns, the amiable staff & peals of laughter from the bar downstairs help keep the atmosphere relaxed. The largely British menu features dishes that are artfully presented & full of flavour. To start, a salad of shredded duck confit with roasted beetroot came topped with a glorious parmesan crisp, while a rabbit main course teamed the succulent meat with a creamy three-mustard sauce & red cabbage. For an indulgent finale, a generous slab of spongy bread & butter pudding came with iced creme anglaise. A vast improvement on when it first opened, this is now a neighbourhood gem.