Ye White Hart

It’s a pleasure to find a recently refurbished boozer that doesn’t sport the near-ubiquitous non-matching gastropub look. Instead, this classic 300-year-old London hostelry (where Sheridan, Rattigan & Marc Bolan once drank) has been brought back to glory, with polished wooden bar, open fire & old-fashioned wall lights. The back wall has windows looking on to the Thames. Food consists of burgers, salads & sandwiches, or the likes of whole spit-roast chicken (for two), nicely cooked but nothing fancy; beer is from the Young’s/Wells stable. Most of the big matches are shown in the capacious Coxwain bar upstairs (which also has a dance floor), but on sunny days it’s hard to resist sitting outside watching the river go by. Get here early on Boat Race day, as the balcony gets rammed.