Strategically placed to profit from N1’s ‘silicon roundabout’, this new indie gastropub has plenty of decent beer to reboot a geek’s flagging brain cells. Try Hackney Brewery’s American pale ale or
Norwich microbrewer Redwell’s Czech-style pilsner – both available on tap. Wines include some accessible Old World names as well as patriotic representatives from Outhwaite’s South Downs vineyard.
Sober decor is stripped back to the point of innocuousness, shifting the focus onto a bustling open kitchen alongside the wood-panelled dining area, where reasonably priced British grub is given a
slight French accent: order vichyssoise, rabbit terrine, rollmops or cold roast Middle White pork with celeriac rémoulade, ahead of spiced oxtail with sweet potato mash, onglet steak or potato
pancakes with goats’ curd and mint. Otherwise, a three-course lunch offer (£18) rounds off with the likes of gooseberry fool.