This simple, intimate dining room in the Northern Quarter is relaxed and friendly, with exposed wooden floors and grand windows showcasing the famous Smithfield Fish Markets. An accomplished modern British menu by chef Anthony Fielden focuses on local seasonal ingredients. To start, pan-fried wood pigeon was perfectly cooked, the rich dark meat balanced by mildly bitter charred chicory, cherries and gingerbread crumb; grilled British asparagus came with deliciously crisp ham-hock croquettes and chive hollandaise. We enjoyed slow-cooked Middle White pork belly to follow, accompanied by crunchy Bury black pudding fritters and an intensely savoury bacon crumb; well-marbled dry-aged Cheshire rib-eye steak with roasted bone marrow was teamed with golden chips and cauliflower cheese enriched by earthy truffle. Chocolate and ginger cheesecake with salty-sweet peanut butter sauce, matched with a honeyed Beerenauslese dessert wine, made a suitably rich finale. TNQ feels like the perfect local, though it’s well worth a trip.