Albion, The

A recently opened pub in Islington, just round the corner from Tony Blair's former pad. The interiors are unshakeably Georgian, but outside is a fine garden based on the way it appears in pictures taken during the 1930s. This is a wonderful place to enjoy a few pints and pretend that the lush greenery around you is entirely of your own making and you are merely enjoying the fruits of your labours.

However, in those years when we have a summer the floral fragrance tends to be flavoured with that great British institution, the barbecue. Not that they are anything but very good barbies, it's just that nobody has yet devised a suitable method of fume extraction.

Inside, against a background of silk sofas, comfortable arm chairs, with wooden floors, good British food is served, along the lines of roasted mackerel with Jersey Royals, Cornish crab soup, slow roast Gloucester Old Spot with honey roast parsnips and sweet red cabbage, a very nifty shepherd's pie with pea shoot salad, whole roast suckling pig and rhubarb crumble with ice cream.

This is a jolly place with a minimum of formality, good value for money and a real oasis for Islington.