George & Vulture

Prepare to enter a time warp if you visit this long established City of London watering hole, as you could easily imagine ghosts from the Victorian period happily propping up the bar.

Originally established in 1600, it is now owned by Samuel Smiths Brewery, who seem to do very little to publicise its existence, however, this does not prevent it from being extremely popular and busy.

The menu does not seem too promising at first glance, but actually the results are considerably better than you might anticipate from the conservative nature of the dishes on offer.

Traditional starters range from Soup of the Day at £1.90 and Devilled Whitebait at £3.60 through to - at the luxury end - Scotch Smoked Salmon, (£8.65) and Dublin Bay Prawns (£7.30).

Main courses run through the usual British gamut, the majority consisting of grills, both meat and fish, like Sirloin Steak (£10.80) or Fillet of Plaice (£6.90), but also some familiar favourites, such as Steak and Kidney Pie (£6.95) and Steak Diane (£11.60), with vegetables or salads as extras.

Owing to the fact that it is sited in the City, it is possibly a little bit more expensive than you might expect, and it is only open for lunch from Monday to Friday, closed all weekend, though they will quote for evening functions.