Hartley Bar & Dining Rooms, The

Another recruit to the growing ranks of gastropubs and even though the restaurant trade assure us that they are not affected there are those who begin to wonder, particularly as the number of openings and closures steadily grows.

The Hartley takes it name from the former jam factory opposite, now a residential redevelopment, and is a first venture for LGR Taverns. The food has been described as 'warm and earthy' and few would demur, with Moroccan spiced lamb rump or steak, kidney and oyster pudding as popular menu regulars.

Starters could include smoked eel with dandelion and horseradish or baby gem octopus and brown shrimps with aioli. For pudding it would be churlish to ignore Mrs Appleby's cheese, cox pippins and homemade ginger biscuits. Their brunch is already the stuff of which legends are made. All their meat started life at the Ginger Pig Farms.

Décor follows the same patterns of unpretentious comfort as the food, and service is brisk and efficient.