The Fountain

Popular dining pub with a snazzy countenance and decent beers, perfect for a pre or post-movie meal.

The 2017 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

Part of the Shilling Group , The Fountain is an ex-John Barras pub that’s gone all Farrow and Ball, with an airy and unfussily stylish bar area and a darker, snugger dining room. There’s some decent beers to choose from, both on tap and by the bottle, plus a smattering of cocktails, but the bar doesn’t quite have the geekish know-how that some more specialist joints offer. What it does have is a popular menu, doing the pan-global gastro-pub thing, so a tagine, a laksa and a steak and chips might share a tabletop. Some dishes are a little odd – a risotto made with long grain rice just seems weird these days, and a ham hock terrine served without bread but with butter is, well, missing something – but there’s decent ingredients used, and it shows, especially in a glorious (and enormous) beef shin pie.

• High point: Plenty of excellent drinks to pick from
• Low point: Service can get muddled on a busy night
• Notable dish: Beef shin pie