The New Inn

The mental image conjured up by St. John's Wood might well consist of elegant Georgian houses, upmarket boutiques and ladies who lunch. But in a rare moment of light relief, only minutes away from this potential Richard Curtis film location, lies the New Inn.

Sitting at the edge of a perfectly nice council estate, anywhere else this would be described as a stripped-out affair. Here, however, monikers aren't needed; its simply a great pub. The predominantly older locals, all looking unusually dressed-up, clearly didn't mind us interlopers in their pub.

So while we sat, eating our rather good Sunday lunch, we listened to the live over 50s blues band and looked around us; there was laughing, joking, chatting, smiling. It was friendly and genuine. Did we find the New Inn on an unusually good day? Maybe. But on our first impression, we wish more pubs were like this.