The Eagle (Thai food)

You're walking down Gloucester Road and you catch the smell of lemongrass and fish sauce wafting out onto the pavement. That's your cue to duck inside The Eagle. It's a pub that's kept its soul—dark wood, proper bar stools, the kind of place where regulars have their names etched into the furniture—but the kitchen's doing serious Thai work. The pad thai isn't trying to be fancy, the curries are built with proper heat and depth, and there's none of that over-plated nonsense you get elsewhere. It's the sort of spot where you'll see people coming straight from work in accountancy sitting next to students, all tucking into the same brilliant som tam.