Fentiman Arms

You'll find yourself on Fentiman Road in Oval, in that pocket of south London that's quietly brilliant but refuses to shout about it. The Fentiman Arms is exactly the sort of pub you'd hope to stumble into: wooden floors, decent lighting that doesn't make you look knackered, and a bar you can actually belly up to without performing gymnastics. The crowd's refreshingly mixed—locals nursing pints alongside people who've clearly made the journey because they've heard the food's good. And they've heard right. This is proper gastro-pub cooking done without the pretence, where a pie tastes like someone actually cared about the pastry.