Jimmy and the Bee

You'll find yourself on a stretch of Islington that's somehow managed to resist turning into an Instagram feed, and Jimmy and the Bee feels exactly right for it. This is a pub that gets the fundamentals spot-on: the kind of place where the bar staff know their regulars, the beer selection actually matters, and you're not paying London prices for a disappointing pint. The food side takes proper care too—nothing pretentious, just the sort of dishes that taste like someone's actually cooked them rather than reheated them. It's got that lived-in warmth you're after when you want to settle in with friends on a Friday night without the theatre of somewhere trying too hard.