The Drayton Arms

You're walking down Old Brompton Road in South Ken, and you spot the Drayton Arms wedged between the boutiques and the money—a proper boozer that refuses to play the area's game. Inside, it's all dark wood, low ceilings, and the kind of worn-in comfort that comes from decades of being somewhere people actually want to be. The bar stocks proper cask ales and a wine list that goes beyond the obvious, while the kitchen does honest gastropub food without the pretension or the eye-watering markup you'd expect round here. It's the sort of place where a City trader sits next to a local artist, and nobody minds.