The Regent, Islington

Walk into The Regent and you'll clock immediately why people keep coming back—it's that rare pub that hasn't tried to become something it's not. Liverpool Road in Islington's got plenty of posturing these days, but this place sits comfortably somewhere between a proper local and somewhere you'd genuinely want to bring mates for proper food. The kind of spot where the bar staff remember regulars, the cask selection actually rotates, and they take their kitchen seriously without getting annoying about it. You're looking at solid British pub fare done right, the sort of thing that works just as well whether you're dropping in for a midweek pint or making an evening of it.