The Reliance

You'll find The Reliance tucked away on Old Street, in that bit of Shoreditch that's managed to stay relatively grounded despite everything changing around it. Walk in and you're met with the kind of warm, unfussy interior that makes you want to stay for longer than you planned—exposed brick, decent lighting, the sort of place where regulars actually exist. The menu lands somewhere between proper pub grub and something a bit more considered; they're not trying to reinvent the wheel, but they're not phoning it in either. The drinks programme is intelligent without being pretentious, which is rarer than it should be around these parts.