The Assembly House

Walk through those heavy doors on Theatre Street and you've stepped into something genuinely special—this isn't trying to be anything other than what it is: a proper old hotel with bones that matter. The Assembly House has been here since 1784, and it knows it, but it wears that history lightly. You'll find yourself in wood-panelled rooms with actual character, nursing a well-made cocktail that costs what cocktails should cost (around £9-12), watching locals and visitors mix like they always have. The kitchen takes seasonal British produce seriously—think game in autumn, proper fish when it's right—and they've kept prices honest for what you're getting. It's the kind of place where you bump into the same faces across different visits, whether they're here for the restaurant, the bar, or one of the private dining rooms upstairs.