Really makes the cut

Anchor & Hope, Southwark, London, SE1 8LP

Probably the best gastropub I've been to in London so far and it shows with the busy bar area full of the hungry. There is no reserving of tables here as it's all done on first come first served basis as is popular with many places nowadays - this works here really well considering the amount of people wanting a table, we turned up at about 6.30pm and got seated about 75 minutes later. This wait passed quickly with the good beer selection on offer and we were in no way ever cheesed off with the delay.

Kahlrabi with cow curd and watercress

Raw kahlrabi is a delight and it's excellent to see it on a menu at this time of year when it can be one of the very best British grown vegetables available. The bite to it was a welcome contrast to the creamy fresh curd it was served with. A simple and effective dish which done slightly differently would have been a real fine dining joy.

Potted shrimp served warm, hint of cayenne with toasted brioche

Very classic dish that I felt was done well but not massively inspiring, but it is a good example of a British dish that has often been out-shined over the years by insipid continental pate - it was certainly much better than any pate I've eaten recently.

Snail and bacon salad with croutons

This was my first ever experience of eating the French favourite of snails and I was pleasantly surprised, actually they were nicer than that - they lacked all the chewiness you would associate with snails but did retain a nice bite to the texture. This dish will definitely put them to the front of my mind when I next see them on the menu somewhere, soon hopefully.

Whole roast pheasant with smoked sausage, boiled potatoes and cabbage

A true feast worthy dish for two to share, we couldn't resist ordering this and what a choice we'd made. Combining everything that epitomises filling British food for the wintery weather and perfectly timed cooking too. The pheasant was served whole so you carved it yourself at the table, the golden bird was perching on top of the massive portion of boiled potatoes, shredded cabbage and big hunks of the smoked sausage. Try as we did the two of us couldn't finish the whole thing and reluctantly admitted defeat. Thinking about it you could quite easily share this between three for a main especially if you wanted to move onto the appetising modern British puddings on offer.

I think what makes this place stick out from the run of the mill gastropubs is two things; the food was spot on just fantastic, but as well as that the value for money is like nothing I've felt anywhere similar - we had 3 starters, 3 mains (the pheasant was priced like two normal mains), 2 bottles of house red wine - and the bill only came to £90. £30 per head for this quality on in Central London is just astounding considering how much I've paid in places which were non-comparible to here. The high turnover caused by the lack of reservations must enable them to do this and fair play to them.

The Ring, Southwark, London, SE1 8HA

After our good feed we only made it about 100 yards down the road before deciding a relaxing pint would help with the digestion process. I've been in this boxing theme (the name is nothing to do with Lord of the Rings) before and quite liked its simpleness. The beer selection is reasonable but of all the beers I've tried here I've always had the same beer elsewhere much better. We tried the Sharp's Doom Bar but I'd go for the Jennings Bitter which was nice and creamy but just not a touch on what it's like in lake district.

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