Once a rowdy Irish pub, the Shaftesbury Tavern is now a pretty, quiet place ideal for a lazy Sunday afternoon with the paper and a roast.

The Venue
Recently revamped, the Shaftesbury Tavern now shines with its Victorian past. Divided loosely between a pub and dining room areas, the wooden corner bar matches the shelves behind it and there is frosted, etched glass everywhere.

The pub is generous in space: the seats are nestled along the walls leaving plenty of space to manoeuvre and admire the chequered marble floor extending to the dining room. Here, there is a fireplace and a dramatic skylight, which floods the space with a lot of light. Other decorative flourishes include heavy velvet curtains and old wooden furniture - traditional and comfortable. Outside, a good-sized terrace allows you to catch some rays. Simply furnished and dotted with large umbrellas, it’s a nice spot despite the fact it’s located so near to the road.

The Atmosphere
The Shaftesbury Tavern used to be an Irish bar with TV screens for sport but now its football days are over and it’s taking things slow over a couple of pints. The pub, which is especially busy at weekends, is mostly frequented by Archway locals and the crowd is particularly quiet and well behaved, even during the popular Monday quiz. The punters are a very even mix. There are groups of all sizes made up of young people as well as friends popping in to have a chat. The staff are very polite and help to keep the atmosphere intimate and cosy.

The Food
The Shaftesbury Tavern menu has more options at midday, when you can opt for sandwiches (£3.95-£4.25) or hot baguettes (£4.50-£5) as well as mains (£7-£9). However, there’s still a decent range come the evening.

Whatever time of the day you’re dining, you should start your meal with the good selection of bread, served hot as if they have just finished baking, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Starters include a range of options like lobster bisque soup and king prawns in filo pastry. The prawns are particularly good, served with a really good salad, made with a generous mix of vegetables dressed with a sweet chilli sauce.

Presentation is definitely a strong point. Within the mains, the slow roasted chicken thigh in lemon and thyme is well cooked and looks great on an elongated plate. The fat chips with it have a golden brown skin with a soft, fluffy middle. The oven roasted peppers, filled with roasted squash, spring onions and other vegetables, topped with feta cheese is just as pretty to look at, served on a bed of fresh leafy salad. The peppers and squash add a deep, earthy dimension to the flavours and the bread that comes with it is almost sweet and is a great match for the cubed squash. For once, vegetarians aren’t missing out.

The Drink
The biggest attraction of the Shaftesbury Tavern is the Czech beer Litovel, available as premium or regular on draught. They also offer some more traditional favourites like Hoegaarden, Leffe and Erdinger on draught (£3.10-£4.40) as well as three ales, two of which are on rotation. Their range of bottled beers includes Grolsch, Corona, Fullers Honey Dew, Peroni and Becks (£3.10-£3.80). If you’re a cider fan, St Helier and the Swedish +46 are highly recommended.

There’s also a good range of wine on offer here - about a dozen whites and reds - and they serve a couple of rose bottles, four Champagnes and two Spanish sparkling varieties. The prices are particularly good with bottles priced at £13.50-£18, all available by the glass (£3.40-£4.60 for 175ml and £4.80-£6.20 for 250ml). If you feel like some bubbles, you can try the more unusual Champagnes (£35-£42) like Gremillet Brut Selection, De Venogie Cordon Blue and Raul Collet. For a hot day, they suggest one of their organic juices produced by James White and hot drinks provide that extra bit of comfort during winter time (£1.75-£2).

The Last Word
The Shaftesbury Tavern has done a great job of moving away from its sports pub roots, emerging as a nice local.

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