13/20
Pub dining$$
The Metropolitan established a reputation for good cheer and cut-above pub grub a few years ago, and has largely maintained it despite a change of chef. Moving from the timbered bar to a high-ceilinged Victorian dining room studded with eclectic antiques - including a medley of upholstered timber chairs and a gleaming chiffonier - is like accepting a dinner invite from your posh granny. A versatile kitchen turns out pub favourites (parma, burger) and more adventurous dishes under the rubrics 'cattle', 'meat market' and 'forage'. It includes quality grain- and grass-fed steaks, such as a wagyu rump that, with blue-cheese butter, threatens the arteries in a most delicious manner. A spoon-tender beef cheek with 'velvet' mash and a sauce of shallots and Pedro Ximenez is particularly good. You might also find blue-cheese gnocchi, seafood linguine with chilli and garlic, and duck salad with sumac and burnt-orange vinaigrette. Granny may be in the decor but she has one cosmopolitan kitchen.
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