Royal Saxon

When the Royal Saxon opened to much Facebook-generated fanfare in 2009, it was a minor victory just getting past the queues of Nudie- and Scanlan-clad bodies. These days, while the Saxon may no longer be Richmond's zeitgeist bar, the atmosphere remains keen, as do the culinary standards. Saxon by name but Italian in nature, the menu - printed on paper placemats - runs from excellent thin-based pizzas (topped, say, with pork belly, stretched-curd caciocavallo cheese, garlic, rosemary and fennel) to more cheffy items. A Sicilian-style salad of octopus and celery hearts, cut mandoline-thin and layered with chilli and lemon, is delightfully zesty, while heartier appetites will be sated by a roasted Berkshire pork shoulder wrapped in salty prosciutto and served with cannellini beans and wilted spinach. There are iconic dishes, too: penne carbonara, tiramisu. The Saxon's sassy fitout - fig-tree-dominated courtyard and deliberately raw 'urban ruin' design - creates various nooks and spaces for drinkers and diners. 'Like' this pub.