The Camden Arms

The Camden Arms is a real gem of a bar. Slightly kitsch wallpaper, sumptuously ramshackle furniture and an iron spiral staircase, all help give the effect that you've stepped into a louche friend's eccentric living room. The cocktail list is surprisingly daring, for Camden at least, offering variants on mojitos and Martinis, that will keep the hard-drinking Camdenese happy. However, for this reviewer at least, it was the food that provided a real highlight. It's gastro-pub fare and at such good value it's hard to fault. I started with the Cullen Skank, a smoked-haddock and potato soup, which was remarkably good - sweetly smokey and creamy, without the common overpowering haddock stench. For main course I had a great, fat chop-steak burger, layered with tomatoes, cornichons and relish. Decent, solid food, though the beef was a little under-flavoured.

The Camden Arms serves the kind of food that pubs should serve - large, filling plates at decent prices, and you can't go far wrong with that. This is a place that you'll enjoy with a group of friends - cocktails all round and food for those who want it. Enjoy and make sure you seek it out - the cocktails are worth going to Camden for alone.