For the past few years the Alma has sat quietly on the corner of Newington Green building up a loyal clientele thanks to the quality of the food and innovative entertainment.

This down to the stewardship of landlady Kirsty, who is always on the look out for a new way to amuse the crowd, including pop-up shops and a range of the pub’s own of preserves and chutneys.

Although her Antipodean roots are responsible for the selection of New Zealand bar snacks and beers, the constantly changing menu is a much more British affair.

We had the plump and tasty battered white bait with lashings of tartare sauce – a belly busting portion for a starter it was too.

We also had the rich black pudding and chorizo salad with hollandaise sauce, which was very good indeed.

These were followed by, I am sure, one of north London’s better roast dinners; a healthy portion of succulent lamb in a deep rich gravy with fluffy roast potatoes – a real treat.

On the other side we had the fish pie – the last portion available and it was easy to see why. It came in a brilliant old-fashioned school dinner style pot and was swimming with creamy tarragon flavour.

By the time we had polished off the luxury panacotta and vanilla ice cream and jam we were replete.

If you fancy a hearty Sunday lunch with a couple of pints, or any other time of the week for that matter, the Alma is an excellent choice.