The crossroads of family homes and little shops the Elephant & Castle calls home could almost be a quiet village in Oxfordshire, a comparison on which you might muse as you sip a pint of London Pride or Doom Bar (joined by guests such as Thornbridge Jaipur or Stonehenge Sign of Spring) on the terrace.
The interior feels lived in: regulars find their place on a studded, upholstered banquette, in a wooden booth or in an intimate back room lined with newspaper splashes of 20th-century moments (Laika, Neil Armstrong).
The blurb on the menu – pies, pastas, sausages – refers to the pub’s traditional attraction to journalists (it’s within post-deadline range of the Mail’s office). These days, though, you’ll mostly find residents and white-collar workers doing the Standard crossword.