Set in the tangle of unpromising streets behind King’s Cross, the Driver is a stylish gastropub, with a ‘vertical garden’ and a decked roof terrace, complemented by three more floors of dining and drinking space, above a street-level bar and restaurant of equally interesting design.
There you can sip a San Miguel, Blue Moon or St Austell Tribute beneath a reindeer head in the loungey area by the fireplace or at the bar, itself hewn out of a jagged tree trunk.
The tables are for diners (seared kangaroo rump, grilled skate wing), while drinkers can partake of cocktails such as the house mojito with a dash of Frangelico. Wines start at £4.40/£15 and run up to a Château Haut-Bages Averoux at £70.