Paradise by Way of Kensal Green, Kensal Green  

Befitting a pub that takes its name from a line in a G. K. Chesterton poem, there's a deliberately idiosyncratic feel to this place. A rather ramshackle pile with sanded floorboards and Louis XIV-style furniture, it's almost the gastropub as envisaged by Laurence from Changing Rooms. If ever a hostelry was crying out for a chaise-lounge it's this one. The restaurant at the back seems your standard gastro dining room so on previous visits we've tended to investigate upstairs where the alignment of floors and staircases brings the work of Escher to mind. Our daytime revelries here have been spoilt here by one too many children running about the place: the offspring of the life-styling professionals of the area who make up most of the clientele. The overheard quote that sums up the clientele for us was when one punter, who on ordering Hoegaarden turned to his mate and said "Fancy a bit of fruit with that?". We stuck to the Spitfire on our visit, though a glass of absinthe might have been more in keeping with our environs. A bit too knowing for its own good maybe, but if your local pub is proving too pedestrian, seek it out.

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