"When I first reviewed the pub food, three years ago, for N16 Magazine, the menu was a selection of traditional pies, bangers and mash and, of course, the Sunday roasts. The food was tasty and wholesome, but nothing like it is today.

The Daniel Defoe now incorporates Alistair's, run by Michelin Star trained chef Alistair Dibbs who cooks some of the best European food in London. His menus are seasonal and the key to his success is top-drawer imaginative cooking using top quality fresh produce. If you like fast food laced in chemicals, fat and e numbers then Alistair's is not for you.

Alistair’s is great value for money. Most of his main courses are in the £7.50 to £9.95 price range and all his desserts come in at less than £5. His summer menu includes pan fried calves liver, crispy bacon, horseradish mash and onion gravy; slow roast belly pork with celeriac mash, Chinese cabbage and honey glaze; seafood paella – saffron rice with tiger prawns, mussels, clams and monkfish; and for veggies fresh spinach and ricotta cannelloni, to name just one of his vegetarian dishes

Summer desserts include strawberry Pavlova with cinnamon, almonds and strawberry sorbet; crepes with chocolate, hazelnuts and chocolate chip ice cream; and an imaginative selection of French and English cheeses served with freshly baked bread. Alistair still does Sunday roasts with two important differences to most places that do a Sunday roast. He uses the best meat cuts and the vegetables are cooked al dente and not boiled to death. There are always a variety of vegetarian options on the Sunday menu.

The Daniel Defoe also has an excellent wine selection in the £13 to £16 a bottle range. The house white is a lively and fruity Le Sanglier De La Montage Grenache Blanc (£3.60 a glass). Other wines include a warm, light bodied Cotes De Rhone Enclave de Papes, a dry Pinot Grigio Rose and a good value Aliguer CAVA.

For non-wine drinkers, the Daniel Defoe is a CAMRA approved Cask Marque pub, holders of the certificate of excellence for the past 7 consecutive years this true real ale house offering Youngs, Directors, Bombardier and our most popular of all, St. Austell's Tribute, all the way from Cornwall. There is a selection of lagers, ciders and Eamonn, the manager of the Defoe insists on perfectly kept and poured Guinness and a great selection of carefully selected Highland & Speyside malts.What more could you want from a pub?"