When a gastropub becomes so sceney it has its own Myspace page it's hard to decide whether you want to be part of it or run a mile.

Whichever you decide, The Fat Badger gets an A-plus for effort. In an age where every Tom, Dick and Harry are opening their own gastropub it's hard to stand out from the crowd but keep the essence of what a decent foodie pub should be about.

This place does it by bringing in a chef who knows what he's doing (Will Leigh was at Kensington Place, Blueprint Cafe and The Cow before) and has created a pleasingly lively mod Brit menu, from Lowstoft kipper and potato salad with a poached egg to slowroast shoulder of Saltmarsh lamb with cabbage and carrots - although saying that Port roast plums with vanilla ice cream does it for me. The self-consciously West London crowd are obviously fun to watch too.