The Three Kings, Clerkenwell like many pubs in the Inside Guide to London, has been included because it works for both residents, and visitors to London. It's authentic, quirky, reasonably priced and just out of plain sight - which suits the locals. It also manages to be welcoming, unusual and shot through with authentic charm if you're visiting the country and wonder what this 'pub thing' is all about. Eccentricity is not just tolerated in the UK, it's revered - why, in all honesty, would you want to be like everyone else? Doing things differently is a national trait - so when the owner of the Three Kings decided to mount a rhino head on the wall, the question was 'why not?', rather than 'why?'

The Jerusalem Tavern's seating is of the original kind: tall settles around large, scrubbed and unvarnished tables. Expect a deep creaking to accompany any seat-movement (providing you visit outside the 'crush', otherwise a perch will be unlikely). However, this is to an extent: an illusion. Although there has been a 'Jerusalem Tavern' in the area since the 14th century, this building has only been a pub since 1996. The previous 'Jerusalem Tavern', closed at the end of the Victorian era.

What instantly sets it apart, is the range of beers. It sells produce from the St. Peter's Brewery, based in Bungay, Suffolk - specialising in fruit and organic beers, and championing traditional methods of production. They also continue the all-but-dead practice of using seasonal soft fruits in beers (common until the 19th century). Grapefruit, cinnamon & apple, blackcurrant, gooseberry, Christmas orange peel and spice and some headstrong, but creamy stouts. For this there must surely be a premium to pay? No, in fact the pint was a shade under the nearby competition. Add to this, imaginative cooking, a loyal following and an atmosphere conducive to hours slipping away, once the clock-watching stops. The Jerusalem Tavern gets it right - and has awards so numerous; it makes no show of telling you.