The Cow

Tom Conran (son of Sir Terence) opened The Cow on Westbourne Park Road in 1995 and the model — Irish saloon downstairs for stout and shellfish, white-tablecloth dining room upstairs for proper plates — set the template the entire London gastropub wave then borrowed. Three decades on the Cow is still run on the same pattern: winkles, whelks, native oysters and a daily-changing dozen on the ground floor; salt-cod brandade, slow-cooked lamb shoulder and a short, rigorous wine list above. The crowd books the Cow when they want a London Sunday lunch that feels neither tourist nor corporate.