Pubs - be they gastropubs, posh pubs, or plain old boozers - tend to look like pubs. You know pretty much what you're getting: wood, carpet, pointless pictures everywhere.

Bars on the other hand, tend towards outlandish interior designs that are modish for all of five minutes, before they look tired and in need of a redesign.

Filling the gap between the two and doing it very nicely indeed is a new pub, William IV of Hoxton, which has a far more successfully"designed" interior than most style bars, yet still retains the friendly vibe of a good local boozer. Well, that's the plan anyway and initial reports are favourable.

Although situated in Shoreditch, the only area with more licensed premises than an Irish market town, the William IV is a useful addition to the scene. With a ghostly white and buttermilk interior, and a kind of Harry Potter-esque decor consisting of old maps, books and, er, fossils it's a change from the formulaic gastro-pub chalkboard and ciabatta combo.

Food is trad British fare, and that's no bad thing: think chicken livers with bacon on toast; pork pie with homemade piccalilli; beef and ale pie; ham hock with parsley sauce and Shepherdess pie.

Mmmmm.