You may be sick to death of the term gastropub but are you really telling me that the idea of spending at least half of this weekend whiling away the hours in stylishly relaxed surroundings, nursing a pint of Guinness and a plate of something hot and hearty, while you paw over the papers, isn't even slightly tempting?

Love 'em or hate 'em, there's been another influx of the places recently, the most famous of which is currently The Cock in Essex - as seen on TV's Jamie's Chef and run by Oliver's newest protege Aaron Craze.

For a bit of restored Victoriana there's the Hat & Feathers in Clerkenwell which has been poshed up, both architecturally and gastronomically, and is now known as the Dining Rooms rather than a plain old pub (oooh, get you).

And The Three Crowns in Stoke Newington has also been scrubbed up to an opulently shabby shine and dishes up just the type of thing you really fancy, like roast field mushrooms and gorgonzola on toast.

We could go on... AWT-trained Merrilees Parker is due to open a smart boozer on Ladbroke Grove and Ramsay's wading in with one in Maida Vale.