Maida Vale residents hit the jackpot when the owners of Notting Hill’s The Pelican and The Bull in Charlbury chose this neighbourhood for the location for their third venture. The Hero is like a blueprint for how to sympathetically restore and update a pub, and has been understandably packed since Day One. The ground floor offers a great value list of classic pub dishes, from fish pie to sausage and mash. Upstairs is ‘The Grill’, where things are taken up a level with dishes like sweetbreads and lobster gravy.