Who says pubs can't make the transition into the 20th century? What probably helps is that King Edward VII has an upstairs room which is quite happily a gastro-restaurant, the rest of it's still a pub. Good.

Now calling itself King Eddie's, they serve decent beer, genial staff and punters, it's hard to fault this one and the Tardis-like interior is deceiving - it seems to go on for miles. Thankfully, they've kept a lot of the original Victorian features, including a lovely tiled hall, which is off to one side of the pub.

It's got a good menu (okay, a bit gastro - the burger when we were in last was venison, but with handcut chips was pretty great!) at prices which may be a bit high for Stratford, but combined with their commitment to finding the best ingredients, looks like a winner.

They keep a range of guest beers on the hand pumps - St Austell's Tribute had just finished, so we had to make do with Nethergate Brewery's Best - and judging by what the patrons were ordering, they go down well.

On a nice afternoon, the tiny garden out the back is inevitably crowded, so it's best to get there early. Thursday is live music night and on Sunday the King Edward plays host to a quiz. Still a great pub, give it a go if you're in Stratford.

CLIENTELE: locals
NEAREST STATION: Stratford station
FEATURES: real ale - regular guest beer, live music, open after 11:00pm, outdoor seating, quiz night Sunday, separate restaurant, TV