The Raglan is Walthamstow’s best pub for food. You can pitch up at the bar for a quiet pint and a packet of Taytos, but really The Raglan shines brightest when you’re ordering a spread of Indian-Irish dishes: spicy, generous portions of crowd-pleasers like mac and cheese and a vada pau with vindaloo pork more tender than our head the following day. Choosing where to sit at The Raglan is like being a new kid surveying the playground—are your people the ones dangling from the monkey bars or eating crayons in the sandpit? Families, groups, and those who protested the opening of a Gail’s in Walthamstow Village occupy the more formal half of the room, sinking into olive-green banquettes with armfuls of children up past their bedtime and well-behaved rescue dogs. The space in front of the bar—all chic little stools and cool couples—is where rounds of Dublin sours hit tables and the odd plate of achari whitebait is picked at. And there’s a particularly lovely little nook, with high wooden sides and a solitary flickering candle, that was made for sharing a sticky-sweet gulab jamun with someone you’re sweet on. This pub is the laid-back, little sibling of Shankeys and being an excellent host runs in the family. Meals are leisurely, fun affairs, where you’ll (willingly) be plied with pints and sharing platters of spice bags—salt and chilli tater tots, peppers, onions, and a liberal pour of curry sauce—until rolling out hours later than planned. It’s the kind of place where, between cheerful chats with staff and too many Markievicz mules (named after Constance, Irish suffragist and all-round legend), you'll realise that you’re not making it home in time for Newsnight .