An absolute wow of a venue with live music and amazing reasonably-priced food.

If you’re a Londoner bored of the West End or a tourist looking for a slightly different night out in London, check out The Trading House near Moorgate in the heart of the city of London. The second you step foot in the place, it’s buzzing – with a live pianist, a packed bar and seriously eclectic decor (including stuffed birds and animal heads). And all of this is set in the former Bank of New Zealand, an amazing building with a curved ceiling and wall-to-wall warm, luscious wood. Tucked at the back is a slightly calmer restaurant section which boasts some of the heartiest, tastiest pub food in London.

To start you off, there is a huge drinks menu in the form of a small book. The specialities here are gin, cocktails and beer. I opted for a Hendrick’s cucumber gin and tonic – there was a choice of four tonics, and I chose 1724 which was less bubbly than your average tonic and very palatable.

The food menu is broad – whatever mood you’re in, The Trading House has it covered – but we decided to stick to traditional pub grub. We started off with asparagus soup (which was very creamy and came in a mug) and baked camembert. This was served on a wooden platter and was surrounded by fresh fruit, salad and flatbread – it was a big platter which cost just £6.95 and would have been perfect for keeping hunger at bay whilst downing beers for a few hours. But were here to try the food, and we ate on.

For the main courses we chose a steak pie and classic steak and chips. The pie was beautiful with soft pastry and a tender tasty steak filling – it came with a jug of steaming hot gray, a large swirl of creamy mash (far too generous a portion for me to get through) and mushy peas. My partner ordered a steak and chips, with salad and sugar snaps. He declared the steak perfect.

A break was necessary before we could even think of dessert – we ordered one between us as we were so full. We went for the sticky toffee pudding – it did not disappoint. This was the lightest ever pud, soaked in sticky toffee sauce (rather than just having the sauce plonked on top) and with a dollop of ice cream on the top.

I will go back to The Trading House – oh yes, and I thoroughly recommend it. I also recommend a walk through the city afterwards to burn off some of the calories. This part of London is stunning at night. And if you come out of The Trading House and turn right you will stumble upon The Guildhall, with its amazing array of architecture. Keep walking and you may hit St Paul’s which is well worth seeing at night. Walk a little further and you’ll hit the West End and will be left wondering why it is heaving with tourists when the city of London, not so very far away, is quite so stunning.

The Tradiing House, 89-91 Gresham Street London EC2V 7NQ; tel 020 7600 5050