Besides an episode of Lost, there’s nothing like a trip to the zoo to help you realise how badly designed humans are. We don’t have the outer coating to cope with the climate, we’d have a beast of a time trying to live off anything that roams or grows around Regent’s Park, and most of us would trade our whole collection of Little Angels DVDs to get the kids to behave as well as those baby gorillas. Which is why it’s deeply reassuring that just a couple of blocks from London Zoo is a place that celebrates two of the key properties that we’ve got and they haven’t, namely nice drinks and conversation, and where even your untamed offspring are welcome.

What's it like? Set among the elegant terraces of Primrose Hill, the Albert combines a slice of the local gentility with the fundamentals of a good boozer, resulting in a place that’s a pleasure to enter at any time but particularly when you’ve just watched the red-kneed, bird-eating spiders being fed. Painted a warm terracotta, the pub features velvet drapes with gold tassels, big frosted windows, a splendid wooden bar, lovely polished tables and, perhaps most importantly for hairless humans, a fine and functioning fireplace, all very comforting after a day of highly educational but slightly unsettling wildness. There’s also a sizeable family-friendly no-smoking area, a bright conservatory and a heated outside patio, and thankfully the only concession to zoological matters is one study of a gorilla, not counting Jessie the pub border collie.

What to drink? After all that steaming hay, raw meat and slobbery water, a pint of Foster’s would look good, but the Albert provides reasonable ales on tap plus Hoegaarden and Pilsner Urquell, so you needn’t stoop that far. There’s also an interesting food menu, organic cider and a wine list to suit the locale, but the drinks are only part of it. The real pleasure of the Albert is sitting back in one of those nice chairs, gripping your glass and being very grateful for your opposable thumb.

The Albert, 11 Princess Road, Primrose Hill, London NW1 (020-7722 1886)

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