Bohemia N12*

The Bohemia, London N12

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
North London: Other locations – North Finchley

Contemporary pub (Antic)
862 High Road N12 9QH
T 020 8446 6661 w thebohemia.com tw AnticBohemia
Open 1600 (1200 Sat-Sun)-2300 (2400 Thu, 0100 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 6 (Sharp’s, 5 changing often local guests), Other beer 3 keg, 12 bottles, Also Specialist whiskies, 18 wines.
Food Short gastroish/pub grub menu, additional fine dining menu planned, Outdoor Front terrace, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Wed monthly knitting, Sun monthly quiz, occasional live music, board games.

Beyond the North Circular in the furthest northern reaches of the London postal district, beside a main road junction known as Tally Ho Corner from its days as a stop on London’s stagecoach network, stands south London-based pubco Antic’s furthest outpost yet, and it’s one of the best in a high performance bunch. It’s a huge place that has been an O’Neill’s, a furniture shop and a supermarket, but now that Antic’s architects have stripped things back to the high exposed roof beams, it looks like it might once have served as a church or community hall.

A sheltered front terrace leads into a quietish lobby area with school-style tables, beyond which is the extensive main bar space, where a motley collection of tables, sofas and comfy chairs on a mosaic floor basks in the light of windows high on the wall. Work on the place is ongoing since opening in August 2012 and it is set to get even bigger – bookcases stuffed with the pubco’s trademark junk guard a space further back where a more upmarket restaurant section is being created, and the extensive basement is destined to become a performance and DJ venue. Meanwhile the kitchen serves up clipboard menu fare – heritage tomato salad, Brixham crab burger, steaks and the like.

London and nearby breweries like East London, London Fields, Redemption, Sambrook’s and Westerham feature heavily besides Doom Bar on the handpumps, alongside good choices from breweries like Bath and Buxton, all at good value prices. Specialist kegs are familiar names like Blue Moon and Früli, but there’s more interest in the bottle fridge, including Kernel beers, Schneider Weisse and Aventinus and rare sightings of the beers Hepworth brews for Shoreditch bar the Strongroom. They’ve even found bottles that share the pub name – the decent enough Bohemia Regent from the Czech Republic. Handy for well regarded local arts centre artsdepot, and enough to send you into rhapsodies in its own right.

Underground Woodside Park, East Finchley Bus Tally Ho Corner (263 East Finchley, High Barnet) Cycling LCN+ 5 89, link to 6 Walking Link to Dollis Valley Greenway