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London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
North London: Canonbury and Barnsbury
 Graffiti art at the Railway Tavern, London N16 Contemporary pub (Pineapple)
2-4 St Jude Street N16 8JT
T 020 0011 1195 f RailwayTavernAleHouse
Open 1200-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until 1900.
Cask beer 6 (unusual often local guests), Other beer 3 keg, 15-20 bottles (mainly British, many local), Also 3+ real ciders/perries, a few wines
Food Thai menu, Wifi. Disabled toilet .
Mon chess club, Tue quiz, film nights, beer festivals, functions.
With a Stoke Newington postcode but closer to Dalston’s various arts venues and the well known Duke of Wellington (p145) on Balls Pond Road, this was another failing backstreet pub reopened in 2011 in splendid style by Kirk McGrath of Pineapple fame. It’s an L-shaped space preserving some original Victorian features like multiple street doors, a carved fireplace with floral tiling and pillars with elaborate gilt capitals. But otherwise this is sofa and floorboards territory. Two handpumps are dedicated to Adnams beers, while the others often feature local brewers like East London and Redemption. Black Isle Porter, Licher Weizen and Meantime London Lager stand out from the keg offering, while an excellent range of bottled beers includes an extensive selection from Kernel plus Adnams (the fine barley wine Tally-Ho), Camden Town, Dark Star and Otley. Decent Thai food is served at very reasonable prices. A full activities programme completes the offer at this friendly place that easily matches the quality of sister venues the Pineapple (p156) and Tapping the Admiral.
Visitor note. Take care – this is a different Railway Tavern to the one next to Dalston Kingsland station. A former owner tried to mitigate possible confusion by renaming this one the Old Henry, but have a look high up on the blank wall at the back of the pub and you’ll see why the decision to revive the original name was a wise one.
Overground Dalston Junction, Dalston Kingsland Cycling LCN+ 10, link to 2012 Games Hackney Parks route Walking Link to 2012 Games Hackney Parks route
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Other – Forest Hill
 Capitol, London SE23.. Pic: J D Wetherspoon Contemporary pub (Wetherspoon)
11 London Road SE23 3TW
T 020 8291 8920 w www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-capitol-forest-hill
Open 0900-2400 (0100 Fri-Sat). Children very welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 5-8 (Fuller’s, Greene King, Wetherspoon guests) Cask Marque, Other beer Usual Wetherspoon kegs and bottles, Also 1 real cider, a few wines.
Food Wetherspoon menu, Outdoor Side terrace, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Usual Wetherspoon promotions.
The Capitol is arguably the most accomplished and impressive of London’s several Wetherspoon cinema conversions, thanks in part to the superior architectural interest of the building itself. Designed in a fanciful blend of art deco, mock-Egyptian and mock-Classical styles by leading cinema architect John Stanley Beard, it opened in 1929, and screened its last film in 1973. Aside from a few ignominious years as a bingo hall, this splendid building lay cruelly derelict until its rebirth as a pub in 2001.
Walking through the glass doors and up thickly carpeted steps, you almost expect to be greeted by uniformed usherettes, but the stalls are now a large drinking area that’s been cleverly refitted to retain the spacious feel while creating at least some intimacy for drinkers. Above the bar you can admire the flamboyant proscenium arch, with elaborate purple and gold pillars and a pediment depicting Terpsichore, goddess of song and dance.
The gold heads studding the circle are believed to represent Ceres. Since he was the god who lent his name to term ‘cereal’, he should be pleased to overlook a bar dispensing some excellent grain-based refreshments that range more widely than is usual for the chain. Up to seven beers might include guests from Brentwood, Cairngorm, Exmoor or Oakham, at the usual keen prices. Extra seating in the foyer and a children’s play area at the top of the stairs add variety, and the attractive environment, enlivened by the quiet hum of conversation, attracts a more mixed and perhaps sophisticated audience than is usually seen in JDWs.
Visitor note. Ask at the bar about guided tours that take you up to the circle and other areas usually closed to the public. The wider surroundings are also worth exploring – up the road, beside lovely Horniman Gardens, is the Horniman Museum, an offbeat collection created by philanthropic tea millionaire Frederick Horniman (see also Horniman at Hays), housed in an Arts and Crafts building that is itself an architectural gem. Though the area was named Forest Hill by a Victorian developer, it did indeed form part of the once extensive Great North Wood until the railway arrived, following the route of the now vanished Croydon Canal.
National Rail Overground Forest Hill Cycling LCN+ Deptford, Penge, Crystal Palace Walking Green Chain Walk
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Greenwich and Deptford
 Royal Albert, London SE14. Pic: Antic Contemporary pub (Antic)
460 New Cross Road SE14 6TJ
T 020 8692 3737 w www.royalalbertpub.com f The Royal Albert tw theroyalalbert
Open 1600 (Sat-Sun 1200)-2400 (Fri-Sat 0100). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 4-7 (Adnams, Dark Star, 5 sometimes unusual guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 4 keg, 12+ bottles, Also A few wines, some specialist malts and spirits.
Food Gastro/enhanced pub grub menu, Outdoor Front terrace, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Mon quiz, Fri Sun DJ, major big screen sports, bar billiards, board games.
This medium sized roadside pub spent years hiding much of its Victorian splendour under the guise of a music venue, hosting local bands since the heady days of punk and pub rock and later being renamed the Paradise Bar, complete with a Saturday Night Fever-style lightbox stage. In 2007 it was taken on by then-fledging pubco Antic, who jettisoned the live music but restored much else, including its original name. Since then its followed the trajectory of the rest of the chain in constantly improving its beer offer.
As many as seven cask beers are on offer, including changing Adnams and Dark Star beers and others from the likes of Kent, Purity, Sharp’s or Slaters. Two Camden Town beers join BrewDog’s Punk IPA on the keg taps, and there’s a tempting range of interesting bottles including Orval and Brooklyn. A short menu riffs on British fare like Welsh rarebit, crispy pig cheeks and black pudding, rabbit stew and beer battered saveloy, with inventive veggie options like butternut squash, sage and Brie hash. The narrow, deep space has two drinking areas folded round a central bar, the rearmost of which is illuminated during the day by a lovely skylight, and there’s some sumptuous Victorian carved wood alongside the usual eccentric Antic décor of stuffed birds and the like. The front terrace is a plus, even if it does overlook busy New Cross Road. After the Dog and Bell (p179) this is easily the second best pub in Deptford.
National Rail Overground New Cross DLR Deptford Bridge Cycling LCN+ 2 , Forest Hill, links to NCN 1 4 21 Walking Lewisham Promenade, link to Waterlink Way
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Greenwich and Deptford
 Literal labelling at the New Cross House, London SE14 Contemporary pub (Capital/Greene King)
316 New Cross Road SE14 6AF
T 020 8691 8875 w www.thenewcrosshouse.com f newcrosshouse tw newcrosshouse
Open 1200-2400 (0100 Fri-Sat). Children welcome until 2000.
Cask beer 4 (Florence, Adnams, 2 guests), Other beer 4 keg, 8+ bottles, Also 20+ wines, a few specialist spirits.
Food Imaginative menu with numerous vegetarian options, Outdoor Large beer garden and sheltered barn, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Darts, table football, table tennis, board games.
The original crossing that gave New Cross its name is where the Roman road from London to Dover meets the ancient route from Rotherhithe to Hastings, part of which once marked the boundary between Surrey and Kent. It’s now a busy gyratory where the A20 leaves the A2, and the choking traffic has long since blighted what was once a prosperous shopping and entertainment area, boasting much of architectural merit including the 1905 extravaganza of Deptford Town Hall which commemorates the area’s nautical connections. The hall is now attached to Goldsmiths College, part of the University of London and an influential institution in all kinds of ways, helping underpin the local arts and music scene.
There have been hostelries at this important junction for millennia and several pubs still overlook it, but until recently none were recommendable. Then in 2011 the Capital pubco (now part of Greene King) thoroughly refurbished the former Goldsmiths Tavern, a pub with some history as a music venue and a local meeting place that had long since lost its lustre. The impressive restoration has revived the old name alongside a handful of heritage fragments, notably a patch of original and rather beautiful tiles near the main entrance, the pattern of which has been duplicated on trompe l’oeil wallpaper throughout. The large floor area has been equipped with booths and conventional tables. At the back there’s a lovely yard with an extraordinary second building, a former stable on two storeys that’s been left partially open air and smoker friendly, heated by a wood burning stove. The pub now attracts a lively crowd with a good mix of ages, students rubbing shoulders with their lecturers and a mix of discerning locals.
The pub is a regular outlet for beers from the brewery at sister Capital pub the Florence in Herne Hill (p185), besides a changing Adnams choice and guests that might come from these breweries, Sharp’s or Hogs Back. Local keg beers from Meantime are supplemented by better known but quality bottles like Cooper’s Sparkling Ale and Duvel. The interesting menu is an appropriate mix of quality and slightly eccentric fun: wood fired pizzas with unusual toppings, well cooked comfort food like hot dogs and macaroni cheese, salads, chops, burgers and plentiful vegetarian offerings. This and the nearby Royal Albert are great additions to the area.
National Rail Overground New Cross, New Cross Gate Cycling LCN+ 2, Forest Hill, links to NCN 1 4 21 Walking Lewisham Promenade
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
North London: Other locations – Crouch End
 Maynard Arms, N8. Pic: Greene King Contemporary pub, gastropub (Realpubs/Greene King)
70 Park Road N8 8SX
T 020 8341 6283 w www.maynardarmsn8.co.uk f Maynard-Arms
Open 1200-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat). Children very welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 4 (sometimes local or unusual guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 3 keg, 6 bottles, Also Around 50 wines, specialist spirits.
Food Enhanced pub grub/gastro menu, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Mon BYO wine, Fri Scotch Egg night, occasional live music, quiz planned, beer festivals, functions.
As well as being a thoroughly decent pub, the Maynard Arms is also an illustration of how the upsurge of interest in quality beer and pubs in London is changing the rules. Previously when big operators swallowed up smaller ones, they quickly stamped their new acquisitions with corporate homogeneity as yet more outlets for their standard products. But when new national brewer Greene King bought Realpubs, a small but upmarket London pub chain, in 2011, it not only preserved the established identity of the new pubs, but set about converting some of its old pubs to the newly acquired model.
Previously a straightforward and unremarkable GK house, the Maynard is now a comfortable, independently minded gastroish place staffed by knowledgeable enthusiasts, with not an Abbot nor an IPA in sight. Instead the four handpumps rotate beers from the likes of Dark Star, Hog’s Back, Hopback, Sambrook’s, St Peter’s, Triple fff and Truman, while the kegs come from Camden Town and Staropramen. Brooklyn Lager and Duvel are top choices from the fridge. Big tables and a restaurant area with burger bar booths round the back provide spreading room to try slightly pricey but good food such as seasonal home baked pies, braised rabbit, Barbary duck breast or wild mushroom risotto, while interesting bar snacks stretch to oysters, hummus and pita and charcuterie platters. Big picture windows give an airy feel and the large and verdant garden adds to the attraction. There’s a long list of other GK pubs that could benefit from similar treatment.
Visitor note. Crouch End – the name is mostly likely from the Latin crux (‘cross’) – was once a rural village among woodlands on a major junction of an important route north from London. Developed from the 1880s into a middle class suburb for clerical commuters, in recent years it’s gained a gentrified and arty reputation, thanks partly to the presence of Hornsey College of Art, the centre of a Paris-inspired student protest in May 1968. It also boasts a famous symphonic choir, the Crouch End Festival Chorus.
National Rail Underground Finsbury Park Overground Crouch Hill Bus Wolseley Road (W7 Crouch Hill, Finsbury Park) Cycling LCN+ 82 Walking Link to Capital Ring
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
East London: Bethnal Green and Mile End
 Sebright Arms, London E2 (Independent, small group)
34 Coate Street E2 9AG
T 020 7729 0937 w www.sebrightarms.co.uk f SebrightArms tw SebrightArms
Open 1700 (1200 Sun)-2300 (2400 Th-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until 2000.
Cask beer 5 (usually London guests), Other beer 5 keg, 25 bottles, Also 1 real cider, 18 wines, some specialist spirits
Food Burgers and hot dogs, Outdoor Benches on alleyway, Wifi.
Events most nights (live music, comedy, theatre), Fri-Sat DJs, quiz planned
Don’t be put off by the forbidding frontage this East End landmark presents to Coate Street – glance instead down Sebright Passage where stained glass windows and picnic benches on the narrow alleyway from Bethnal Green Road form a prettier picture. The place has had a chequered history, and was almost demolished and redeveloped, but was reopened in November 2011 by independent pub operator Charles Ross, continuing the tradition of performance with a packed programme in the cellar bar, and also offering an excellent lineup of beer in a funky but friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
The ground floor has been refitted in traditional style, divided into large slightly raised booths lined by red padded settles. Distinctive wood panelling with a curious lozenge motif is particularly evident in an attractive side room with a boardroom feel and a display of kitschy artwork. The five cask ales constantly rotate but almost always feature London or London-related breweries: Brodie’s, East London, Moncada, Redemption, Sambrook’s, Truman’s, Windsor & Eton and the like. Keg beers come from Camden Town, London Fields and Meantime. Other London brewers like Kernel and Redchurch pop up in the expanding bottled selection alongside numerous US craft brews (Brooklyn, Goose Island) and international choices like Chimay. Food is provided by pop-up chefs on extended residencies: at the time of writing it’s quality burgers and dogs from Lucky Chip but that may well change. Lovely Haggerston Park and Hackney City Farm are only a few steps away.
Visitor note. A pub first appeared on this site in the early 19th century, and became a major local attraction when a music hall was added in 1865 – Charles Chaplin and Marie Lloyd performed here early in their careers. The cellar space was created sometime in the 1980s, and turns out not to have been officially licensed until recently. In recent decades the pub has been associated with heavy metal, disco, cockney singsongs and music hall revivals featuring Barbara Windsor, drag shows and jazz. In 2009 it was closed following a police raid and slated for demolition, but was saved following a local campaign – a rare example of a pub closure story with a happy ending.
National Rail Cambridge Heath, Bethnal Green Overground Hoxton Underground Bethnal Green Bus Warner Place (numerous Hackney, Cambridge Heath, Liverpool Street) Cycling LCN+ 9 16, Shadwell link, Regents Canal towpath Walking Jubilee Greenway, link to London Fields paths
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
East London: Other locations – Wanstead
 The Nightingale, London E11 Traditional pub (Enterprise)
51 Nightingale Lane E11 2EY
T 020 8530 4540
Open 1200 (1030 Sat)-2400 (0100 Fri-Sat). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 5 (Wells & Young’s, 4 guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 3-4 bottles, Also Malts and specialist whiskies.
Food Extensive good value pub grub menu, Wifi. No disabled toilet but flat access.
W Irish music, Th quiz.
The former extent of Epping Forest can be traced today through the scattering of green spaces across suburban east London that are still managed by the City of London in its role as Conservator of Forest lands – a collection of patches, some of them tiny, that for various reasons had resisted development up to the passing of the parliamentary Act protecting the Forest in 1878. One such obscure patch is the curiously named Mob’s Hole, once known as a thorny haunt of highwaymen and harlots on a woodland lane but now a little recreation ground amid a tangle of residential streets in suburban Wanstead.
Overlooking the green is the Nightingale, a lovely old pub that adds a splendid splash of colour when its hanging baskets burst into life, as attested by a string of Redbridge in Bloom awards proudly displayed around an attractive snug in the immaculate interior. This is one of those front parlour pubs, managed by the same family for well over 20 years, and spotlessly clean with green padded furniture, rouched curtains, an old fashioned serving hatch for the back bar and displays of cartoons, celebrities and Irish-themed artefacts.
Such is the laid back, welcoming atmosphere that it pulls in regulars from all over east London. A surprisingly extensive menu includes sandwiches, “sizzler” plates of seafood and chicken, a variety of curries, staples like pies and steaks, children’s portions, a range of vegetarian comfort food and, according to one of the regulars, “the best chips in Wanstead”, all at keen prices. Courage Best as the regular cask beer nods to the pub’s former owners, while the well kept guests are likely to come from better known breweries like Adnams, Black Sheep, Everards, Greene King or Thwaites, with a range of styles that often includes a mild. Bottled Singha is the best lager choice. A genuine gem that’s well worth the effort of finding.
Underground Snaresbrook Cycling Link to LCN+ 55 158, 2012 Games Epping Forest route Walking Links to Epping Forest Centenary Walk, Roding Valley Way, 2012 Games Epping Forest route
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
East London: Other locations – Romford
 Moon and Stars, Romford RM1 (London) Contemporary pub (Wetherspoon)
99 South Street, Romford RM1 1NX
T 01708 730117 w www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-moon-and-stars
Open 0900-2400 (0100 Thu-Sun). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 8 (Greene King, Wells & Young’s, 5 sometimes unusual guests) Cask Marque, Other beer Regular Wetherspoon kegs and bottles, Also Real cider, a few wines.
Food Wetherspoon menu, Outdoor Tables on street, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Seasonal events, big screen major sports, usual Wetherspoon promotions.
Romford was a small Essex market town in 1799 when Edward Ind bought the Star Inn, a pub with adjoining brewery in the High Street next to the river Rom. As Ind & Smith, and later Ind Coope, the brewery grew into by far the biggest local industry. By 1970 it was a core component of Allied, one of the then ‘Big Seven’ national brewers, employing 1,000 workers on an 8ha site. Yet a mere 23 years later, it was closed by new owners Carlsberg, and the site redeveloped into the Brewery shopping centre and leisure complex, with only a 50m chimney and some historic façades preserved as a reminder of its former use. Behind one of these is the award winning Havering Museum.
Brewery site, museum, shops and market might attract you to Romford today but the town is sadly bereft of pubs worthy of a special trip. About the best bet, right by the station and the only local pub with a Good Beer Guide listing, is this JD Wetherspoon. Opened in 1994, it’s a typical branch of the chain for its time, converted from a large high street shop with standard issue saloon bar furniture and some pleasant mirrored booths. Extra interest is added by a skylight, patches of red marble, a street terrace, and praiseworthy efforts both to stock good cask beer and to provide a community meeting place, as attested by the pub’s own newsletter and a notice board for local events and services. When I called, beers from Batemans, Brewsters, Oakham, Oxfordshire and Wold Top joined regulars Abbot, Ruddles Best and Courage Directors on the bar, and the pub keenly supports Wetherspoon festivals.
National Rail Romford Cycling Link to LCN+ 15 Walking Links to Thames Chase paths
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
East London: Other locations – Woodford Green
 The Cricketers, Woodford Green IG8 (London) Traditional pub (McMullen)
299 High Road, Woodford Green IG8 9HQ
T 020 8504 2734 w www.mcmullens.co.uk/cricketerswoodford
Open 1100 (1200 Sun)-2300 (2230 Sun). Children welcome at lunchtime if dining, no buggies.
Cask beer 3 (McMullen), Other beer 3 bottles.
Food Pub grub lunches, Outdoor Benches in side yard. Disabled toilet.
Sun quiz, darts, occasional live music, golf society.
A wonderful thing happened when the Cricketers was refurbished in 2009: rather than indulging the current fashion for bare floorboards, church hall chairs and floppy sofas, the designers stayed faithful to the sort of traditional decor that would have been recognised by pub goers in the 1950s. It’s a perfect fit for this roadside ‘brewers’ Tudor’ building in villagey surroundings close to a swathe of Epping Forest. The pub retains its original layout with two rooms either side of a central bar area – a plain public bar with lino floor and dartboard, and a posher carpeted saloon bar with padded furniture. It’s still very much a community local, with pensioners’ meal deals on decently priced lunch offerings like steak and ale pie and various curries, a popular quiz and its own golf society. Long noted in the Good Beer Guide for the quality of its McMullen ales, it regularly stocks AK, Cask Ale and Country Bitter, with retro bottled offerings including Gold Label Barley Wine and Mac’s own strong ale, Stronghart. A recommended stop if you’re exploring the southern part of the Forest.
Visitor note. A corner of the saloon bar commemorates Winston Churchill, who among many other things was MP for Woodford from 1945 until he retired from politics in 1964. A little to the north, an imposing statue of Churchill commands the open space of Woodford Green.
Underground Woodford, South Woodford Bus Woodford Cricketers (179 W13 South Woodford) Walking Link to Epping Forest Centenary Walk, 2012 Games Epping Forest route
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Notting Hill
 Windsor Castle, London W8 Traditional pub (Castle/Mitchells & Butlers) National heritage pub.
114 Campden Hill Road W8 7AR
T 020 7243 8797 W www.thewindsorcastlekensington.co.uk
Open 1200-2300 (2230 Sun). Children welcome until 1900.
Cask beer 5 (Adnams, Sambrook’s, Timothy Taylor, 2 sometimes unusual guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 7 keg, 3 bottles, Also 3 real ciders, 26 wines, seasonal homemade soft drinks.
Food Upmarket pub grub, Outdoor Large beer garden, No disabled toilet but flat access.
Wed wine club.
It’s sometimes said that this pub got its name because you could see the real Windsor Castle from here, if it wasn’t for the houses in between. Given the geography this seems unlikely, but back in 1825 when the pub was built, its commanding position atop Campden Hill, surrounded by open fields, might well have reminded people of the castle. The fields are long gone, but the pub still retains something of a rural character, and you’ll certainly know you’ve climbed a hill to get there if you approach from the south. The effort is worthwhile, however, as this is one of London’s loveliest heritage pubs, barely changed since before World War II.
The squat, sturdy looking building is often draped in a rich carpet of greenery. Inside, partitions with low hatches still divide the nicotine-encrusted drinking area into three spaces, named on the door glass as the Campden Bar, the Private Bar and the Sherry Bar, and the fittings and much of the furniture date from a 1933 refit, though the carved mahogany bar back is a Victorian survivor. The ambience keeps faith with the decor – there’s no recorded music, no TVs and no gaming machines, yet far from being a museum piece the pub feels lively and lived in, with a mixed, friendly and relaxed crowd. At the back, you’ll find one of the prettiest and most capacious pub gardens for miles.
There’s a good beer range too. Broadside, Landlord and Wandle are cask regulars, with guests that might come from Box Steam, Cottage or Marston’s. Sierra Nevada Pale and Franziskaner wheat beer enliven the cask selection while Budvar, Cooper’s and Innis & Gunn are in bottle. Dishes such as rare breed sausage and colcannon, chestnut and wild mushroom risotto or pepper steak pie are well priced given the area, with a value fixed price deal. This is the edge of Kensington and Notting Hill, with Holland Park a short wander away, so there’s a whiff of wealth about some of customers – but not to the exclusion of others. Remarkably, the place is run by a big pubco – but on this occasion they’ve had the good sense to allow the pub’s own unique character to shine.
Underground Notting Hill Gate Cycling LCN+ 45 Walking Holland Park paths
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