Your Local Pub

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oh yes. i'm told it gets vvv crowded come the boat race (in 2 wks). As I may have said elsewhere, I have "issues" with the boat race, but I think i'm through that, so am determined to enjoy* the crowd. it's SOO quiet round where I live.

[*In the sexual sense]

Alan Trewartha, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Oh and I've been to the Shaftesbury and I thought it was quite nice (though dodgy pub singer spoiled the ambience. The people who live locally though live on the farside of the hill and are therefore generally unwilling to sample its joys. Mr & Mrs Carsmile on the other hand...

Pete, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Nobody Inn (do you SEE? - dear God) It's yellow outside which is not an outside of pub colour. I've only been in once when I was looking for my housemate when I was locked out and needed keys. There are much nicer pubs in Crouch End and anyway ... I like bars *runs off"*

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

David, you should go in the Old Ale Emporium on Green Lanes. It's ace. They have nice toilet seats in the ladies. And that chap who was murdered last year was murdered right outside. It used to be my local, but only in theory.

Alix, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Regular readers will be astonished to know that Pete has just persuaded me to go to a (gasp) bar for my birthday drinks.

Tom, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Nobody Inn is a bit crap (though they used to do a music quiz which I reckon we could have won) though it does stay open til 1pm. Most intreiguingly it has a portrait of Big Bird dressed as the Virgin Mary in it.

Have you ever been to ICE Anna?

Pete, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

closest bar to me is O'Connor's, which i think i've spilled enough ink on. let's just say I'm lucky.

what IS it though about the closest x to your house that is usually so unattractive?

Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

closest bar to me is Bar Med which, being in St Ebbe's, is thankfully not that close.

Ever been to the pub in Risinghurst, Tom? Can't remember what it's called. Or any of the ones in Quarry (Six Bells, Masons Arms or Chequers?)

MarkH, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Nobody Inn is only open till 1pm? It's worse than SOAS bar which closes at 8:30pm!

Emma, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I haven't Pete. I don't often go out in Crouch End unless someone's staying at my house. I don't really think I could fill the conversational vacumns that would occur drinking with my housemates and other nearby friends live in places with nice pubs, so I go out by them or in the centre of town.

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I think Pete is kidding Anna as Ice is this incredibly bad wannabe Brixton-stylee bar which is trying to make the thirtysomething parents & twentysomething newlyweds of Crouch End feel young & groovy again. It fails miserably. However the cocktails aren't bad.

Emma, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I will never trust Pete EVER again. (why have I not learned yet?)

You can tell I don't go out in CE can't you?

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

On the (AWFUL) advert for the Observer's Bar Guide the bloke goes into O's Bar which is also in Crouch End. It looks appalling. If the Observer Bar Guide is recommending places of this calibre then frankly it is not worth bothering with.

Emma, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Where have I been? Barbarella (although not strictly a bar); The Kings Something and another pub I don't remember the name of.

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

isnt there a Nobody Inn at Newington Green too?

gareth, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The King's Arms isn't great and has gone downhill since its refurb. Also it is one of the evil CE pubs that cashed my stolen cheques despite the really really terrible forgery of my signature. However there are worse places.

Emma, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Nearest bar to me is the terribly hip 21. Jahrhundert, which has terrible service, a terribly inconsistent kitchen, terribly overpriced drinks, and a terrible amount of chain-smoking schicky mickies not listening/not dancing to some terribly predictable DJs. A nice place for breakfast, though.

Colin Meeder, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

re. The Salisbury (Green Lanes): I've never been in because it seems a bit bare, and full of people wielding pool cues (perhaps that's just the bit that is visible from the street).

re. The Old Ale Emporium (Green Lanes): I've been in there a few times and quite liked it, but it's always jam-packed and I like a seat.

re. The Nobody Inn (Newington Green version): I used to go in there a lot because it stayed open late. Irritatingly Oasis were always on the juke box (it was around 96-97 though).

Does anyone like the Compton Arms in Islington?

David, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I wasn't telling her to go to ICE - I was just wondering if she had been there and if she thought it was as rubbish as we did. Barbellas is nice for food though, and pitchers of cocktails during its eight hour long happy hour. We will have to take you out for a proper Crouch End night out it would appear Anna. The Princess Alexandra is very nice in the summer for beer and just by the lido.

There is a Nobody Inn in Newington Green which is actually quite nice (though the back half is a bit like a scout hut if that takes your fancy).

Pete, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Princess Alexandra has some weird punters though like the hugely obese blind man who was sat near us. However the garden out back is great.

Emma, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Unicorn, Camden Rd. Don't go there very often but good points = cheap, shows football, weekly pub quiz, friendly staff, spacious. Against = dodgy geezers, grubby decor, neglected toilet facilities. Good honest pub, 'pint for the gentleman' etc

Graham C, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Princess Alexandra is very nice in the summer for beer and just by the lido.

What lido? God, I feel like such a newbie.

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Duh, the lido by the Princess Alexandra!

It's on Park Road on the way to Ally Pally / Muswell Hill. I have never been as lidos are full of horrible children at the best of times and the proximity to Sprog Central can only exacerbate this problem.

Emma, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Sprog Central = what? a school?

MarkH, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The closest to me is the Master Plan Lounge. I live in very crime ridden area so I imagine the only planning going on in there is of the nefarious variety. Stay away from the Master Plan!

lawrence kansas, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The dodgiest thing about the enormous blind man was his enormous blind MATE who was there with him. One enormous blind man is a coincidence but two seems like carelessness. Also the way these enormous blind men had a team of hangers-on helping them with their vast plates of food and hanging on their every word made me think they might be some kind of huge fat blind mobsters.

Hooray for the Princess Alexandria.

Tom, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Y'know Tom I thought there were 2 then I thought nah, that's way too improbable, I must've imagined it.

Sprog Central = Crouch End, where North Londoners go to breed

Emma, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Sprog Central = Crouch End. It is a little known fact that the Crouch End / Highgate environs are the most fecund place in Northern Europe with more pregnant/people with children under five than anywhere else in the UK, Belgium, Scandinavia, Ireland and Holland.

Pshaw Anna. You'll be telling us you've never been on the Crouch End rollercoaster next.

Pete, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

kathleen's cafe. it's underground and there are italian lounge singers there twice weekly. i've never been though.

maura, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

well i suppose it has to have some kind of public transport

gareth, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I DO NOT TRUST YOU ANY MORE!

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

where once there was innocence and delight, Pete introduces suspicion and fear. You're a bad man Baran.

chris, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Okay - so I was lying about the rollercoaster. Give a guy a break...

(I can however be trusted on public houses, it is a subject I never lie about).

Pete, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Luckily you can trust me as I am the honest side of the PeteEmma mindmeld. There is no rollercoaster. There are however NUMEROUS buses Gareth which surely count as public transport?

Emma, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I hardly ever go to bars. When I used to, though, I'd go to the Union Colony Brewery where all the hippies went. They'd put Rusted Root on the jukebox and dance.

Mandee, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

In Emma I trust then.

I am innocent and delightful (hem) that's why I keep falling for Pete's lies/

Ana, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Removing the false veil of innocence is my burden unfortunately - but I try to do it in a harmless manner with lies about eyes and rollercoasters which hurt much less than the lies told by the government. Who is the evil man here eh? Is it me with my whimsical untruths or is it the government? Eh? Eh? Eh?

Pete, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

(hem) indeed

;-)

chris, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

My local pub is Gibneys. I only ever go there on Fridays despite the fact that have minor Father Ted stars like Father Damo doing stand up there. I make a point of asking them can they tell some jokes in the middle of their show every week. However they've started charging at the door now so I will have to find a new local. Or just boycott drinking all night in a pub.

Ronan, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I'm not having my hems thrown back at me by sex tourists.

Kathleen's Cafe sounds quite nice Maura.

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

"The Pav". It's often full of students.

Graham, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

future sex tourist at least please, I mean I haven't been there yet.

chris, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Ah, but you have 'friends' who know the prices in Britain ...

SEX DOMESTIC!

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

There's a "Pav" in Trinity College in Dublin too. They let you buy 3 cans of shit beer for a fiver. Unlike my shit college bar where everything is full price and made under proper health standards.

Ronan, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Several of you have been to it. The Duke of York, sing its praises.

Ed, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

a bit like an independent All Bar one for my liking. Nice beer though and they let us move the table etc, but where were the nooks and crannies I demand of a pub?

Anna, I may not be talking to you anymore.

chris, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

My nearest pub (and not that bloody near either) is a Jim Thompson's, which doesn't really count. My nearest kosher pub is, appealingly, called the Arab Boy, and it's oaky. And okay. It does have the football on, but then I don't have any friends who live in the immediate vicinity so I always end up watching it at home or travelling into Fulham or town.

When I lived in Royal Leamington S!P!A! I lived just next to the roughest two pubs in the world, or at least I imagine they were, I never went in them. One was called the Jet and Whittle, which was nice. I had to call the police once when I saw shaven headed young gentlemen loitering outside the Jet with an iron bar, drawing a swastika onto the corner shop.

Mark C, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

"Come with my to my nook, Thai bar girl, that I might have some fun with yours...."

Tom, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

But you wuv me really Chris. See how my delightful innocence melts your heart ...

Oh alright then.

D of Y - strange sepia tinted television.

Anna, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

can I plagiarise that one Tom?

chris, Tuesday, 19 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

really miss proper pubs & pub sunday lunches now I'm in the US. Have a decent "Tavern" nearby that plays BBC america, has pool tables and a bit of a beer garden; has baseball stuff and photos of baseball stuff all around but it's pretty ok actually. But gooduns are kind of few and far between, particularly when you're used to having about 8 proper pubs within a 10-min walk.

Not the real Village People, Wednesday, 26 January 2011 20:47 (thirteen years ago) link

absolutely would kill for a beer garden around here. never going to happen.

Cultivating a manly musk puts your opponents on notice (chrisv2010), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 20:49 (thirteen years ago) link

im so envious of all the real pubs. we've got nothing but college bars and shitty pub rip-offs.

― Cultivating a manly musk puts your opponents on notice (chrisv2010), Wednesday, January 26, 2011 1:14 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

yeah

ullr saves (gbx), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 20:49 (thirteen years ago) link

i'm envious too. i like the names

mizzell, Wednesday, 26 January 2011 20:53 (thirteen years ago) link

i'm sure there are exceptions but anything called a "pub" in the US can be safely avoided

goole, Wednesday, 26 January 2011 20:59 (thirteen years ago) link

uh huh.

around here they call things pubs just because they have guiness on tap.

Cultivating a manly musk puts your opponents on notice (chrisv2010), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 21:01 (thirteen years ago) link

i guess we have dive bars, do those exist in england

ullr saves (gbx), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 21:18 (thirteen years ago) link

i work at a dive bar, buts its a great dive bar. we actually have a bar in town called the dive bar....which used to be a complete shithole when i was 21. now its pretty darn good, owned by same folks as armsby above.

http://thedivebarworcester.com/

Cultivating a manly musk puts your opponents on notice (chrisv2010), Wednesday, 26 January 2011 21:25 (thirteen years ago) link

dive bars exist in England, yes. In London, they often seem to be Spanish-themed, for some reason.

Neil S, Wednesday, 26 January 2011 21:48 (thirteen years ago) link

i never have managed to enjoy the reliance, but have prob only been there on sat nights.

the new owl is v hipsterised and yeah a bit wanky, but they seem to have actually replaced the mini refurb the old irish owner did, where he lost the carpet in favour of v bright wooden floors and put bright lighting in. it actually looks a bit more similar to the old owl now. i've heard it's a real gastro pub but nobody was eating when i was in there.

I see what this is (Local Garda), Thursday, 27 January 2011 19:54 (thirteen years ago) link

the guvnor was doing his nut at someone for ordering water haha

he's famous for this, and other weird tics, like he'll sometimes just not let a group in for no reason. he's one of those landlords that will sit and drink with you when you're the only 3 people left in the place till 3am, but barely recognise you the next time you come in. generally a nice bloke tho.

I see what this is (Local Garda), Thursday, 27 January 2011 19:56 (thirteen years ago) link

lets go to the palm tree, garda

cherry blossom, Thursday, 27 January 2011 20:09 (thirteen years ago) link

he's famous for this, and other weird tics, like he'll sometimes just not let a group in for no reason. he's one of those landlords that will sit and drink with you when you're the only 3 people left in the place till 3am, but barely recognise you the next time you come in. generally a nice bloke tho.

Is this The Sun we're talking about? I have a recent anecdote about a friend having to sit in the cubicle there for a good fifteen minutes while some other friends tried to negotiate some toilet paper for him from the manager, and apparently the manager wasn't making it at all easy to be obtained...

Rejoice that you weren't eaten (chap), Thursday, 27 January 2011 20:30 (thirteen years ago) link

haha no that's the palm.

cb i'm game for the palm anytime...apart from tonight or tomorrow, after that tho literally any day ever

I see what this is (Local Garda), Thursday, 27 January 2011 20:32 (thirteen years ago) link

palm tree manager sounds like the worst

lextasy refix (lex pretend), Thursday, 27 January 2011 21:38 (thirteen years ago) link

longshot i know but is there any pub in london where you can play CHEESES (throwing a big cheese shaped wooden block at some bowling pins) like they do in the midlands.

r|t|c, Thursday, 27 January 2011 22:08 (thirteen years ago) link

not helpful but i know a bar in detroit, usa where you can do that, but they call it feather bowling

mizzell, Thursday, 27 January 2011 22:12 (thirteen years ago) link

freemasons arms in hampstead, though they call it "london skittles" of course: http://www.londonskittles.co.uk/

joe, Thursday, 27 January 2011 22:12 (thirteen years ago) link

yeah soz i was about to say, i could've just googled it.

wow proper alleys! that kinda seems less fun than the drop-down midlands table tbh:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skittles_(sport)#Midlands

r|t|c, Thursday, 27 January 2011 22:16 (thirteen years ago) link

palm and palm tree next friday

cherry blossom, Friday, 28 January 2011 00:27 (thirteen years ago) link

oh no just palm tree not palm

cherry blossom, Friday, 28 January 2011 00:27 (thirteen years ago) link

one year passes...

BREAKING NEWS: the camel on globe road now sells punk ipa on draught. been there about 5 times since i found this out, which is about 5 times more than in the previous three years.

I'm going to allow this! (LocalGarda), Sunday, 18 March 2012 10:55 (twelve years ago) link

We just got a new local in a converted post office, it's pretty cool, snugs in old bank safes and stuff. Which is good because the actual closest local is fine for football watching but going in with girls feels like a complete no-no. It's basically all builders from what I can see.

Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Sunday, 18 March 2012 11:59 (twelve years ago) link

nine months pass...

Calling Chap: is the Dartmouth Arms any good?

A Yawning Chasm (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Thursday, 20 December 2012 12:16 (eleven years ago) link


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