The Arkley, Barnet

Official site of the Arkley, contains menus - www.thearkley.co.uk

Official site of the Arkley, contains menus - www.thearkley.co.uk

This place has now undergone a refurbishment and is now called The The Arkley Village Inn & Dining. Forget the Village Inn bit, this is now a restaurant. The decor is now very bright and modern, with a lot of light wood and crème and brown wicker seating. However the overall feeling is one of Footballers wives meets Habitat. The whole place is now virtually set out for dining with just a couple of non eating tables in front of the main bar area. There are still three hand pumps on the bar, which were TT Landlord, Doombar and a third which was unclipped. The Landlord was perfectly fine , but I certainly felt like a spare part standing up the bar, and as a casual drinker felt most unwelcome. Took a look at the menu, mainly because I thought I was going to be chucked out when I said I wasn’t going to eat. Usual Gastro style menu with the chips described as Belgium frites, and everyday ingredients given poncey posh names. And with the cheapest mains starting at £12 for a burger and the steaks at an eyewatering £20, this is another establishment which is pitching itself firmly at the well heeled residents of Arkley and Barnet who have more money than common sense. But its currently working and the place was packed at 8.00PM on a Tuesday evening last night, and it’s obviously the current in place to be seen for the Chelsea Tractor crowd. I will say they have done a very good job on the front patio area, which with its large jumbrellas and comfortable leather seating is a very pleasant place for an outside pint. Just remember to re-mortgage before you go to buy a round. As, in my opinion this is now a restaurant instead of a pub and casual drinkers are not that welcome I will not give a rating.

This place is large and bland with little or no atmosphere, which is what I have come to expect from Ember Inns. The Pride was off and the Newman's Last Lion of Britain was yet to be put on, but Greene King IPA, Bath Ales Golden Hare and Wadworth's Lily the Pink were all available alongside a standard draught selection and Peroni. The Golden Hare was ok, but I wasn't overly impressed with the Lily the Pink – Although it is in aid of a breast cancer charity. It seems to be popular with the lunchtime crowd and with the hospital being so close there is usually a few people dining. The food is pretty basic, but my chicken burger and chips was very reasonably priced. It's ok to fill a hole, but you do get what you pay for. There is some terrace seating only slightly set back from the main road out the front and there is also some more seating next to the car park at the side of the pub. All of the tables and chairs are bolted to the floor so you cannot move them around to get more comfortable, a sign of the times I suppose. I was a little surprised that there is no garden as I would have thought it a perfect location for one. Another strange thing for a pub that seems to rely heavily on dry sales is that no children under the age of 14 are permitted as there are no facilities for them, whatever that means, and children under 18 are only permitted if dining with an adult, which is fair enough. This place is ok for a couple of swift pints and maybe a spot of lunch if you happen to be stuck visiting someone at the hospital, but I wouldn't go out of my way and I certainly wouldn't go here for an evening drink.