The Hawley Arms, Camden Town, NW1

I called in here after a quick visit to three pretty awful pubs in Camden High Street and on my way to the Admiral in Kentish Town West, hoping for something a little better than the awful dross that I'd had so far. I stifled a yawn at the sleb photos on the walls, and another on seeing the beer selection: Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Hopback Summer Lightning. I'd have gone for the latter, except that a 5% ale would have made remounting my bike slightly more dangerous, so I had the GK, which the pump clip assured me had been "hand crafted". Service in here is on the uninterested/sloppy borderline, and the fact that my IPA was poured into a warm glass was possibly typical. It certainly didn't improve the quality of the beer. My half was £2, seemingly almost a standard price in Camden Town, where the pubs are seemingly happy to fleece the passing trade, who evidently know no better: they were certainly flocking into this place. To be fair, the décor is OK and the music was all right, but that's all that keeps me from using the word "avoid" - I'll content myself with "not recommended". Better still, go to Tapping the Admiral instead.

This pub gained a fair bit of notoriety over recent years for being the drinking venue of choice for the so called Camden-set (Noel Fielding, Peaches Geldof, Kelly Osborne et al), before getting global coverage in early 2008 when a fire led to a temporary closure and a passionate tribute from their most famous regular - Amy Winehouse. My recent visit for a quick pre-gig pint failed to turn up any ‘famous’ faces and to be honest, I was a bit surprised to find a very normal looking gastro style pub. The interior is comprised of a fairly large, if somewhat narrow, L-shaped room with wooden floors and wood panelled walls along the longest side. There is a large fireplace with an exposed brick chimney on the left hand wall, next to an enormous mirror. Standard seating is in plentiful supply throughout and I'm sure I spotted a couple of comfy sofas as well. The left hand area stretches right to the very back of the pub where there is access to a garden. The pub has very high ceilings which has allowed for a grand bar back to be installed, which has a great many shelves, most of which are cluttered with drinks, bits of old memorabilia and bar snacks in large glass jars that make it look a bit like an old sweet shop. An old juke box, with a big stack of board games balanced precariously on top, was blaring out a selection of music throughout the evening and as you might expect, there are various music themed pictures on the walls, including some caricatures of the more prominent Camden-set members. The music theme continues as you move to the right of the room, where there are stairs lined with old LP covers leading up to another bar and roof terrace. This is a Greene King house which had three of their beers on offer, namely Abbot Ale, Old Trip and the seasonal Ghastly Ghoul. My pint of Old Trip was fine and served by one of the many barmaids, all of whom seemed efficient enough but not very welcoming. In fact I found the clientele in general were quite rude and I felt a bit out of place after a while. This was better than I had expected it to be, although I'm still not sure what it is that attracts so many of these celebrities to it. Camden is a difficult place to get a decent drink in decent surroundings and this pub might well be as good a bet as anywhere else, but I won't exactly be rushing back.

Having never set foot in place before the cleansing power of flame, I can't draw historical comparisons. I dropped in for one last beer before the Manics at the Roundhouse and was quite impressed (though admittedly expectations weren't huge). There were a couple of ales on (a Greene King trio of Abbot, IPA and Olde Trip if I recall accurately). My half of Olde Trip was pretty good, in fairness. The main drinking area appears to be one long narrow strip opposing the bar which makes for uncomfortable jostling during busy times and the bar staff were a bit naff and stupidly overdressed, but I guess old habits die hard round here. Maybe worth a swift one before the Roundhouse – if you can see the bar and there is more than one person working it.

This is a very lively pub, even for early Sunday evening. There was a bouncer on the door that seemed to be letting some people straight in and making others wait outside until someone left, which I thought was a little strange. There were people dancing on tables and everyone seemed to be having a laugh. There were a few wannabes in there that thought that they were the coolest thing since sliced bread and a few plonkers that seemed to take issue with any faces they didn't know, but all in all it was a good time had by all. I don't see this place ever becoming my local, but it is worth going for an odd night out.

When I first started going into the Hawley it was a decent and fairly quiet place where people would go for the pub itself rather than the people who hang around in it. Once it became celebrity obsessed I stopped using the place but decided to pay my first post fire visit yesterday, more out of curiosity than necessity, and to be honest very little seems to have changed as far as the renovation is concerned. Most of the damage appears to have been done to the upper floors and rear of the building whilst the main bar has been hardly affected (I note the old concert ticket stubs are still on display and I would have thought something like that would have the first thing to perish). A slightly different colour scheme to what it was but apart from that, all the old characteristiocs and furnishings are as you were. 3 Ales all from the Green King range (IPA, Abbot, Old Trip) at prices comparable to the area and unusually for a pub that gears itself towards a younger crowd, the Ales are served up in old pint mugs. Service can be slow when busy and fighting your way through the hanger ons at the bar is a bit of a pain. Naturally it is going to be busy on most evenings with Borrell / Winehouse spotters and it can be quite uncomfortable being forever jostled and barged into by people roaming around the narrow bar area but find a quiet spot during the day and the Hawley can still be a fairly pleasant place for a pint. Some sanctuary during busy periods can be found in the small triangular rear courtyard (which I'm sure wasn't there before) if you don't mind sacrificing your lungs for somewhere to sit. I do long for the day when the pub loses popularity and maybe I would use it a bit more but I think it will be a long way off.

Official site of the Hawley Arms, contains menu and wine list - www.thehawleyarms.co.uk

Official site of the Hawley Arms, contains menu and wine list - www.thehawleyarms.co.uk