Neptune, Somers Town, NW1

The Neptune isn’t a pub that seems to go to any great lengths to endear itself to anyone beyond its own neighbourhood and the presence of the less than salubrious personalities from the local estate is usually enough to make the unwise visitor about turn at the first opportunity and to be honest, they wouldn’t miss much. The carpeted, single room interior has a pool table as its centerpiece, slapped bang in the middle of the pub pushing the scant furnishings to the edges of the pub. A big screen hangs in one corner and a couple of other TVs bookend the room generally trained on sport. To the side of the bar is a dart board. The prominence of England flags in the windows and on the ceilings came over as more of a statement than a patriotic gesture. Wheras the pub exudes little in the way of charm, I must say that the barmaid (landlady?) was very welcoming and chatty, something I was not expecting given my previous experiences of the pub’s populous. The pub dog was also quite welcoming. An improvement in the beers was not so unexpected and there are no ales or even handpumps, just the general kegs, lagers, Guiness (£3.30) etc. This was probably only the third or fourth time I have been to this pub and I have never felt particularly comfortable. The constant stream of the same half a dozen people entering and leaving the pub several times over in a short space of time was little disconcerting and whilst the area isn’t that great for pubs to start with, I have to say the Neptune is definitely at the lower end of the scale.