Alwyne Castle, Canonbury, N1

This was a mid-19th century Charrington’s pub, which succumbed to the heavy bombing of Canonbury. It was rebuilt for Charrington’s in the mid- ‘60s in this rather grand style, the original having been quite a sizeable freestanding edifice. A return for the first time since I submitted my last review almost ten years ago and I don’t think anything has changed. The first thing you notice is the sheer size of the so-called beer garden, which, with capacity for 300, more closely resembles a car park (see photo). Inside, there’s a modern shiny wooden floor, with a white colour scheme, except for the bar back, which is modern and dark grey. On high, there’s an impressive egg and dart dentilled cornice, partly vandalised to make way for ugly galvanized trunking and air handling equipment. To the rear right, there’s an area with tables laid for dining. Otherwise, there’s mixed conventional furniture, with some butchers’ block tables, then dark grey studded banquettes to the front. Lighting comes from crystal chandeliers, with yellowish mushroom shaped lamps hanging over the bar; together it’s not bright. Décor comes in the form of some miscellaneous framed pictures, small potted evergreen plants to windowsills then large potted palms and candles and bottles containing posies of flowers to tables. Music though was very loud on my Saturday evening visit, with few customers (every other pub was packed) being blasted with predictable anthems from The Police, Yazoo, Blur, Franz Ferdinand, Crystal Waters and Sophie Ellis Bextor. Ales amounted to Doom and Landlord, at a very steep £5.95 a pint and in good nick, served by friendly barmaids. This place is fine for a pint and a burger and the ‘garden’ is the largest in the borough.

This is a smart single room gastro-style pub just a short walk from Highbury & Islington station. The room is bare boarded throughout, with scruffy old boards to the front and newer ones further into the room, mainly around the bar area. Long button backed banquettes run along the front wall, including around a nice bay window, with high tables and stools arranged in a row through the centre of the room and a nice high-backed bench booth in the rear left corner. The servery extends along the mid-part of the rear wall and has a bright painted wood panel counter front which contrasts somewhat with the plain mirror bar back. Walls have also been painted in a rather plain shade and decorated with run of the mill bits and boobs such as mirrors, a few small paintings and an unused TV screen, none of which really enhances the character of the place – in fact the only really distinctive features come in the form of a few decorative lampshades. To the right of the bar, the room runs back into a smart dining area with plenty of formally set tables in an area that seemed surprisingly cosy but was exclusively for the use of those wanting food. A chilled-out reggae soundtrack played quietly in the background throughout most of my stay and there was a decent buzz from a good post-work crowd. The bar supports four handpulls, but two of these were out of action when I arrived, leaving a choice between Adnams Mosaic and Hog’s Back Tea – a choice that vanished as soon as I ordered the latter and it spluttered its final dregs before the glass could be filled. I’ve never really enjoyed the Mosaic when I’ve had it before but decided to give it another try, shelling out £5.05 for the privilege. It was in pretty good shape but remains a beer I can happily live without. This place seemed pretty bland and inoffensive to me, creating a basic pub setting but not really doing much to create a nice ambiance or some character. Overall, the pub left very little impression on me and whilst their beer was perfectly drinkable and there was nothing here I particularly disliked, I think I’ll stick to my regular haunts when I’m in this part of town, rather than bother with this place again.

One large room with bar to rear. Eating area to right and a large beer garden to the front. Four hand pumps and a large selection of keg. Not particularly inspiring.

The main area consists of a long rectangular room with the long bar opposite the front wall, centrally split by a curved bay. Scuffed floorboards, the services are exposed at ceiling level, opposite the bar are a row of high butchers block tables with stools, better seating elsewhere at banquettes and tables including a curved banquette around the front bay and a pair of pews at one end. The area extends a bit to the right beyond a fireplace into an area which looks to be purely for dining with an open kitchen adjacent, this runs through into a conservatory type space. Loads of seating outside to the front, much of which is painted sky blue but also includes a barbecue area. No one out there today on a day of persistent rain. There are clipboard menus on the tables, the dining area has copper cooking vessels suspended from the ceiling, little else of interest, the place felt a bit clinical. Four handpumps, Doom Bar, Proper Job (£4.55), Truman's Fire and Dandy and one unclipped. To me the pub felt devoid of atmosphere and a bit dismal, in fairness the weather was awful, the pub is large but had more staff than customers at the time but despite these counter points there is still something lacking.

We popped in here for a swift half on route back to Highbury Corner, after visiting the Snooty Fox. Four handpumps on the bar, with three in use, Redemption Trinity, Thornbridge Jaipur and Doombar. I went for the Jaipur, which I haven't had for a good while, so it hit the spot. This is a well kept pub with a comfortable interior seating wise and no loud music on our Monday afternoon visit. The large seating area outside with some timber huts was impressive, so too was the large conservatory at the far end of the pub.

Attractive symmetrical façade with a large central bow window. Not as large inside as one might imagine, but there is a conservatory beyond the side kitchen and dining area. Semi-modern furniture and decor. Plenty of solid benches out front; probably a nice spot when the sun's out, but several people making use of the blankets provided on a cold winter evening. Three of four handpumps on when I visited, with Doom Bar, Redemption Urban Dark (£3.80) and Sunny Republic Hop Dog available.

This is a prominent pub on a busy North London junction. The frontage is mainly undressed brickwork, but with a smattering of "gastro" grey. There are a few picnic benches outside at the front, tastefully screened from the main road by some bamboo hedging. Inside there's nothing traditional about it, although the bar counter looks like a bit of original woodwork - although presumably not too old as Alan Winfield dates the pub only to the 60s. The main bar as you enter has the furnishings you would expect. It's bare-boarded, with some butchers block tall tables, with tall stools, sofas in their traditional place in front of the fireplace, some banquettes, but thankfully with its fair share of normal tables and chairs. There is effedtively what is a separate room room reached through an archway to the right and rear of the servery. This room is traditionally furnished, and looks like the sort of area that diners might choose eat in, although I saw no signs saying that it was a dining area. The ale front is encouraging. They had on London Pride, Redemption Urban Dusk, and Butcombe Rare Breed (which was in great nick), and a fourth pump had a Doom Bar clip reversed. When I was in on Monday afternoon there were a couple of single page printed menus on the tables. One was for a fixed price menu - two course for £10 and three for £13, and looked to be decent enough stuff on it. The main courses on the main menu looked OK as well, with the handmade cheeseburger at £9.95. This is not a bad pub, although it doesn't have any of what I would term "pub character". It's a madeover "pub/restarant", although the beer was well kept and the top up I requested was given gracefully. This is not a pub I would make a beeline for, but OK for a swift one if you happen to be passing, as I was.