Alwyne Castle, Canonbury, N1

The Alwyne Castle, to give it the correct name, is a short distance from Highbury Corner and appears quite inviting from the roadside. The funky modern sign that dismisses the Castle element and replaces it with pretentious continuation dots really sums the place up. Can’t have a trendy modern pub being labeled as a Castle, can we? The interior is divided into 2 sections with a contemporary main bar complete with the de rigeur sofa collection taking up most of the floor space. The music is a tad on the loud side and muffled which grates on the ears a bit and I noted just the one TV screen that wasn’t switched on. Blackboards list the countless wines available and food specials but fail to highlight anything regarding beers so it’s not hard to see where their target customer base lies. Despite this, there was a decent pick of ales – London Pride, Adnams IPA, White Horse Village Idiot and Sambrook Wandle. Off the main bar to the rear section is a spacious dining area with an open kitchen (a sign warns against trying to order food here). Prices are surprisingly reasonable and the 2 meals + 2 drinks for £15 looks like a decent offer although I didn’t take it up on my visit. Tacked on to the end of the dining area is a small conservatory. Much is made of the large garden but it doesn’t really amount to much more than multiple benches on a large concrete area to the front and side of the pub and is not particularly attractive unless it gets spruced up for summer months. I really don’t know what to make of the Alwyne.. (sic). It is just the sort of place I generally do a quick u-turn for being too pretentious and trendy for my tastes but the ales are decent and there isn’t a lot else in the area that hasn’t already gone down the same route. For those reasons alone I can see myself returning.