Harlesden Picture Palace, Harlesden, NW10

This place, as the name hints, began life in 1912 as the Picture Theatre, changing name three years later to the Picture Coliseum. It operated as an independent cinema showing mainstream movies until the mid-70's when it downsized and screened mainly kung-fu and adult movies. In 1977 The Clash played a gig here with tickets costing £1.50 and including a three support bands and a post-gig kung-fu movie. A review of the gig in ZigZag magazine referred to the Coliseum as 'the classic definition of a fleapit, all peeling paint and stained seats', so unsurprisingly the venue closed a few years later. It took an intervention by Wetherspoons to get the building up and running again under the name 'Coliseum', but they relinquished the venue in 2005 and it became a generic pub called the Misty Moon before another period of closure left the building's future uncertain. Thankfully it has since been acquired by the enterprising Antic chain and they reopened the pub in 2014 as the Harlesden Picture Palace. Outside the front of the pub there is a small pavement-side drinking strip, which didn't seem like a great place to enjoy a pint on such a busy road. You enter through large front doors into the former lobby which has some funky tiled walls and lots of exposed brickwork in true Antic style, as well as the ubiquitous bare concrete floor and high iron girder ceiling. Banquette seating runs down the right hand wall under a lovely set of wall mounted cabinets full of exotic retro spirit bottles. The usual odd mix of tables and chairs fill the centre of the room and decor includes miscellaneous old portraits and some antique cameras that may well have been used to take them. A TV was showing an awful youth music channel, although thankfully a better soundtrack played over the speakers. Doors lead through into the main cinema space which sees the servery along the left hand wall with a dark wood counter and a canopy covered with various heraldic shields. Above is the old cinema balcony - sadly out of action these days it seems. The room has some old panelling and plenty of ancient looking tables and chairs as well as the unusual sight of a table tennis table in the far right corner. I visited at around 20:30 on a Saturday evening and was amazed to find a) only three other customers, b) the lone barman playing table tennis with one of them and c) only one ale available on a row of eight handpulls. This was Gadds Dependence Day and the barman seemed genuinely amazed when I ordered a pint, which made me a bit worried, but thankfully it was in fairly decent shape. If this place is completely dead from 20:30 - 21:00 on a Saturday evening, I have to wonder exactly when it does any kind of decent business. The resulting lack of atmosphere in a large venue made for an uncomfortable visit and the disinterested bar staff and inability to sustain a decent ale range mark this down as one of Antic's poorer venues, which is a shame as the building is well worth a snoop around.

Disappointingly, there was just the one ale on, despite the array of handpumps on the counter. The ale was something called Robohop from Robinsons, and was in poor condition. Luckily the barman offered me a taster before ordering, and thus I downgraded my order from a pint to a half. I mentioned to the barman the paucity of real ale, and he intimated that there isn't much call for it, or perhaps it's hard to manage (?), because after it's been tapped for ten days to two weeks it's not at its best. You can say that again! I didn't bother to look at a menu. The place is typical Antic. There's exposed brickwork, rusty girders apparently, and hopefully, supporting the ceiling, a concrete floor, and the usual cheap looking furnishings - must have cost at least a tenner on E-Bay. There are the usual odds and ends around the place, including a display of old cameras on one of the walls. All in all this is typical Antic, but without the usual ale I expect from the chain. I would have to see reports of an improvement on the ale front before I paid a return visit.

Official site of Harlesden Picture Palace - www.harlesdenpicturepalace.com

Official site of Harlesden Picture Palace - www.harlesdenpicturepalace.com

Aquired by Antic in January 2014 from JDW. It closed on 25/07/2014 according to their Facebook account. Will reopen under a different name, possibly The Coliseum, in due course after a refubishment.

Formerly the Coliseum cinema, and more recently a Wetherspoons (as can been seen from much of the signage, furniture and decor). The interior is a bit of a cavern, and the place claims to have the largest sports screen in London (and it is certainly huge). Although the interior was somewhat over-decorated for Hallowe'en, various small TVs and a pool table were noted. Small patio area at the front. 'Curry at the Moon' and 'Sushi at the Moon' menus available for eating in and take away. One of just two handpumps in operation, offering a reasonable pint of Abbot (£2.95).