The Star, Dartmouth Park, N19

Built in 1896 as The Totnes Castle, this pub is as described below: large, opened-out, some columns, a corner fireplace, still in use, to the corner and a bar to the rear. The ceiling is festooned with paper Chinese lanterns. A plus is that there's no obvious TV - customers here tend to be quite well off. The barmaid was very friendly. On offer were Meantime craft beers; real ale came in the form of Truman's Swift (£2.05 a half) well served, Hammerton's Brewery's N1, Timothy Taylor's Landlord and another pump, clip reversed. I'd certainly come here again if in the area - this is probably the best pub in N19 - but I wouldn't go out of my way to pay a visit.

This pub doesn't seem to have changed much since the previous reviewers' visits, although they do seem to have lost the stuffed animal heads, which I guess is a good thing. It's no longer the backstreet boozer it clearly once was, although the old brewery tiling on the exterior has been retained, and there's also some original tiling inside on the left. Judging by the positioning of the internal tiling it's clear that the bar counter has been re-sited at some stage. At some stage it's also been given a fairly savage makeover. There's a fair bit of exposed brickwork around the place, which seems to be a modern affectation; the wall panelling that remains hes been painted a dull pastel colour; and the unusually wood panelled ceiling is painted red. Furnishings are mainly recycled dining room tables, combined with a mish mash assortment of normal chairs, and with a couple of sofas at the back on the right. All of the tables had a little sprig of flowers on them, and decor consists of paper 'planes (fairies?!) hanging from the ceiling, and some original artwork on the walls that appeared to be for sale. A piano was plonked by the corner door. There were a couple of ales on - Timothy Taylor Landlord (£2 a half); Hamerton N1 Pale Ale; with a third pump having a reversed clip. There was a chalkboard on one of the walls advertising a bar menu, with a cheeseburger & chips at 10.5 (£10.50?), and beer battered haddock & chips at 12.75. This is a gastropub with little of the traditional pub feel remaining, but on the plus side at least it's still here as a going concern apparently, giving locals somewhere to enjoy a decent pint.

Backstreet gastropub that I visited as part of a function held there on a Saturday evening for which the entire pub was hired out, so no locals until much later on and even then only a handful. Interior as described by Strongers – a high-ceilinged single room, with an enclosed rear patio area. Décor is very modern – stripped back, exposed brickwork, stripped wood flooring etc. To be fair they had beer on and they were getting through a fair amount on the pumps; over the course of the evening there was TT Landlord, Hackney IPA, Doom Bar…though at one point the Landlord tasted distinctly like Greene King to me. Just under ten minutes from Archway tube.

After walking through a couple of estates the last place I thought I would come across is a decent gastrofied ale proffering public house. The pub is a single high ceilinged room with large windows and ubiquitous gastro colour scheme and furniture arrangement (maybe they should lose the stuffed animal heads). There is a pebbled beer yard out the back with some uncovered seating, but unfortunately I still felt a long way from the beach. Brodies Red, Ringwood and Otley's Boss were the ale choices and Old Rosie and Addlestones were also available alongside a selection of premium lagers. It was nice to see three ales available that I had not heard of before and I really enjoyed the Boss, but I found the Ringwood to be a little bland. The man who seemed to be in charge was pleasant and very knowledgeable and gave me a quick run through the beers, no little taster was offered though! When nature called I left my pint on the bar whilst I used the gents and when I settled back at the bar it had gone, but thankfully one of the staff admitted to throwing it away and I was given a replacement with no questions asked. I'm not a big gastro pub fan, but I still liked this pub and would go back again if in the area.

top class pub this one, ive been a regular ever since it opened. A good selection of beers, really good food but best of all is the juke box, a really great selection of tunes primarily from the 50s 60s and 70s. could be a bit louder though. highly recomended.