Bald Faced Stag, East Finchley, N2

The Bald Faced Stag is a large, street corner gastro pub just a short walk uphill from East Finchley station. The main bar area is a fairly open space with smart wooden flooring, a two tone colour scheme plus one bare brick wall. The servery is opposite the front door and has a rather bland bar back and a modern counter with a chunky wooden top. Padded banquettes run around the front right corner of the room with high tables and stools over to the left. Various pictures of stags and of the pub line the walls and a large set of antlers has pride of place behind the abr. To the rear right there is a comfier looking space that is partly screened from the rest of the room. Here you will find banquette and standard chair seating options under pictures of rural scenes and some more antlers. To the rear left is what appears to be a more formal, restaurant style space with set tables, but I didn't bother to explore, as I was only here for a quick pint. The menus were available from clipboards kept in holders on the walls and a quick look showed that the options were relatively upmarket and probably a bit pricier than in your average pub. A patio garden area can be found to the left of the pub with some sheltered areas for smokers. I didn't notice any TV screens but there was a jazz-centric soundtrack playing quietly throughout my visit. The ale line up was refreshingly interesting, with house beer Bald Faced Stag brewed by Greene King alongside guests in the shape of Growler Bitter, Sambrooks Battersea Rye and something from the Twickenham Brewery. The chatty barman recommended the house ale, saying that he preferred it to any of the current guests, so I gave it a try and thought it was in very good shape, if not much to write home about taste wise. There are plenty of gastro style pubs around North London, but this one at least works well as a drinker's pub as well. It was surprisingly easy to settle down in the comfortable front bar area and I enjoyed the good beer and friendly service. Well worth a look if you find yourself in the area.

An interesting selection of ales on my recent visit: Thwaites Wainwright, Dark Star Hophead, Nethergate Lemonhead and Old Dairy Silver Top stout. With the other ales being on the light and hoppy end of the spectrum, I had the Silver Top, which was in good condition and very drinkable. I went into a small side room just away from the bar, which was pleasant and comfortable, with some well-reproduced photos of the local area in the 19th century on the walls. If I'm in the area again I think I'd prefer this to the Old White Lion or the Alexandra.

Yes I will thoroughly concur with the reviewers below. If you are going to do a gastro make over on an old run down Victorian boozer to keep it alive as a pub/restaurant, this is the way to do it. Like most I am very quick to moan and bitch when a traditional pub is lost by the Ikea internal designers moving in , ripping out all its character and turning it into a restaurant. But the Bald Faced Stag is run by the Realpubs group who now own about 14 well positioned, mostly Victorian boozers in North and West London and they are doing a very good job at finding the balance between traditional pub and gastro restaurant in my honest opinion. This one was taken over in May 2007 and the large internal space has been utilised very well. The front section remain the pub bar area with a decent standing area to the front but then large rustic seating to the left and right and to the wall edge. Yes its decor is minimalistic and modern but it’s bright and comfortable and as the bar staff focus on wet sales, usually no issue to get served promptly. The large room at the back that once housed pool tables is now the Gastro restaurant with open plan kitchen with suitably expensive restaurant style menu to match. And then to the left is a sizeable external elevated garden area which can be accessed both from the bar and the restaurant. The bar now supports three operating hand pumps and these were dispensing something more interesting that the usual London stock ales of Pride, OSH, IPA e.t.c. Last night the beers were Sambrook's Wandle, Alton Pride and Caledonian Nectar and the brews from the Alton and Caledonian brewery were well kept. And another positive is that it has a late licence on a Saturday night so if you come out of the Phoenix Theatre opposite (the finest Cinema in London) post 11.00PM, you can still catch an after film pint.