The Ranelagh, Bounds Green, N11

The Ranelagh Hotel as was, dates from the mid-19th century, an empty Taylor Walker sign frame atop the pole sign; there’s new smart plum livery, well-tended flowers to the fascia, an attractive beer garden to the right. An obviously modern makeover has resulted in a dark lacquered floor, bare brick then trendy floral wallpaper to the rear, smart plum paint to the walls and field panelling up front. Furniture is largely conventional, but the sofa-style seats to the front with floral upholstery are a bit girlie though hard as nails. There are trendy prints, décor in the form of palms; there’s a substantial selection of trendy glass hanging lamps with filament bulbs. As mentioned, the customers are on the younger and at the more fashionable end of the spectrum, the result of ongoing gentrification? A credible cask selection amounted to an unused pump, reversed Doom clip, Landlord and Hophead at a very decent £2.90 a half, in good nick, served by a vacant barmaid. This is a decent pub, certainly the best of just the three in N11, but as mentioned, the Prince (N22) beats this in the cask department but lacks the more traditional pub feel found here.

This Victorian pub, a short walk from Bounds Green tube station, was originally built in 1861 and internally has not changed much from the description given below, except it was spruced up with another lick of paint during the pandemic period. Outside the original decking area is also now under the cover of a permanent awning and the garden space was improved during the covid period also. What has changed is that the ale focus has changed from cask to craft to attract the younger demographic who are moving into the Bounds Green / Bowes Park area. There are still four hand pumps on the bar with a minimum of two on the go at any time, but they focus on mainly national brewers and the more interesting options tend to be on the keg taps, especially when there is a craft brewer tap takeover. For my visit last Sunday Doombar and St Austell tribute were on but with the dreaded “coming soon” label draped on them, The St Austell Proper Job had just gone, leaving a solitary TT Landlord, which fortunately was in very good nick. But my co-drinkers were there for the craft options, and they had the more interesting choice of Camden Town Brewery Stout, Deya Thinking Juice Pale Ale, Thornbridge AM:PM Session IPA, Brooklyn Stonewall Inn IPA and Brixton Reliance Pale Ale. If truth be told The Prince, further up Bounds Green Road towards Wood Green, still does the Cask / Craft offerings much better but its nice to see The Ranelagh moving in this direction also and its worth doing as a double with The Prince. If The Springfield was only to up its game as well, then we would have a really enjoyable stroll along the Bounds Green Road.

A Victorian pub ,but refurbed in a modern way with an open plan interior .Bench seating and traditional furniture to the front,a high table to the side,and a back lounge with a mix of leather sofas,comfy chairs,banquettes and dining tables.There is a large decking area,and a lower level beer garden with a BBQ and a small childrens play area.Food is served with mains £12-£15 from a slightly gastro style menu. At the bar there are 4 handpumps drawing on my visit Titanic Plum Porter,London Pride,Doom Bar and Great Heck Shankar IPA,very good and £2.20 the half. I thought that was a decent real ale range ,featuring two great brewers which for me would be enough to justify another visit if I could drag myself away from The Prince.Popular with families and for it's food,which might impinge on drinking enjoyment at busy times.

Much improved from my last visit had a few pints of Doombar & Pride which were both in good condition and service was quick and polite. There is a nice Beer garden in the summer if its not overrun with kids but it was constant raining on my afternoon visit so never used it. Overall its a much better Pub now. But much more could be done on the Ale front I feel there missing out big time especially as there's not a decent Ale Pub around here for miles now that The John Lawrence has gone Northern Star has gone The Turrets has gone The Bank has gone even The Orange Tree the only pub just hanging on is the Springfield and that's half closed and run down.

Well-maintained building located at the east end of the narrow green. The decor is rather gastropub - lighter in the staple-shaped front bar, darker in the rear dining area. Not overcluttered with furniture. Quiet on an early Monday evening. Relaxed atmosphere helped by some reasonable background music. Three of four handpumps were operational, dispensing Wandle, Doom Bar and Pride (£3.70, and served in the right glass).

I went in here last night for a quick Pint on the way back from a Beer evening but it was very quiet being around 22:00 on a Monday. I Found it very Dark I thought the place was closed at first when I approached. There was only One Real Ale on tap when I ask so I had that But it was not in the best Condition a Little cloudy and warm but drinkable probably because it was sitting in the pipe all evening. There were only three or four other customers in and most were drinking Lager. All in All not a bad Pub but would not bother returning just for a Drink as it seems too be more of a food lead restaurant than a Pub so its probably better for a meal & Drink.

Randomness Guide to London - Ranelagh entry

Randomness Guide to London - Ranelagh entry

Official site of the Ranelagh, contains menus - www.theranelaghn11.co.uk

Official site of the Ranelagh, contains menus - www.theranelaghn11.co.uk

This place is a good sized L-shaped gastro style pub with a decked balcony at the rear that overlooks a well kept beer garden. There is usually some inoffensive background music playing and there are no TV screens so it should be ideal for a pint in the afternoon whilst reading the paper. Unfortunately the lighting is extremely dim and this place is popular with the after school buggy brigade, although all children are supposed to leave the premises by 19:00. There is a step up to the pub, but the less able amongst us can press the buzzer at the entrance and summon some help to gain access and there is a disabled toilet. Three of the four hand pumps were in use during my visit and these were serving up Black Sheep, Doom Bar and Adnams Witbier. There is also an extensive premium lager selection along with a few of the usual suspects and my Guinness was better during this visit than I remember in the past. Unsurprisingly food is served which seems reasonably priced but I did sample some nachos which had the texture of samosa pastry and although the barman informed me that the kitchen had run out of guacamole he failed to let on that there also wouldn’t be any cheese. It amazes me how many pubs cannot get a simple snack like nachos right and it does raise doubts as to the quality of the rest of the menu. There seems to be a lot of effort with entertainment in here as there is live piano every Sunday from 15:00 as diners tuck into the roast dinners and there is a quiz on Tuesdays with the winner getting a bottle of wine and the proceeds going to the North London Hospice. Thursdays are the scene of ‘Toybox’ which is advertised as a mix of live music, comedy and poetry which I suppose could be interesting. With all the effort being put in and the nice building this should be a fantastic pub, but unfortunately they seem to be getting some of the basics wrong meaning that this isn’t a pub that I would go out of the way to visit again.

Seems the ex-landlord blew the pub up (Now in the nick ) now a block of flats (15/04/09)

This is just an ok pub.A bit expensive and nothing special. Had a couple of real ales on,one being Woodfordes Wherry which was good.5 mins from Bounds Green tube