The Highbury Barn, Highbury, N5

This pub doesn't seem to have improved in the six years or so since Tris' visit. They did have a couple of ales on though: London Pride and Twickenham Naked Ladies. Food seems to be a big deal here - sarnies were £8 or so, but I had a burger and chips for £12.50. I didn't think that the quality was particularly good for what I paid. It's totally modernised, with nothing of heritage value left. There's gastro-grey on the walls; the floor's bare-boarded of course; the modern bar back is painted a dark indigo; furnishings are mainly tall tables/tall stools with some normal(ish) tables with hard and small uncomfortable chairs. There are the usual additions of a coffee machine and water dispenser on the bar counter. It's all very minimalist with little in the way of traditional pub character. My Naked Ladies was in good shape, although the burger was decidedly average for the price I paid. Although on the plus side, a parent was very considerate to other customers when they promptly took their child outside when it started screaming. But this is not the sort of place to which I would come for a quiet pint in comfortable surroundings.

With a friend formerly living locally, I used to drink here quite often in the mid-1980s until staff (long departed) swiped my empty Zippo. I returned the next day and asked if they'd found it, which they denied, then offered a substantial reward and returned again to be presented with it, polished and filled. I took the lighter, denied them the reward and stomped out. I returned ten years later to watch the England v. Argentina World Cup playoff when David Beckham was sent off for not kicking an Argentinian and little if anything had changed; still a boozer, frequently filled with boozy Gunners fans. Fifteen years on and this pub is now unrecognisable. Very food orientated with a dedicated eating area, mood lighting, blue pastel coloured walls, pale wood bar and matching boarded floor. There are high tables with stools and low tables with metal and wood chairs. The main entrance is a plate glass door with long steel D-handle; the lavatories wouldn't look out of place in a new City office tower and include a disabled loo. Tired with your existing baby? Fear not, as there are baby changing facilities too. There were several ales on tap and pump, premium lagers and a premium cider; service was efficient and friendly. It's not that there's a great deal to complain about with this pub, it's just that I wouldn't really call it a pub any more. It's more a restaurant/bar, and one that you'd find in a hotel. I'd visit again if passing, but really only because this is probably the only N5 pub you can safely enter without wearing an Arsenal shirt.

Highbury Barn official site with menu and event details - www.thehighburybarnpub.co.uk

Highbury Barn official site with menu and event details - www.thehighburybarnpub.co.uk

This is a large pub that is a little too food orientated for my liking and during my visit just after 17:00 on Saturday there were only a handful of customers. Maybe it was the post football blues or the fact that the Arsenal were playing on the Sunday, but it was all quite depressing anyways. The barmaid was friendly enough, but the governor didn’t seem in the best of moods and I got a couple of suspecting glances as I explored his pub. There is a pool table at the rear and plasma screens are dotted throughout the pub, but the picture quality was abysmal and the pictures were on widescreen meaning that the football results couldn’t be read as they were off the screen. There are a couple of hand pumps on the bar that were both unimaginatively drawing Greene King IPA and San Miguel and Staropramen were also available alongside a standard draught range. There is a quiz on the first Monday of the month and an open mic night on the first Thursday of the month and these both commence at 20:00. The Guinness was good, but I didn’t like it in here at all and do not plan to return in the near future.