The Gatehouse, Highgate, N6

Imposing 'Brewer's Tudor' edifice, so much more 'pub-like' than most Wetherspoons (although the decor would give the game away). Partly-opened out inside to leave a large 'L'-shaped bar with some booths and a range of furniture elsewhere. Dining area beyond. Bespoke breakfast and all-day menus. 'Upstairs at the Gatehouse' theatre above. Even allowing for a few duplicates, there was a good selection from 12 handpumps e.g. Whale Ale Ruby Moby at £2.99. Board promoting a 'Suggest a Guest' scheme also noted. Worth a stop if in the area.

This is a large landmark pub at the top of Highgate High Street, reputedly the oldest pub in Highgate, which was taken over by Wetherspoons back in 1993. The large building has a sprawling interior with a large carpeted front section with lattice windows, an L shaped servery to the rear and lots of standard table and chair seating filling up most of the space. Some semi partitioned booths run along the front wall, making them quite a cosy spot to nab, enhanced by the dark wood wall panels and old photos of the pub as well as the usual Wetherspoons info boards. The room extends to the right rear where some large pillars break the space up a bit and some more booths run along the side wall with nice mirror and tile strips adding a decorative touch. There is a tidy fireplace at the end of the bar which is quite an unusual original feature in a Wetherspoons, obviously inherited from the pub's previous guise. Further on, you drop down into the dining only area, with signs warning drinkers that they can only proceed if they intend to order food. Here, rows of standard seating run from front to back in a functional, but rather characterless space. The pub has a theatre upstairs and there are one or two nods to this around the pub itself, such as the mini stage curtains on the end of the bar counter. There are plenty of handpulls here, but with three Spoons regulars doubled up and one pump out of action, there was room for just the three guest ales plus two real ciders. I opted for a pint of Elgoods Cambridge Bitter which was pretty poor. I also tried the food and had an unusually long wait for a reasonable plate of typical 'Spoons grub. I was looking forward to visiting what I've often seen described as one of Wetherspoons best pubs, but I have to say I was distinctly underwhelmed. Whilst the building is certainly well worth exploring, I was let down by an average beer range and a poor pint. I found that Highgate has plenty of very good pubs and I would probably drop this on from any crawl in the future.

Seemed to me one of the better Wetherspoon pubs.They had five guest beers on from the fest list. I have often walked past this pub as there is no signage its a Wetherspoon.Too downmarket for Highgate?.

This is one of those relatively rare things a Spoons that has always been a pub. My first ever visit here was some 40 years ago as a Watney's pub, when along with a few other very long haired students we were given a Peggy Mitchell aka "Get outta my pub, go on sling yer 'ook". No such problem today, it's a fine pub in a superb location perched on the summit of Highgate Hill. It's expensive for a Spoons, I was charged £2.69 for the Oakleaf May Bee mild (4.6%) but it was in excellent condition. Having said it's expensive, I wonder what they are charging for a pint of ESB in the nearby flask nowadays.