Newmarket Ale House, Lower Holloway, N7

I was expecting there to be lines of hand pumps and hoards of bearded gentlemen lining the bar as I approached the Newmarket Ale House, but the name is well out of date as I don’t think there has been a real ale served here for some time. This pub is in fact a run by South Americans and from all of the flags on the wall and the few speciality bottled beers advertised I would imagine that they are Brazilian. There are a few standard draught products alongside San Miguel and I thought that the Guinness was on pretty good form. It wasn’t very busy and half of the handful of customers seemed to be friends or family of the staff, but I was served in a courteous manner and made to feel welcome. There are a couple of flat screen TVs and also a projector screen that was rolled up. I didn’t spot any advertisements for Sky Sports, but a foreign satellite channel was showing highlights of some Primera Division football, which was muted to give way to some Salsa type music. There is plenty of seating in this large pub and a pool table can be found to the left of the entrance. This is not a place for the traditional pub fan and I wouldn’t go out of my way to drink here again, but I would imagine it is good fun when it is busier and there is more of an atmosphere.