Small Beer, Crouch End, N8

I reckon that this pub has improved considerably since the previous reviewer's visit during its time as part of the Wishing Well chain. It's a small one-room shop conversion pub by the look of it, and is reasonably comfortable, being carpeted and furnished largely with sofas, but with enough normal tbles and chairs to satisfy a traditionalist like me. There are numerous old framed black and white prints on the wall, but red features prominently here, with much of the walls, some upholstery, and the carpet all this colour. But it doesn't look too garish somehow. There was some pop music playing at background volume, and and a TV (muted) showing the live football. On the ale front they had on GKIPA and Doom Bar (£1.85 a half), with a Deuchars IPA clip reversed on another pump. I didn't see any sign of food on a Saturday afternoon. This is one of the better shop conversions that I've seen (if indeed it is a conversion). It's quite comfortable, does some real ale (albeit nothing exciting), and the service was friendly and efficient - I was acknowledged while waiting my turn to be served. But with The Queens, and the Earl Haig Hall just over the road, it's probably not going to be revisited by me.

This place is pretty much what you would expect from the Irish Wishing Well shop conversion chain of pubs with the usual generic draught and plasma screens that show Sky Sports, Setanta (probably not any more though) and GAA. There were only five other punters, but they seemed like a nice bunch as they discussed the benefits of getting totally plastered. Unsurprisingly, Magic love songs was playing on one of the plasma screens, not that anyone other than the barmaid was listening to it. She said please and thank you and even said goodbye when I left, but she seemed like she'd had a long day as she didn't crack a smile once. As I went to use the toilet at the rear of the pub I passed a bloke was smoking at the locked back door inside the pub. He glanced at me and asked if he would be ok smoking so close to the gas canisters, which were actually empty beer kegs. I had a chuckle to myself as he thought he was risking his life just to have a sneaky fag in the pub rather than standing on the high street out the front. I ended up sitting at a table and reading a paper from the bar that another customer had left. It was here, whilst I was trying to work out why I didn't like this place as much as other Wishing Wells, that two dogs started humping in the middle of the pub and it took until they had finished for someone to calm the situation. I'm still not entirely sure why I wasn't so keen on this place!