The Queens, Crouch End, N8

Another large establishment with heritage features inside and out. No real ale and a mix of normal and corporate craft on keg . A good looker but lacking in the beer department though my Camden Stout was decent.

This is yet another grand, North London boozer which has retained more of its multi room feel than many others in this part of the city. You enter into the right-hand side of the pub and find yourself in a distinctly separate dining area with an open kitchen on the rear wall, exposed floorboards and a good amount of tables and chairs, including some in an attractive, wood panelled, arched recesses along the right-hand wall. Passing through a wide doorway to the front left takes you into a small bare boarded area under some very impressive arched, stained glass windows with a rose motif. High tables and stools can be found here, plus a long stretch of the bar, which is apparently out of service, with signs advising customers to walk through to the rear room to get served. Moving on again takes you into the left hand room, which has a nice, decorative stained glass dark wood divider. Plenty of seating is available in here and it was perhaps the pub's liveliest space. From here you can follow the servery past its curved end piece, into a rear space with seating along the back wall and the handpulls on the bar, which has a nice dark wood counter with a matching, mirrored bar back boasting a fine centrepiece and pillared gantry. The whole pub has an amazing decorative ceiling, which spills down most walls along an elaborate frieze and is probably the pub's most impressive feature, although the mosaic tile floor in the entrance porch looks great too. Massive potted plants stand in the front windows, several TV screens were visible but not in use and music played so quiet you could barely hear it under an impressive hubbub. There are plenty of handpulls around the servery, but only two were operational, dispensing Bruning & Price Traditional Bitter (£5.20 a pint) and Adnams Mosaic. The former was a serviceable pint of bitter in pretty good condition and I quite enjoyed strolling around the pub, taking in all of its features and soaking up a lively atmosphere. I was quite impressed by this place, which I thought offered a lot in terms of heritage features, even if the pub has been knocked about quite a lot. Two well-kept beers were an added bonus and I would say there's enough going on here to merit more than the flying visit I managed to pay. Date of visit - 21st March 2024

Cannot really add anything to the excellent review below, as far as the superb interior of this large Victorian pub is concerned, just to say if you do find yourself in the area of Crouch end, it’s highly recommended to come and see it for yourself. On the first real sunny afternoon we’ve had this wet August. The pub was advertising its secluded courtyard garden on a chalkboard on the pavement outfront, so it was no surprise when I entered to find that this was where most of the action was. As described below, they only serve from one section of the expansive bar area, but at least on my visit there were signs clearly indicating the sections that were closed and arrows pointing to where you needed to go. Three hand pumps adorn this section and for my visit theses were Adnams Mosaic, Sharps Doombar and the Brunning and Price house bitter brewed by St Austell. So not a stunning line up by B&P standards, but I forgave them as the Mosaic was very good and the secluded courtyard garden was indeed an excellent spot catching the afternoon sun but with enough tables under shade for those that required it.