Malt & Hops, North Finchley, N12

Visited 13/05/25 As noted below no cask. Keg offering of Blue Moon, Staro, Sapporo, Angelo Poretti, San Miguel, Holstein Vier, Neck Oil, John Smiths, Erdinger Weissbier, Somersby apple cider, Shipyard pale ale, Brooklyn Special Effects AF, Estrella, Inch's, Cruz, Fosters and Moretti. OK not great, but not the worst keg offering either. Again, as picked up on below, I suspect this is a shadow of probably an interesting pub of yesteryear. There is some outside seating at the front with regular tables and chairs on some decking. Inside the venue is bare boarded with regular tables and chairs plus some tall tables and stools in the front window. The bar counter is along the left-hand wall in the mid to rear part of the space. Single TV was showing the US PGA build up with no sound, that instead provided by a jazzy soundtrack. Plenty of outside seating to the rear left-hand side of the venue, essentially picnic benches on tarmac. There might have been some seating beyond that in the further distance. I thought this was a bit of a depressing venue truth be told.

Clearly a pub building from the outside but such a disappointment once inside,it has had a very modern refurb as decribed below which has destroyed any pub vibe.A very large flatscreen was showing Six Nations rugby to hardly any punters at all and the bar has a vast modern mirror set above it,but no real ale and just some standard multinational kegs.Shipyard APA seemed the best option,£6.50 and I sank it before sloping off never to return.How can pubs this bad survive,maybe the food is decent but I wasn't going to chance it.

This pub was a coaching inn, in existence by at least the mid-19th century but may have been rebuilt at a later date, possibly in the ‘20s. Given the last review, I was looking forward to visiting this place, but oh dear. It had been closed for a few years and has now undergone a rather awful makeover, with a modern slatted wood floor, black field panelling to the dado then either pale grey paint, but in the main, black Baroque wallpaper with a metallic graphite Edwardian pattern then a white ceiling, with weird Tom Dixon-style light fittings; the bar is new, the bar back being black with a large plate glass mirror. There’s an isolated World of Pine table to the front, but then furniture is modern restaurant-style with tubular chrome legs; the structural columns have been wrapped with black rope. Décor takes the form of a few prints of the area from yesteryear – when it was less depressing – some potted flowers and Guinness bunting. There were few customers, an older bunch at the time of my Wednesday 9.00pm visit. There are now no pumps, a half of Neck Oil at £3.20, served by a mildly suspicious young barmaid. This place is a waste of space, but having visited Finchley before, I know that the only place worth visiting preceded by the F-word is the Windsor Castle.

Facebook page of Malt & Hops - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Malt & Hops - www.facebook.com

Official site of Malt & Hops - maltandhopslondon.co.uk

Official site of Malt & Hops - maltandhopslondon.co.uk