The Fox, Palmers Green, N13

Official site of The Fox - whelanspubs.co.uk

Official site of The Fox - whelanspubs.co.uk

After a very lengthy spell of closure this is another one that has come back from the dead. The original pub was on a very big plot when considering the function room at the back and the large car park beyond this. It was sold off to a developer who has now built a large block of flats on the site. However a key stipulation of the planning permission was that the original Victorian pub frontage was retained and that the ground floor was renovated as a bar. To the surprise of most locals (including me), this was actually done, and the front of the building is now looking resplendent, and we have the Fox pub back, albeit as a ground floor bar. Internally it’s a couple of separate but connected areas around the main bar and everything’s squeaky clean at the moment with a wooden floor by the bar room and a tiled section to the other side, half wood panelled walls throughout and mostly wooden tables and chairs, although there are some leather benches in the window bay areas. There are a few screens for the sport and unfortunately both the far walls of each section are dominated by huge flat screens built into the walls, so difficult to get away from the football if you are not interested in it when these are on. They were not for my visit and the tiled section was quite a pleasant spot for a lunchtime pint. And in this respect I was pleasantly surprised to find that as well as the modern craft beer dispensers providing Brixton Pale Ale alongside the usual Beavertown and Camden brews the bar has two ale handpumps and during the initial week of opening these were Fullers London Pride and Woodforde’s Wherry and the Wherry was in good nick. I’m not sure how long these will stay, because the old Fox pub attracted a firmly Lager crowd and was Keg only. But with the Wetherspoons down the road earmarked for closure maybe there will be enough demand to keep these in situ. At the moment it is a very much better experience than the Old Fox pub, and long may it remain so.