The Woodman, Southgate, N13

After being closed for over a year, The Woodman finally reopened in early February and the renovation and remodelling is extensive. It is now a smart food led pub which you enter from the car park, not from the road that you used to You enter into the long central bar with the restaurant section to the left in the large back extension out to the garden and the more pubby lounge sections to the right in what was the original pub building and conservatory. Slightly surprised that they kept the thoughtless conservatory that was bolted on by Marston’s in a previous make over, but at least it has been tarted up and now feels that it is part of the pub. A month in and it is already building a solid reputation for the kitchen, but I was pleasantly surprised to see four hand pumps on the bar with the selection mentioned below and tried both the Portobello Star and the ELB Cowcatcher, both in good condition. Situated next to the main entrance to the popular Grovelands Park this has always been a pub that had a lot of potential, that was never realised under Marston’s. Hopefully the Heartwood Inns group will be able to be successful with it.

Visited 10/03/26 Cask here was Portobello Star British Bitter, East London Brewing Co Cowcatcher APA, TT LL and LPride. Keg options were Cornish Orchards cider, Camden Hells, Guinness, Neck Oil, Cruz, Peroni, Asahi, Lucky Saint. Newly re-opened venue and now part of the Heartwood Inns group. The venue is bare boarded throughout apart from a tile skirt around the bar counter which is on the right-hand wall in the middle of the multi room / multi seating area pub. Seating around the bar counter is via a leather banquette on the left-hand wall serving a couple of tall tables with tall stools the other side thereof. There is a single tall table with tall stools to its side. Beyond the bar counter is a seating area of several tables laid for diners served by a fabric banquette and regular chairs nicely upholstered. Further round is a larger dining area with quite a lot of densely packed regular tables and chairs. There are a few seating areas off the other side of the bar counter with regular tables served by benches, banquettes, and regular chairs, one of the seating areas is down a couple of steps and looking over the side of the pub, which is adequately served by parking spaces at the side and presumably rear. It is nicely done, background music, but predominately a destination for diners as is generally the case with this group. There is some outside seating at the front and left-hand side and then more materially via a rear beer garden.

Official site of The Woodman - woodmansouthgate.com