The Marquee Moon, N16

This was a bit of a lucky dip visit, having arrived a little too early for a gig at the nearby Shacklewell Arms, but I’m not entirely convinced it was worth the detour. It’s an open plan pub on the main Stoke Newington Road with a very scuffed parquet floor and a long dark wood servery along the right hand wall. The bar is surprisingly characterless except for a fridge set in the centre of the bar back with the pub’s name above, topped off by a nice dark wood capital. A single row of small tables runs through the centre of the room whilst sofas have been arranged under the front windows and standard tables and chairs hug the left hand wall. Windows to the left are obscured by frosted panes with green Charrington’s-style banding. There is an old porch in the front left corner, now blocked up and looking a bit neglected – surely they can do something constructive with this space. Beyond the bar, the room is dominated by a pool table, but it’s worth a look back here for the nice tiled fireplace to the left and smart old dresser to the right. A high lincrusta ceiling painted in plain colours rounds out the decor and there were several TV screens around the room all turned off whilst a cheesy rock soundtrack, possibly courtesy of the pub jukebox, played away. You never really know what to expect on the beer-front with such lucky dip visits, but there were two beers on the go – Adnams Ghost Ship and St Austell Tribute – and a third recently gone off – Fullers London Pride. Ghost Ship is always a risky purchase, as so many places seem to keep it poorly, but I plumped for a pint regardless and wished I hadn’t, as it was lifeless and too warm (although the weather had been very hot in the run up to this visit). A pint set me back £4.60, so I wasn’t best pleased with the lack of conditioning. This seems like a very functional pub that serves a content bunch of locals and the occasional passing hipster, but didn’t really have a great deal to offer the casual visitor. It is certainly a lot better than many of the faux-trendy bars you can find in this part of town, but I can think of many other local pubs I would rather return to ahead of this one.

As described below. 2 real ales.

Long, rectangular bar with pool table and sports TVs. Basic furniture and decor. A few pavement tables out front. Now offers real ale from two handpumps: Deuchars IPA and Pride (£3.50). Dull.