The Camden Eye, Camden Town, NW1

Just over from the World's End lies what, from the exterior, looks like quite a large pub. Inside it's actually rather smaller than the outside might suggest. I noticed the Cask Marque sign on the way in and thought that maybe I was onto a good thing as I saw three ales (Deuchars IPA, Bombardier and Batemans – all sparklerised). I had a half of both the Batemans and Deuchars. Sadly they were both in very poor condition and at £3.30 a pint pretty pitiful. My annoyance was exacerbated by the ludicrously misleading signage to the bogs which points to a locked door. Ha ha ha, oh how I laughed. Don't bother - give it a couple of minutes slipper and you can be in at least three places a lot better than this one. If you have to find somewhere near the tube to wait for your fellow gig-goers, try the Spread Eagle instead.

In its previous life as the Halfway House, this was one of Camdens biggest dives, a pub of little merit but bags of potential, inhabited by dropouts and zombie like weirdos. The building was originally a prison and you could sense it! After a brief closure it reopened as the Camden Eye and is now a far better proposition on all fronts. The pub is well positioned, wedged into a road junction in the middle of Camden and is handy for the market, the High Street and the numerous local music venues. The interior can best be described as compact, a small single room bar with a tiny stage at one side and barely enough room for half a dozen small tables. A window seat almost comes with a guarantee for some interesting people watching as the punks, crustys and Goths come pouring out of the tube station or the World’s End pub opposite. The general ambience is more that of a contemporary bar than a pub but it does have a wide reaching appeal. There were 2 Real Ales (Bombardier and Deuchars on my last trip) and wines also seem to be a prominent feature. Some of the music borders on the obscure but it is quite an eclectic mix and there are also flat screen TV’s either side of the bar. There is also a lounge upstairs (the intriguingly named Kissing Lounge) but at the time of writing, I haven’t ventured this far. The pub does naturally get busy but I have never had a problem with service and whilst you wouldn’t want to spend a whole evening here, it does make a convenient meeting point.