Bonzai, NW1

Definitely an odd location for what this place seems to be aiming for, set in a small parade of shops in the midst of the Regent's Park council housing estates. Formed from two rectangular rooms set at a right angle; the bar extending back from the entrance and a dining room along the rest of the frontage. Mix of furniture, with some industrial-style high tables in both parts and more traditional banquettes and small tables further back. Rather sparsely decorated, which gives a somewhat uninviting feel. Gastro-pub menu on clipboards. Only one of three handpumps in operation, and with the 'house' (Greene King) beer temporarily off the seasonal Truman's Blindside (£3.50) turned out to be a bit of a bonus. Also has up to 12 craft keg beers.

Having got rather lost wandering through the estate behind this pub, I was intrigued to see a sign for a craft beer bar tacked onto the back of this building and walked round to investigate. This place was previously a typical estate pub called The Sovereign, but has now gone for a multi-purpose use as a cafe and craft beer bar, neither of which seems particularly representative of the estate it serves. The cafe is in the left hand side of this large building and has a good deal of seating focused around a servery offering tasty looking cakes and other such treats. The pub is in the right hand portion of the building, formed by a single rectangular room with the servery down the left hand wall. Some very comfy wide U-shaped banquettes run along the opposite wall, with limited additional seating options to the front and rear. There were a few TV screens showing test match cricket and I noticed a small collection of board games on the back of one of the banquettes. The decor included a few interesting prints and local photos and looked rather clean and perhaps a bit too clinical overall, feeling like a very recent refurbishment had just taken place. A door to the rear leads out to an unexpectedly attractive patio garden with a nice sheltered space for smokers and a good amount of garden furniture. The craft beer offerings were a bit hit and miss, with genuine microbrewery keg offerings from the likes of Orbit, Brew By Numbers and Little Creatures alongside household names like Budvar and Aspalls Cider. There was one cask ale on handpull - a house beer called something like White Mustache Ale - which I decided to risk. It was a pretty uninspiring drink that turned out to be a rebadged Greene King brew. The barmaid was very friendly and welcoming but there were only two or three other customers in on a Saturday afternoon, which makes you wonder who exactly is going to drink all that beer. I thought this place was trying to do the right thing in the wrong location, as they have created a promising venture that is so far off the beaten track as to be totally reliant on local trade. It is a nice compromise between a proper pub and a craft beer bar, but lacks the character and characters needed to encourage repeat visits.

At some point the left hand side of the Sovereign has been turned into a café and a table has been placed to block the adjoining door. The food on the menu board echoed the food served in the café part so I imagine this is a joint business venture of sorts. It was probably a good idea as the café side was far busier than the pub side as there were only three or four locals watching horse racing on the screens that are found throughout. The bar is located along the left hand wall of this rectangular room and the two hand pumps looked as though they hadn’t been used for many years. At the rear towards the toilets there is a pool table and a dartboard. There is also an exit to an enclosed raised patio area that houses some picnic tables. The local estate crowd all looked to be happy enough in the surroundings, but I was glad to move on to a more interesting environment.