The Gipsy Queen, NW5

My brief visit here last Saturday evening didn’t get off to the best of starts as I had forgotten to remove my invisibility cloak from the previous night’s escapades in Middle Earth meaning that the group of seven smokers in the doorway couldn’t see my approach. After realising my mistake I let it be known that I was in fact trying to get into the pub and wasn’t standing in the street staring gormlessly at their skin illustrations. One of the kind gentlemen took pity on my plight and begrudging moved slightly to the left so as to let me edge past as if shimmying along the ledge of obtuseness. When I finally made it through the door I found myself in a local estate pub complete with Phil Collins on the jukebox and a karaoke machine in the process of being rigged up in the corner. I was going to turn on my heels, but I’m glad that I didn’t as the gentleman behind the bar was very polite and served a decent pint of Guinness. The locals inside the pub also seemed a little friendlier than their comrades outside and after a quick eyeball I was left to sup my pint in peace. It came as no surprise that there was no real ale amongst the ubiquitous standard draught products and as expected there were a few Sky Sports advertisements dotted around the pub giving kick-off times for the football which is shown on the large plasma screen. There is also a well used dartboard up on the wall and a pool table that was out of use due to the impending Karaoke night. The back half of this U-shaped pub was empty with little lighting and I got the feeling that it is seldom used, but I could be way off the mark. To be honest, I found this pub a little depressing and I think that there are far better pubs in the area so I cannot see myself returning.