The Snooty Fox, N5

Gastro style pub but still retains a pubby feel,pretty rammed on my Saturday evening visit and it was a bit of an effort to make your way to the bar through the cluttered tables and chairs,My pint of Cloudwater Pale was excellent. I liked this pub and will include it next time Im in the area, hopefully at a quieter time so to appreciate it a little better.

Located on a corner, close to Canonbury station, with an understated curved façade. However, the same cannot be said about the jumbled gastro-pub interior, with its closely-spaced plain furniture, b&w photos and other memorabilia. Benefits from large windows during daylight hours, but dimly lit later on. Nice, relaxed atmosphere. Four of five handpumps in operation this time, including Time and Tide Smugglers Stout (£4.10). Local Camra award winner, and you can see why.

This pub has something of a retro feel to it. There’s an old juke box here, alongside a DJ booth decorated with old vinyl 45s; one wall has old black and white photos of mainly 60s female icons – we spotted Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Marianne Faithfull, Dusty Springfield, Christine Keeler, plus several others there. Beneath this montage there are some prints of Ronnie Wood’s paintings of the The Stones. And they put on a Stones album – perhaps my chum and I looked like the types who would enjoy it. Like just about everywhere in this part of North London it was bare-boarded, had solid wood tables and chairs, including several school dining room style long tables and benches. This is the 2014 CAMRA North London pub of the year, so obviously real ale is important here. There were four ales on – Castle Rock Harvest Pale; Redemption Trinity; Otter Ale; and Blakemere Jewel as the guest ale. A CAMRA discount is available, but only on the sole guest ale. Pints of the Otter Ale and Harvest Pale came to £7.80, so an average of £3.90 a pint, which is the going rate for this part of the world. There’s an open to view kitchen, and rotisserie food seems to be the order of the day. A full rack of ribs is £15, and we also saw advertised the “Snooty Roast” on Sunday. Despite the somewhat Spartan furnishings, I rather liked this pub. It had a nice feel to it, and I would be happy to pay a return visit.

Official site of the Snooty Fox with event details - www.snootyfoxlondon.co.uk