Stapleton Tavern, N4

Still an Antic pub - at least at the time of my visit. This place was actually much busier than the Old Dairy opposite. Exactly my idea of a crawl, a number of decent pubs, not visited previously within reasonable walking distance, no public transport, no Ubers needed! The venue is well described below and almost all still holds. Moving from an S-shaped venue with lots of nooks and crannies to a simple C-shaped pubs messes less with my head so I can leave just the beer to mess with my head. The bar occupies the “straight” part of the C (or at least a C if you are at the opposite end to the entrance on Crouch Hill) otherwise C in a mirror! The bar counter was the most popular part with quite a few of the tall stools occupied by punters either chatting or reading whilst enjoying their pints. Tables and chairs occupy the rest of the venue at nicely discrete separation, some occupied by games being played. Sat facing the front on the opposite wall to the bar I had stereo (on vision) large screens showing the Olympics absent sound with a discrete music soundtrack of classy quality. The room at the bottom of the C was more sparsely occupied but the wall had some interesting adornments in a sun-divided square formation. A quiz was advertised for later this evening. The front part (or top part of the C) housed a table football and dart board that were shunned on my visit. There were four cask beers on offer, the Volden Session, Tribute, Rosie’s Pig and my choice of a very well kept Oakham Citra. Two sets of identical six tap contraptions offered Guinness, Neck Oil, Staro, Estrella, Amstel and the GK keg IPA Level Head. I thought this was a really decent venue. Don’t know what the Antic administration will mean for the place but based on a decent number of punters inside on a blazing July early evening and a really good offering I think this place will continue to flourish. Whilst I enjoyed my experience of the Old Dairy opposite thought this was an all round cooler venue and one the foothills of a decent cask offering.

This place dates from the 1760s but has clearly been rebuilt and for the Wenlock Brewery, apparently. A big opened out C-shape, the pub is apparently owned by Antic, but with none of their trademark touches. There’s a modern pale wood floor and there’s some lacquered wood with a dark brown Anaglypta ceiling, along with some columns with Corinthian capitals; an unused table football machine sat alone in the corner. The large rear room looks more interesting, with what appears to be a lofty lantern, so perhaps this was once the dining or snooker room, with two fireplaces, unused but otherwise grey and field panelled with what appear to be coats of arms on the walls to give it a baronial feel. Otherwise, there’s very little in the way of décor apart from a few framed prints. Lighting is limited, with clear glass hanging lamps of varying shapes over the bar, then traditional sconces. There are blue fairy lights behind the bar and with tea lights in red glass holders to tables, it’s all a bit Hertzsprung–Russell. This meant that all the TVs showing the football were unpleasantly bright. Furniture is utterly conventional and gentle mood music played. The barman was ok, presiding over one unused clip, one reversed, then Tribute and XXXXXX at £2.25 a half and fine. On a Wednesday night when all other pubs were doing a good trade, this big place was virtually empty mid-evening. I had thought that this was going to be some sort of rather swish gastropub, but it reminds me of a student union bar; a bit dispiriting really.

The Stapleton Tavern is a corner pub that is opposite the Old Dairy pub. Once inside there is a large single room which runs to the rear,the bar is on the left side,there are normal tables and chairs and settees to the front and normal tables and chairs elsewhere,the rear area opens out and is wider than the front area. There were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Oakham Inferno which went down well,the other beer was GK IPA. There was decent background music playing. The pub was empty on my late Thursday afternoon visit. Pub visited 4/8/2016

Located on a street corner close to Crouch Hill station, this is a large pub run by Antic on lease from Greene King, hence the underwhelming (by Antic standards) beer range. The place has been given the full Antic makeover, with perhaps some of the more 'out there' décor that this chain has managed to put together. The front room sees a sizeable seating area narrow further back as the servery appears down the left hand side. The front section has a mix of tub chairs, button backed sofas and loads of low stools under pastel shaded walls with some low wood panelling under the windows. There are lots of small framed pictures on show, display shelves full of ceramics and tankards, table football, pinball and retro arcade machines. The bar has a simple counter with a mixture of light fittings above and some standard and low stool seating under modern wallpaper in the space opposite. To the rear is a very large room which was a little darker than the main bar and seemed to be set up more for diners thanks to lots of standard tables and chairs throughout. The centrepiece of the room is an enormous chandelier which gives the room its name. There is an open kitchen back here and a skylight, with lots more interesting bits doted around the walls. Apparently the room is used for movie nights, but there was just some quiet music playing on this visit. The ale range was a little mainstream, presumably the result of the Greene King tie, with options consisting of Greene King IPA, Morland Old Speckled Hen, Skinners Betty Stogs and Sambrooks Wandle. The Betty Stogs cost £4.20 for a pint and was in reasonably good shape. This is a nice pub to spend some time in, with a number of interesting features on show and some unorthodox décor and entertainment options to peruse. It's a shame that the ale range couldn't quite match up to that, but I suppose there is always the prospect of some decent guest ales, which makes this place worth stopping off in whenever you're in the area.