Prince of Wales, Highgate, N6

Official site of Prince of Wales - www.princeofwaleshighgate.co.uk

Official site of Prince of Wales - www.princeofwaleshighgate.co.uk

Reacquainted myself with this traditional ale house and pleased to find it virtually unchanged from my memories and PSM’s review from 2014 still holds good. The only slight complaint I had was that the available ale choice was a bit pedestrian with London Pride, Doombar, something called Prince of Wales Pale Ale (brewed in Burton so presumably a Marstons stable) and St Austells Tribute but fortunately the latter was drinking very well. No sweary blokes in for my recent visit, just polite conversation amongst the assembled punters enjoying a beer so happy to be able to give the pub itself the rating it deserves.

A small traditional pub , more than adequately described by Pub SignMan in 2013,I remember this as being the best pub on a previous crawl a good number of years ago, so I had High expectations, the pub itself is fine but I felt much disappointment with the beer range,of the four pumps three were from Cottage Brewery, not a favorite, and the remaining pump offered Adnams Southwold Bitter. I went for the previously untried Cottage E Type, which was predictably unremarkable. This is what I would call a proper pub, but the beer choice was decidedly improper in my opinion.

This is a classic traditional ale house with a prominent location in the heart of Highgate. The pub has dark wooden flooring and wall panels with a compact servery opposite the front door. The layout is essentially a single U shaped room, although the right hand side is sufficiently demarcated to be viewed as a separate room. Padded bench and pew seating runs around the perimeter, supplemented by a mix of standard chairs and low stools. An eclectic range of old photos, paintings and sketches line the walls, many relating directly or indirectly to the pub or the pub’s name. The left hand side is fairly compact and has a nice fireplace on the back wall with a stack of board games balanced alongside. The right hand side has a much more basic fireplace, whilst the ‘separate’ room further back has a great deal of cricket related items on display including some interesting old photos and a collection of bats. A door to the rear leads out, down some steps, to a small paved garden with attractive floral displays which overlooks the adjacent green. Music played quietly throughout my stay, audible over the quiet hum of conversation, whilst one of the barmen enjoyed a game of chess at the bar with a customer, in between pulling pints. Four hand pumps offered a reasonably unusual ale line-up consisting of Northumberland Main Seam and Summer Gold, Butcombe Bitter and Thwaites Original. I opted for a pint of the Summer Gold, served by a very friendly barmaid, which was really rather poor although I feel this was more an issue with the brewer than the conditioning. A fairly standard keg range included Symonds Cider. This place has a nice ambiance which made me happy to settle down over a pint – it’s just a shame that the pint was really unpleasant. I liked the understated feel of this place and would be keen to give it another try the next time I’m in the area.

Another warm friendly Highgate pub. Busy with eaters and a quiz on my Tuesday night visit. Small but four cask beers on from Salsbury, Cottage, Thwaites and Butcombe.

Date of visit - August 2013 In the middle of Highgate, on the High Street, is a smallish, traditional pub – The Prince of Wales. On the pavement outside, a sandwich board boasts that a “notorious pub quiz” is held on Tuesdays. The interior is quite dark and not overly large and features a low ceiling, dark boarded wood panelling, padded comfortable perimeter seating and a central servery, retaining its bar gantry. In one corner, a section of wall space is given over to the Highgate Taverners C C, a cricket team sponsored by the pub, with several team photographs, fixtures and results lists and framed cricket bats etc on display. There’s a couple of seats in a small rather cramped area outside at the back, but you’re not allowed to take drinks beyond the gate and over the road on to the impressive Pond Square opposite. There’s something of a proper pub feel to the place and the new edition of CAMRA’s London Pub Walks book ( a “must buy” book, incidentally ) describes the pub as “certainly the most unspoilt pub in the village” They offer a Thai food menu – unfortunately, in a smallish single room pub like this, the aroma can dominate, as it certainly did on my recent late lunchtime visit, even though there were only one group of four eating. The pub is listed in the 2013 CAMRA Good Beer Guide and, pleasingly, this fact together with the London Pub Walks poster, are prominently displayed. There’s 4 pumps which, on my visit, were offering Butcombe Bitter ( a regular fixture apparently ) and, notably, three other beers all from Cottage Brewery. The Butcombe Bitter - £ 3.70p – was pretty good. A noticeboard by the bar lists future beers. Despite the dominant aroma of Thai food and, on my visit, a welcome from the barman that might, diplomatically, be described as muted -even by London pub standards – I’d probably call in again if passing.