The Woodman, Highgate, N6

This is a very large and imposing pub, occupying a corner site at the junction of Archway Rd and Muswell Hill Rd. Inside I found it a bit too cavernous and characterless, with its battleship grey painted bar counter frontage, and what looked like modern replacement bare boards. Furnishings were normal tables and chairs, which is a plus point. I thought that the magenta painted walls, and magenta coloured 3 foot cylindrical lampshades over the bar counter looked a bit incongruous. As you would expect, they were playing some banal pop music, and although I didn’t spot any fruit machines or TV screens, they might have been tucked away somewhere. There were five handpumps on the bar; Caledonian Scottie Dog, OSH, and Deuchars IPA were available, with the other two pumps having reversed clips. The food is essentially pub grub, but it’s not particularly cheap – e.g. large steak and mushroom pie, mash, and onion gravy is £9.25. This looks to me as if it is a pub that wants to move upmarket, having introduced table service and food prices to match, but doesn’t have the type of establishment, or I suspect the clientele to pull it off. But it’s not a bad pub. It’s certainly not one to be avoided, but based on my one brief visit, I would say don’t expect anything special here.

Randomness Guide to London - Woodman entry

Randomness Guide to London - Woodman entry

Official site of the Woodman, contains menu and beer details - www.the-woodman.com

Official site of the Woodman, contains menu and beer details - www.the-woodman.com