The Northcote Arms, E10

There were four ales on in here - the ELB pair of Cowcatcher and Foundation, plus Five Points XPA and Signature Brew Roadie. I had the Foundation which was in great shape, and my companions had other ales about which they raised no complaints. The 15% CAMRA discount brought the price of a pint down to less than £3.50, which is good going for London. I saw a menu advertising something called "Burger Bills", and at £3 or so for a burger I would hazard a guess that they may be more like sliders than burgers at that price, but we didn't partake so can't say for sure. The interior still contains many original features, although quite a few changes have been made since its days of Victorian glory. The old public bar is on the left, has modern replacement boards, and with an original screen separating it from the old saloon bar on the right. This screen is mainly matchboard panelled, has a doorway (but no door now) with three glazed panels above featuring the Victorian favourite of small birds at their centre. There is also a delightful small baffle on the bar counter side of the screen with four small glazed panels featuring floral designs and a small bird. Original stained glass panels survive in the upper protions of many of the outer windows; these have mainly floral-themed small panels, again with small birds in the central roundels. The bar counter also looks to be original, but like almost everything else in here is painted either light grey or lavender. There is a further room at the back on the right, reached via the saloon bar through a large wood-framed archway. This in turn leads to another small room that seems to be used as a children's play area - it was in noisy use during our visit and I would speculate is an area best avoided. We liked this pub a lot. Good real ale at very competetive prices (especially if a CAMRA member) goes a long way to making this a destination pub. I'm not surprised it's in the GBG. I'm sure to visit here again sometime.