The Joiners, Finchley Central, N3

Refurbished in 2013 and disarmed around 2019, this place dates from at least the late 19th century, though there appears to be an interwar years’ brewers’ Tudor structure behind the modern front extension, where a ‘secret’ garden is advertised; so not so secret then. This place is now under the stewardship of Crafted Social, which sounds like a mashup of other pubco names. The interior has been horribly modernised: bare brick bar back with distressed field panelled front, modern boarded floor, raised carpeted area, pea soup and white colour scheme, columns clad with shiny white tiles, laminated menus to tables, mixed modern furniture with some tubular steel high stools sporting very tatty vinyl upholstery, multiple TVs showing silent unwatched sport, blindingly bright light from modern fittings with filament bulbs and virtually no customers at the time of my Thursday 9.35pm visit. The only cask option was Doom, dodged in favour of Neck Oil, £3.50 a half, the barman’s mien forgotten. Finchley Road/Ballards Lane is a hotbed of bad pubs. Is this the worst? Not sure.

Facebook page of The Joiners - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Joiners - www.crafted-social.co.uk

Facebook page of The Joiners - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Joiners - www.crafted-social.co.uk

This is another Stonegate pub in North Finchley, with the ales on heavily weighted towards the usual suspects, with London pride, Doom Bar, GK IPA, Adnam's Southwold Bitter and Ghost Ship on. My half of Ghost Ship cost £1.95 a half, but was in poor condition. There's a typical pubco pub grub menu available here - the classic burger with fries and the usual stuff is £7.50. There's nothing remotely traditional about this place. There are modern white tiles on all the pillars; on one wall is a depiction of the brewing process (I have to admit that the novelty is wearing off); there's a (locked) ginventory cabinet; and bright neon lights behind the servery. There are awful puns written on the pillars, such as "beer cures what ales you", "keep your gin up", "Father forgive me for I have ginned", and "in gin we trust". The main bar area is unremarkable and nondescript. At the back is a room that can be separated from the main bar area to some extent, and was being used for a private function when I was in. That leads out to a garden at the back, and there's also some outside seating at the front. This is an ordinary pubco high street pub. It's useful for providing fairly cheap food and drink, but not somewhere I would choose to spend any length of time.