The King Of Prussia, Finchley Central, N3

Tris C left this review about The King Of Prussia

Ordinarily I wouldn’t visit some modern shop conversion, even if it does have a traditional pub name, but I made an exception here because this is a modern replacement for a pub which incredibly, has been here since at least the start of the 18th century, a Bass pub by the end of the 19th, this incarnation being built into the ground floor of Winston House, probably in the ‘60s.
Obviously there’s nothing here dating back 300 years, with a modern boarded or new flagstone floor, de rigeur tubular steel bar back in front of a shade of paint roughly approximating to #007BA7, white tiling then some bare brick or planking, rough concrete ceiling with exposed suspended ceiling fixtures and electrical trunking – foliage dangling from it – then pot plants in racks and finally, trendy prints; there’s also a jukebox and shuffleboard. Furniture is modern and a multitude of styles with some zoning going down. Unlike neighbouring hostelries, the place was very well attended at the time of my Thursday 10.00pm visit, clearly attracting the area’s professional types and possibly some Becs given the day, though perhaps not, given the warm pork scratching dispenser, unlikely to find favour in such a Jewish area.
With many crafty pump clips displayed behind the bar and 16 keg taps, there was an unused pump, one for real cider, then Five Points Best and Landlord, £2.90 a half and not bad.
This isn’t my type of place, but oddly it’s easily the best ‘pub’ along Finchley Road’s/Ballards Lane’s depressing six-mile length.

On 29^th July 2024 - rating: 5
[User has posted 2208 recommendations about 2165 pubs]