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Submitted on Thursday, 16^th May 2024
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The Wonder, Enfield

1 Batley Road
Enfield
EN2 0JG

Phone: 02083630202

Correct details

Served areas

Enfield Town, Enfield Chase

Reviews of The Wonder (Average Rating: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Pub SignMan left this review about The Wonder

Hidden away in the backstreets near Gordon Hill station, this is a smart, two bar McMullens pub. The large public bar at the front of the building has linoleum flooring and tongue and groove wood panelled walls with the lower sections painted in a green/blue shade and the uppers either left plain or painted in garish bright colours. Pews, banquettes and chairs line the front walls with a few low stools in support and one high table with bar stools next to the servery. The bar counter has the same panelling as the rest of room, with a tidy canopy entwined with plastic leaves and fairy lights, whilst the bar back is a simple mirrored unit with a neon sign reading 'Where the magic happens'. A couple of nice McMullens etched glass windows can be seen to the front and right, with each pane bearing a different beer's name. A few promotional blackboards dot the walls along with some old photos, an ancient typewriter nailed to the end wall, an unused TV screen and a lovely old pub sign. A corridor leads through an orange passageway lined with local photos and McMullens adverts, into a much smaller lounge bar at the rear. This space has parquet flooring, comfy seating around the perimeter and its own servery. It has been decorated in a similar fashion to the front room, but maybe to a slightly higher spec, as befitting a proper lounge bar. There's a decent sized garden space with plenty of seating and cover out the back and for some reason, party tunes were playing quite loudly to one lone customer when I arrived at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon.
Just the two McMullens brews on the bar - AK and Country - with the latter in pretty good condition. A modest craft keg selection included two from Rivertown, which I believe is McMullens' offshoot craft brewery, and one from Beavertown. The barmaid was polite enough but customer numbers never made it above two for the duration of my stay.
This is a nice enough pub with a well-kept interior that was reflected in the care taken with their beer. I liked the two bar layout, smart furnishings and community feel of the place, but the beer isn't the most exciting and it was a solitary experience drinking here on a Saturday afternoon, which didn't strike me as a good sign. A solid option in this part of town, but not one to make a specific trip out for.

Date of visit - 5th October 2024

On 2^nd January 2025 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]

Quinno _ left this review about The Wonder

Might as well get the GBG tick done since the Timbo challenge sent me up this way. I wouldn't say that the name matches up to reality in this two-roomed McMullen pub, which has been refurbished in a somewhat bright and ambitious manner. The right-side room is a quasi-public bar with bar blockers, whilst the left is more loungey and relaxing space with some friendly and knowledgeable locals in attendance. The orange and blue decor with light wood isn't going to suit everyone and I wonder what I would have seen a couple of years previously – judging by the reviews below, maybe something better? Three of their cask on. I’d never had their mild before so plumped for it and it was in great shape (NBSS 4). Credit to the barmaid who came back to top me up without prompting. It grew on me as time passed, though I can’t help wishing I’d seen it pre-refurb; it retains a CAMRA * Heritage rating, anyway.

On 11^th June 2024 - rating: 7
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Steve of N21 left this review about The Wonder

Blessed with a fine sunny Easter Sunday what better way to spend it than a walk along the New River Navigation, taking in some fine hostelries with outside drinking areas. Starting at our home base of N21 the plan was to follow the river course north with a first stop at the Little Green Dragon and it’s pavement benches ( still Enfield and Barnets only micropub), then on, circumventing Enfield Town Park to the Old Wheatsheaf ( to see what Big Smoke are up to ), and then carry on north, swerving the Crown and Horseshoes ( no point giving Green King the opportunity to ruin your day, irrespective of what a great beer garden this pub may have), to finish for our first post Covid Pandemic visit to The Wonder.
A couple of changes at the Wonder. Firstly externally the former concrete car park at the back of the pub is now a pleasant fenced outside drinking area which was originally done I guess as a result of the outside only Covid drinking rules. Plenty of multicoloured bench seating and one third of the space is covered with a large white marquee to provide undercover seating. And then internally, although still the two bar public and saloon bar set up connected by the internal corridor via the toilets, the whole place has had a makeover and it is now much smarter inside. And without wanting to incur anyones wrath, with the subtle light blue and grey tones used in the pub and the more shocking pink and mauve colours for the outside benches, I think there’s a woman’s touch at work here. But it’s obviously working because there were customers who clearly had not reached retirement age.
On the ale front two of the ale pumps were in operation with McMullens AK and Country in the smaller saloon bar section and then it was IPA and AK again in the larger former Public bar.
So it may not be the time warp pub it was pre covid, but at least it has avoided the footballers wives makeover that the McMullens interior design team has inflicted on others of their estate in Enfield. And as mentioned, given the evidence that there were customers, both inside and out, that clearly had not yet reached pensionable status, it seems to be appealing to a wider demographic. And why not, this is very much still a well run back street community local pub.

On 13^th April 2023 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2236 recommendations about 2098 pubs]

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