The Scolt Head, N1

GKIPA, Crouch Vale Brewer’s Gold, and Truman’s Runner (£1.70 a half) were available here. One-sheet menus were on the tables when I visited on Wednesday afternoon, but the food wasn’t cheap, with possibly the best bet being the cheeseburger and chips at £10.50. It’s fairly large inside, with a basic bar area as you enter through the main doors, furnished with a few plain wooden tables and chairs plus a couple of sofas. Another room on the right has all tables laid for diners, and a third room is reached through some doors on the left. I didn’t bother to investigate this room as there looked to be some kind of meeting going on around one of the large tables. I plonked myself in the main bar, as near as I could get to the very welcome coal fire on the go in the large fireplace. Things of note in here were the old green-banded Charrington windows, the old wooden bar back, and rather bizarrely the two large Cyborg-esque banks of oil meters standing sentry duty on either side of the doors. The furnishings seem to be for functionality rather than comfort, but it’s generally comfortable enough. Despite the dining area on the right, the bar area at the front was quite pubby and it felt right just having a drink in here. The Runner I had was in good nick, and they had made a real effort to make the place warm and welcoming on a cold, wet and blustery day. This is probably one of the better pubs in the area.

This place was by far the busiest pub on my crawl of the area on Thursday night last week and the railed in triangular seating area at the front of the pub was heaving. I managed to fight my way through the crowds to gain access to the busy bar area where I was confronted with a large selection of premium draught products and three ales in the form of Trumans Runner, Greene King IPA and Crouch Vale Brewers Gold. I decided to have a pint of trusty Guinness which was well served by a very busy, but friendly barman. The food served in here is of the gastro type and there is a space to the right of the bar that was being used as a dining area. During the week the kitchen is open from midday until 3pm and 18:30 until 22:00 and on Saturdays from midday until 16:30 and 18:30 until 22:00 and from midday until 16:30 and 18:30 until 21:00 on Sundays. I didn’t take up the chance to eat during my visit, but I did see a few plates going out and the food did look very good. At the rear of the pub there is a third section that has a pool table, jukebox and projector screen for showing football on Sky Sports. This area was also very busy so I only popped my head in for a quick look before finishing my beer under the jumbrella outside the front of the pub. Although the twenty-something Islington set aren’t really my choice drinking companions I did enjoy it in here and would recommend it to others.