Carlton Tavern, NW6

I paid my first visit to this rebuilt pub, following the dastardly deeds of a developer a few years ago in demolishing it without going through the accepted procedures. There were three ales on - Carlton Tavern Build Back Bitter, brewed by Anspach & Hobday (£5.30 a pint); Five Poinys XPA and Railway Porter. My pint of Build Back Bitter was in good nick, although served in a dimpled jug with no choice offered. I thought that £5.30 was a tad expensive for a 3.7% house ale even by North London standards. I suppose an upmarket dimpled jug is seen to justify the price I guess. As it was lunchtime I had a cheese and ham hock toastie for £8, including fries which were a bit like thin and crispy chips. The fillings were good quality ham and cheese, but for some reason the outside had some buttery herby stuff on it which made it something of a greasy mess. Tasted good though. This pub is an amazingly good reconstruction of the original. It could have fooled me. I know they recovered some of the original fittings; the bar counter doesn't look like a modern piece of work, so maybe that was one of the things saved. It's dog friendly - I saw a well behaved mutt with a bowl of water, and there were free doggie treats on the counter although a charitable donation is suggested. I saw live music advertised on alternate Fridays; a quiz on Tuesdays; comedy night on Monday; and Wednesday is wing Wednesday which I can only assume means that they flog chicken wings rather than having on Sir Paul's tribute band. The beer was in excellent condition, if a tad on the expensive side. I would recommend this pub.

A very good review from Tris C is comprehensive.The exterior is terrific while the two internal rooms are more functional ,although the left side has good cornicing.Each room has a seperate servery ,each with two handpumps but I didn't spot an ale listing board so had to inspect both sets to discover a range of Portobello Westway Pale,Ansbach & Hobday The Golden Bitter,Big Smoke Underground Stout (I would assume a stout is always served given the fine external frieze advertising such !) and Five Points XPA (Fine form,NBSS 4 ,£5.20).Even the 9 keg selection did include a smattering of leading craft brewer output. From the cobbled beer garden at the side,the Lucheon & Tea Room frieze is visible and this back room is indeed exclusively for diners.I didn't inspect the menu and the pub was very busy with a Tuesday evening quiz. Real care is taken here with ale and beer selection,conditioning and presentation.Great to see a vibrant local risen from the developers ashes.It's a must visit and one of the best ale pubs in the locality.

Official site of The Carlton Tavern - www.carltontavern.co.uk