The Twelve Pins, Finsbury Park, N4

A large Victorian pub with a very high ceiling and plenty of supporting columns,the interior is largely open plan apart from a snug to one side of the bar behind some wood dividers on the way to the function room.The bar is three sided and has a good looking wooden bar back while opposite is a small stage.There is a large drop down screen for Sky Sports with another flatscreen above the entrance to the loos,while two further screens were covering At the Races and an Irish hurling match.The furniture was traditional if a little worn and there is an Irish theme with gaelic bits and bobs.Like most of Ireland,keg is king here and there is no real ale.The only interesting keg option was Meantime's Yakima Red but served too cold and fizzy .Food was popular from a pub grub menu with most mains around £8,with a selection of daily specials pitched at the same price point.There is a darts board and an array of fruit machines below the drop down screen and outside there is a sectioned off area with pic nic benches for a tab. Sport orientated keg only boozer but popular none the less,with a bit of character.

Typical North London Irish / sports pub, so no real ale available of course (and thus had to resort to Worthington Smoothflow, £3.30). Notably high ceiling and some columns hinting at the original layout. Pretty basic overall, but they are obviously making a bit of an effort to promote food and wine offers.

This is another "Irish" pub, right by Finsbury Park Station. I didn't hear any Irish accents while I was in here on Tuesday afternoon, but there was Gaelic writing all over the place - one helpfully translating The Twelve Pins into "Na Beanna Beola" - and several Guinness adverts. There was also a superb Guinness brewery mirror set into the impressive bar back. The bar back cum stillion deserves a mention as it is a three-sided carved solid wood affair in the style of the late 19th Century pub fitters, although I understand that it is actually late 20th Century workmanship. Nonetheless, it's an impressive centrepiece to the pub. The main pub area is completely opened up now, although a few remnants of screening remain, although these are also likely to be more modern eplacements. The room has a very high ceiling, which you tend only to see in these old Victorian pubs. The floor's bare-boarded, which, combined with the high ceiling, will undoubtedly make the room noisy when it becomes moderately busy. Furnishings are mainly banquettes, normal tables and chairs although I did spot a couple of barrels masquerading as tables, with accompanying tall stools. In addition, there's a small stage at the front of the room - I'm not sure what it's used for, but at the back of it there were adverts for forthcoming football matches being screened. There's a function room to the side of the main room, but I didn't venture there. There's no real ale unfortnately, but masses of taps dispensing all manner of keg products, the best being Tetley Bitter at £1.60 a half. The menu looked reasonable, with sandwiches around the £4 - £5 mark, and main course, including several pub grub classics, at around £7. This is not a bad pub at all, but the absence of a real ale is a big negative factor for me. But if you're not fussed about that then this place is a handy stopping off point if travelling from Finsbury Park.

Official site of The Twelve Pins - www.twelvepinspub.co.uk

Official site of The Twelve Pins - www.twelvepinspub.co.uk

Large Irish pub. Standard draught selection and food served. Big screen for sports. Some original fittings have been retained.