The Old Dairy, Crouch Hill, N4

There were several ales on here - Windsor & Eton Guzzler, Sharp's Cornish Coaster, Darkstar Darkness, Growler Brewery Gladness, and Stroud Green Hobbler, the latter presumably being a house ale. This place brands itself as a pub and dining room, so obviously food’s a big player here. Main course are in the £11 - £18.50 range, from “Cumberland sausages, champ (? – I’d prefer mashed potatoes), onion gravy” to “Longhorn rib steak on the bone, etc, etc”. This is an enormous rambling affair, sited in an old dairy as the name suggests, and I guess dairies were big places. It’s reminiscent of a large US steakhouse restaurant. At the front on the main road is an area where it appeared that all tables were reserved for diners; to the left is an area containing the bar counter and which is the area to be used by drinkers, containing a few normal tables and chairs, sofas, and some small tables with small round stools. This in turn leads to a further area guarded by the “wait to be seated” sign and with the open to view kitchen at the back. Obviously I spent my visit in the bar area – this area has exposed brick walls with some old black and white photos on them. The loud rock music was an unnecessary addition in my view. This place has all the charm and character of a chain restaurant in Downtown Chicago. Fine if you like those sort of places where mass occupancy is sought after, but it’s not really my cup of tea. But you can't fault the ale selection.

Randomness Guide to London - Old Dairy entry

Randomness Guide to London - Old Dairy entry

Approaching this place I thought that it was going to be one of those small pretentious corner pubs, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a huge sprawling pub with lots of different rooms and a friendly university crowd enjoying a Saturday afternoon beer. It is a gastro pub complete with large restaurant area and some reserved tables, but there are a couple of plasma screens in the bar area which show Sky Sports and I spotted piles of scotch eggs, sausage rolls and pasties sitting behind the bar – although they were very expensive. I also spotted some advertisements for the quiz night every Tuesday, but I’ll probably avoid the parent and baby club from midday until 5pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Cornish Coaster, Ubu and SA Gold were the three ale options and there was also a good selection of premium lagers and standard products from which I enjoyed a decent pint of Guinness served by a friendly barmaid. I’m not a big fan of the gastro experience, but I thought that this place was very good and I would gladly return.