The Robin, Crouch Hill, N4

Modern corner bar in an area that I haven't been drinking in for almost 5 years. It was quite on our Monday evening visit and I got the feeling that they would have preferred to have served us at the table, had we not waltzed up to the bar. We were certainly pointed in the direction of QR codes on each table for a beer menu, but instead preferred to gaze at the pumpclips and keg fonts. The solitary real ale was Redemption Trinity, which we'd just had in the Lamb at Holloway, whilst a second handpull was clipped with Thistly Cross Whisky Cask cider. As with so many London pubs nowadays, craft beer seems much more popular. The range was Brick Peckham Pale & Redcurrant and Blackberry Sour, Deya Steady Rolling Man & Invoice Me The Microphone, Brew By Numbers/Boxcar #21 Pale Ale, Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout, Dig Brew Potion, Dig Brew/Exale Enter The Void & Siren Futurist. Once again, the keg cider was from Umbrella. Food from the kitchen smelt good, but the menu is limited to burgers at tidy prices.

I can see the three reviews here are all for different businesses in the same venue over time. I wouldn't be surprised if it was trading as something else, this time next year. This, despite its inclusion in the 2022 GBG. Its a crafty with a distressed look and hard bench seating. Nothing of interest in the decor, unless you like bare walls. Beer wise - a single cask stout and lots of interesting Keg. Usually, this lack of cask would get it marked down in the GBG - but it must be liked. Food - a kitchen outsourced for artisan burgers. Ambience - no other punters on a Saturday lunch time. Staff outnumbering me 3-1 and this excludes the burger men. Still employing covid rules - with waiting to be seated and ordering from a QR code. In a place with no punters. Wish them every success but you'd have to get me out of the faltering fullback at gunpoint if I was ever in the area again.

The interior of this "craftily" refurbished pub affects a distressed look with the wallpaper appearing to have been ripped off this morning. The exterior has a black base for artwork focussing on the pouring of a craft-keg ale. The bar, likewise, is predominantly craft offering a dozen or so well-chosen offerings from the likes of Buxton, Kernel & Deya. A 2/3 option contains the costs of these a little. It was good to not only see a cask ale but also that it was proving popular on a recent Friday afternoon. This was Buxton Porter with Turners Pear Cider also on the pumps. A simple food offering of the burger and fries variety is available too. For some reason, they were asking customers to wait to be seated, although it wasn't overly busy and I was hardly delayed on the way in. Table service was reasonable enough though, despite it being my first visit, I was already "mate". I'd rate the Brave Sir Robin pleasant enough for a brief pit-stop if you're in the vicinity.