The Red Lion & Sun, Highgate, N6

This is a Greene King house, so the typical range was on offer. I had the Morland’s Original, at £3.10 a pint, which was OK but had the distinctive GK taste. The pub is set back from the road by 20 yards or so, allowing space for some tables in front of the pub. Inside it has a typical layout – the bar counter is directly in front of you as you enter; there are a few tables and chairs in the immediate bar area; with the room opening up to the right and to the rear of the bar counter. This area on the right was occupied entirely by diners during my late lunchtime visit – indeed the pub was doing a brisk trade. Just about everywhere (walls, ceiling, bar counter frontage) was painted that light grey cum duck egg colour you see so frequently in pubs nowadays. But there were a couple of features worth mentioning – the fireplace on the left that had what looked like a tapestry coat of arms above it, and the fireplace on the right that was being used for the purpose for which it was built – i.e. a real log fire was on the go. Now that was a welcoming sight on a cold November day. This is not a bad pub, as long as you’re happy to drink GK ales, but I doubt whether I’ll be paying a return visit.

Randomness Guide to London - Red Lion And Sun entry

Randomness Guide to London - Red Lion And Sun entry

Official site of the Red Lion & Sun - www.theredlionandsun.com

Official site of the Red Lion & Sun - www.theredlionandsun.com

I went into The Red Lion and Sun early on a Friday evening a few weeks ago for the first time in over a year. Unsurprisingly it has been converted into a completely non-smoking establishment. I would imagine that any pub that has a refurb from now on will revert straight to a no smoking policy, but hopefully some will avoid being made into a gastro pub! I'll give the staff 10/10 for eagerness and the pints of Amstell I had were very good. It wasn't very busy and you could tell that it hadn't been open long, but I saw no obvious reason why this place can't become very popular, if it already isn't. This is another pub that can go onto the endless list of pubs that I can take the other half for a spot of lunch.