No. 8 Seven Sisters, Stamford Hill, N15

Official site of No. 8 Seven Sisters - no8hostels.godaddysites.com

Official site of No. 8 Seven Sisters - no8hostels.godaddysites.com

There's no real ale here, nor was there any sign of food when I dropped in on Monday lunchtime. This pub has something of an odd layout. The centre room where the bar counter's sited has a very low, no doubt false, ceiling. The rooms to the left and right are high-ceilinged, as is the norm with these old Vctorian (or possibly Edwardian) pubs. There are some original features - the bar counter, the Lincrusta style ceiling in the room on the right, and the cast iron capitalled pillars. But overall the pub's clearly seen better days, with the carpet and chairs being among some of the grubbiest I've ever seen. It's now apparently part of the No 8 hostel and pub chain, and although "No 8" signage features prominently, the large Woodberry Tavern signage is still on the side of the building - too difficult to remove possibly. Being effectively a hostel bar as well as a pub open to anyone, you do see some grubby looking individuals hanging around. On the plus side (I think) there are a couple of dartboards in the room on the left, a pool table in the room on the right, and newspapers in a rack by the main entrance. There are TVs around the place of course, with at least the one in the room on the left showing the horse racing. Music was being played in the room on the right, so if you sat in the centre room, as I did, you could hear them both. This is not the sort of pub to which I'm likely to return.

Substantial pub, made more imposing by some of the clearance that has taken place around it over the years. Inside, it has the feel of an old-fashioned, slightly tatty (if sizeable) local. Three bar areas, with plenty of space for live music and other events. No sign of real ale in the bar I went into, but the barmaid seemed pretty clueless and there may have been a handpump somewhere up the other end of the pub. A quick pint of the inevitable John Smiths Smooth, and I was off...