Dog & Duck, N21

This is a compact, traditional local's boozer down a side street around five or so minutes walk from Palmers Green station. You enter via a fine porch that has retained a lot of excellent etched glasswork, including an impressive 'Public Bar' pane. You emerge into a smart, carpeted room with a fresh feel to it thanks to some nicely painted walls which suggest a tasteful recent refurbishment that has avoided tarnishing the pub's character. The servery is along the left hand wall and has a simple dark wood counter, tidy wood panelled canopy and a very impressive etched glass bar back which is arguably the pub's stand out feature. Chairs and low stools serve small round tables under some modern etched glass front windows, whilst down the right hand wall, some sturdy deep benches with more low stools extend almost to the rear, supplanted by some regular tables and chairs to the back of the room, around a pleasant fireplace. The decor is marred a little by some of that dreadful bookcase-effect wallpaper, but this has thankfully been used sparingly, as it threatens to spoil what is otherwise a well presented room, enhanced by nice old black and white photos and portraits of various famous Irish playwrights and poets. Some visitors may be put off by three large TV screens which were showing a mixture of rugby and golf on my visit, with the commentary on, but this was clearly well suited to the almost entirely male clientele, whose general chatter easily drowned out the audio. To the rear, there is a very colourful rear garden, which i can imagine would be a nice place to relax in the summer months and there were plenty of fresh flowers dotted around the pub too, adding a dash of colour and fragrance. The bar was manned by a very friendly barmaid and a proper old-school landlord in shirt and tie, who popped over to say hello to me and seemed to have a great rapport with his locals. He had three ales available from four handpulls - Youngs Ordinary, Greene King IPA and Taylor Landlord. My pint of Landlord was spot-on and although the majority of punters seemed to be on the lager, there was still a fair bit of throughput on the handpulls, which is always an encouraging sign. I really liked this place, which felt like the sort of proper pub it's increasing hard to find these days. The pub clearly won't suit everyone - it's a very male-led environment with an emphasis on sports, but as a male who enjoys sports, this wasn't an issue for me and I felt very comfortable here, chatting to the locals and enjoying some well kept beer.

This is a fairly simple single-room pub, but at some stage it must have had two rooms. The only doorway in use now is on the right, unusually with two doors, both with what looks like original Victorian glazing - one to the Saloon Bar and the other to the Saloon. Possibly one had been re-sited from the unused doorway on the left? There's little inside of any heritage value, but I did spot a couple of glazed panels in the bar back that looked to be of Victorian vintage. This is another comfortable carpeted pub with no tall tables/tall stools - just a bit banquette seating plus normal tables and chairs. There was a gas (imitation coal) fire alight, which was welcome on a cold day. We could see a garden at the back but the weather wasn't really appropriate for sitting outside (unless you're a smoker, when I guess the need for nicotine trumps a bit of personal discomfort). There were four ales on in here - GK IPA; Timothy Taylor Landlord; Young's Bitter; and Wells' A Good Stuffing. Three pint of landlord, and one of the Wells came to £16, so average £4 a pint. They didn't do food on the Wednesday lunchtime we were in. This is another decent little pub in this area. I preferred the Orange Tree, but this one is in the same general area of ranking.

Old school locals boozer with an exclusively male clientele of tradesmen and oldsters at half four on a Tuesday afternoon. Interior is J shaped with dark blue carpet and trim. Furniture is traditional and the stool and bench fabrics are also…blue. In fact, I was one of the few things that wasn’t. On one wall are some interesting old pictures of the bar from the sepia tinged era. To the rear is a small but perfectly formed rear patio with plenty of flora and fauna plus tree, all very nice. The inside was also noticeably spick and span. A TV was mutely showing retro football to an audience of nobody, which seemed out of place. The impressive dark wood varnished bar holds four pumps, all operational on my visit from National and Regional breweries: GK IPA, Youngs Ordinary, Tim Taylor Landlord and Adnams Ghost Ship. After rousing the barmaid from her texting via a passive aggressive rattling of my change, I ended up with an enjoyable half of Ghost Ship at a couple of quid which I guess is the going rate in such high-end area. Plenty of mention elsewhere of a friendly welcome but I have to say that I didn’t get that impression. However if you like well-maintained and traditional boozers with well-kept ale, this one is worth bothering an All Zones Travelcard for. 7.5

Official site of The Dog & Duck - www.dogandduckwinchmorehill.co.uk

Official site of The Dog & Duck - www.dogandduckwinchmorehill.co.uk

An unpretentious locals boozer,the interior is quite small with the bar to the left,a long bench in dark blue velour opposite and a collection of round tables and stools.Carpeted throughout ,with a coal effect gas fire towards the rear ,it's all very tidy and clean.There is a Sky Sports screen ,thankfully on mute during my afternoon visit ,and gentle background muzak.There is a charming beer garden at the rear.There was a very friendly welcome from the barmaid,who chatted aimiably to the regulars as they turned up,there was a steady steam of customers.At the bar there are 4 handpumps offering on my visit TT Landlord (£4,in good shape but served without a tight sparkler)Youngs Bitter,GK IPA and Wadsworth Dirty Rucker.Maybe not the most exciting ale line up ,but it's a GBG regular and if I lived locally and wanted a quiet pint and a chat,this is the pub to head for.

Randomness Guide to London - Dog And Duck entry

Randomness Guide to London - Dog And Duck entry

If what you are after is a traditional, no frills, friendly back street pub with a Landlord that really knows how to keep his beer, then you can do no wrong by coming to the Dog and Duck. Tucked away on Hoppers road in N21 this is an excellent back street local that has managed to avoid the modern makeovers that the nearby three pubs on Winchmore Hill Green have gone through over recent years. It's a small , one bar set up, in two distinct sections. And the only acceptance to modernisation is a flat screen tele in either section. But these are usually muted so as not to disturn the drink and conversation. Then out back there is a very pleasant square walled courtyard for an outside pint in the summer months. Usually four ales on which include three house beers, GK IPA, TT Landlord and Wadsworth 6X and then a guest. Visited again yesterday lunchtime with no1 Son who was treating me to a fathers day pint. The guest was Hopback Summer lightning which was top notch and a good job they do not do food on Sundays or that would have been me in for the rest of the day.

This is a great pub with friendly clientele and even friendlier staff. The Landlord was very good and Summer Lightening and Greene King IPA were also available although the 6X was off. There are a couple of plasma screens for the Sky and Setanta and there is also a projector screen over the front window that was rolled up during my visit. Out the back is located a very nice beer garden that will be great during the summer months. This place is exactly how a back street boozer should be and long may it remain so.