The Badgers Arms, Northampton

New micro-pub, housed behind a domestic-looking front door. There is a room with a few tables to the side as you enter, but the compact bar and a small side room are located at first-floor level. Mix of furniture and relatively sparse decor, but the emphasis is beer and conversation anyway. No handpumps on the counter, with the real ales being dispensed by gravity from a cool room behind the servery. Interesting selection of five real ales in a variety of styles, from which I went for the local Phipps NBC Ratliffe stout (£3.50).