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The Old Dairy, Crouch Hill, N4
N4
N4 4AP
Pub Type
Metropolitan Pub Co (Greene King)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Steve of N21 left this review about The Old Dairy
This was one of the 79 Greene King pubs that did not reopen after the Pandemic shutdowns, and it was feared that we had lost this on for good. Fortunately, it reopened in April last year after a bit of an internal makeover. The large multi space internal layout is unchanged but there are a few cosmetic changes and there seems to be a lot more exposed brick from my remembrances and some impressive chandeliers in the main bar area. The TV in the spacious corner section room with its large windows out onto Stroud Green Road and Hanley Road has now been removed, which is a good thing as it provides a decent sized area of the pub away from the TV screens. The other three in the main bar, side room and dining area remain, but are now enclosed in wooden cabinets, which is something else I don’t remember from previous post pandemic visits. Perhaps they were previously but were always open, so I didn’t notice. They were all closed for my early Saturday evening visit but the staff kindly opened one so that we could watch the Saracens v Exeter rugby match. TV’s open on request now seems to be the order of the day which is another good thing in my book.
Another change is the bar top that has been remodelled and the number of ale pumps had been reduced from five to four and only three were operational for my recent visit, with GK IPA, TT Landlord and a very pleasant Deuchars IPA. So sadly not the ale focus or choice that the Old Dairy was worth visiting for pre covid , but you can say that about a lot of pubs nowadays, and at least there was a well kept alternative to the insipid Greene King brews. This continued on the three banks of keg taps where, alongside some from the GK stable there was a decent range of craft options from both the usual suspects (Beavertown and Camden) and Northern monk and the Wolfpack Lager, which was appreciated by a Saracens supporter.
The food menu seemed to be more aligned to standard pub fayre than gastro dishes and the Steak and Ale pie I went for was the absolute classic pub food accompaniment to go with a decent pint.
Very glad to have this one back and on my list of goto pubs for a pie, pint and a game of rugby. No need to alter my previous rating, despite the slightly reduced focus on ale. Its still a very comfortable pub.
On 1st February 2024
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Old Dairy
A very good review from Steve of N21 says it all,this is certainly a large pub with several different sections,and the wait to be seated dining area,although initially infront of the open kitchen,opens out into a formal dining room with it's own street frontage.The section at the apex of the building looks a good place to sup,but it had been hired for a function on my Saturday afternoon visit,and several alcove tables also had reserved signs.The clientele is mainly young professionals and many babies and toddlers were present inside.The high ceilings cause noise to reverberate off the wooden floor,so I wouldn't say that my visit was relaxing,but the pub is functional.You can eat food anywhere (Starters around £5-7,mains £13-18) ,but the lack of demarcation detracts from the pub atmosphere,while surprisingly the restaurant was hardly used.
The bar has 5 handpumps with GK IPA and an Old Dairy (Up & Under) as regulars with guests on my trip Signature Brew Wild Winter,Dorset Brewing Keep Calm and Swing Low and Mad Squirrel Hop Fest .It's listed in the GBG ,and that seemed fair enough.It serves it's market well but I found it a bit too hectic for my purposes.
On 18th February 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Old Dairy
A short walk from Crouch Hill overground station this large gastro style pub housed in the former Friern Manor Dairy Company has a commanding position on the corner of Stroud Green Road and Hanley Road in Crouch Hill. We actually entered through the dining room door in the original red brick part of the building that stretches up the road towards Crouch Hill station, which brings you into the large restaurant area. But this is such a large pub internally that the non-restaurant bar area section has several distinct areas with comfortable seating and provides several screens for the sport which was actually the underlying reason we were here.
The conversion is well done and it’s a bright and airy pub, primarily due to the massive skylight in the main internal section , then the massive floor to ceiling windows in the large street facing room to the front which also floods this section of the pub with light.
To give you the feel of the place if I say the wife was prepared to go out to watch the Aviva rugby Semi-finals, however was not prepared to go to our usual spit and sawdust Sky showing blokes Boozer, but demanded to go somewhere without yobs, that did good food and had comfortable civilised (her words) surroundings and atmosphere, there you have the Old Dairy.
This is a place for the young career types of Crouch End and surrounds to come and meet friends and socialise. And even at 3.00PM on a Saturday with both the Aviva Rugby and the Millwall Bradford playoff being shown on the screens you would be forgiven for thinking that the parent and baby club mentioned by Steve C below had been moved to a Saturday afternoon. Suffice to say no braying club supporters here, just those that want a bit of sport with their drinks and up market nosh. On the food front its well described by previous reviewers and although the home made Scotch Eggs and Pork pies behind the bar did look very good we went for the Curried Cod from the main menu which despite being a wallet hurting £16 by pub standards was very good and wouldn’t have disgraced a reputable restaurant.
On the beer front there was GK IPA , Twickenham Redhead and Old Dairy Red Top and Uber Brew ( no connection between pub and Brewery that I could see ) .
As we stayed for both Rugby Semi’s was able to try the three outside the IPA and they were all well-kept and the Uber Brew was a decent hoppy pale ale. And the missus was enamoured with her dinner, so with the exception of the Saracens result everything else met the good ladies wishes.
On 23rd May 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about The Old Dairy
The Old Dairy is a large pub that i presume is housed in an old dairy.
Once inside this is a very large pub with lots of different areas,the bar is sited in the middle area,the floor is bare boarded and the seating is a mix of different types.
There were four real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Sambrooks Wandle which went down well,the other beers were Sambrooks Lavender Hill,Hackney american Pale Ale and GK IPA.
There were lots of TVs showing cricket and decent background music was playing.
Not really my sort of pub.
Pub visited 4/8/2016
On 2nd October 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Old Dairy
The place has been well described by Rex below, and like him I would say that this pub is not really my cup of tea. Unfortunately, I was not as impressed as he was by the beers on offer. There are five hand pumps, one was being pulled through at the time of our visit, leaving four beers on: Greene King IPA, Twickenham Sundancer, Old Dairy Summer Top and Stroud Green Hobbler. I had a pint of the Stroud Green, and was not impressed. One of my daughters had the Sundancer, which was worse; other daughter had a soft drink, which turned out to be a wise choice. It's not that the beers were off or undrinkable, they were just not in very good condition and not very interesting in themselves. Sorry.
Date of visit: 27th June 2015
On 7th September 2015
- rating: 4
[User has posted 3745 recommendations about 3482 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Old Dairy
There were several ales on here - Windsor & Eton Guzzler, Sharp's Cornish Coaster, Darkstar Darkness, Growler Brewery Gladness, and Stroud Green Hobbler, the latter presumably being a house ale. This place brands itself as a pub and dining room, so obviously food’s a big player here. Main course are in the £11 - £18.50 range, from “Cumberland sausages, champ (? – I’d prefer mashed potatoes), onion gravy” to “Longhorn rib steak on the bone, etc, etc”.
This is an enormous rambling affair, sited in an old dairy as the name suggests, and I guess dairies were big places. It’s reminiscent of a large US steakhouse restaurant. At the front on the main road is an area where it appeared that all tables were reserved for diners; to the left is an area containing the bar counter and which is the area to be used by drinkers, containing a few normal tables and chairs, sofas, and some small tables with small round stools. This in turn leads to a further area guarded by the “wait to be seated” sign and with the open to view kitchen at the back. Obviously I spent my visit in the bar area – this area has exposed brick walls with some old black and white photos on them.
The loud rock music was an unnecessary addition in my view. This place has all the charm and character of a chain restaurant in Downtown Chicago. Fine if you like those sort of places where mass occupancy is sought after, but it’s not really my cup of tea. But you can't fault the ale selection.
On 8th August 2013
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Old Dairy
Approaching this place I thought that it was going to be one of those small pretentious corner pubs, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a huge sprawling pub with lots of different rooms and a friendly university crowd enjoying a Saturday afternoon beer. It is a gastro pub complete with large restaurant area and some reserved tables, but there are a couple of plasma screens in the bar area which show Sky Sports and I spotted piles of scotch eggs, sausage rolls and pasties sitting behind the bar – although they were very expensive. I also spotted some advertisements for the quiz night every Tuesday, but I’ll probably avoid the parent and baby club from midday until 5pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Cornish Coaster, Ubu and SA Gold were the three ale options and there was also a good selection of premium lagers and standard products from which I enjoyed a decent pint of Guinness served by a friendly barmaid.
I’m not a big fan of the gastro experience, but I thought that this place was very good and I would gladly return.
On 17th March 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5251 recommendations about 5219 pubs]