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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Earl Haig Hall
A former Royal British Legion club,Antic have done a good job here and it does feel like drinking in a members club.The large space has a fine parquet floor,and a very large stage to the middle of the right side,although apart from an upright piano,this doesn't appear to be a performance area and there are a few tables and chairs on stage.On entering there are the trademark well worn old fashioned sofas and arm chairs,but the rest of the seating feels like it would fit into a club,lots of easily stacked metal and some pew type chairs.There is a table football machine and a large collection of board games. Nothing has been done to the dark wood panelled walls,so there is not much natural light which makes the bar at the end of the room a main feature together with fairy lights.To the side there is a kitchen hatch and at the rear a door to the walled beer garden.
There is a seperate large function room which can be hired,and is the venue for live music.Antic know their market and the muzak was hip and not too loud.It attracts a younger crowd and families with new born babies,who must revel in the shabby chic environs.The food offering from a short menu looked good with mains £7 to a max of £14,which was much cheaper than elswehere in Crouch End.
There are six handpumps but only three working on my Saturday trip serving Voldens Pale and Session together with ELB Jamboree (a bit cloudy,not on top form).Maybe real ale doesnt get much traction here but I was disappointed by the range.However it's worth a visit to see what these ex servicemens clubs were like in their hayday,there is some detail worth savouring.
On 20th August 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2728 recommendations about 2728 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Earl Haig Hall
This time I managed to visit here when it was open for its proper business - i.e. selling beer - and I'm quite glad I did. They had a couple of Late Knights beers on, and being the first time that I had encountered this micro-brewery's ales I was obliged to have a pint of their Morning Glory, which turned out to be an excellent best bitter style ale. There were four of five ales on in total. There was a menu on all the tables when I visited on a Saturday afternoon, but as I visited several hours into a London Pubs Group crawl I failed to note any details. But I did note the excess of Antic style stuff in here - a propellor and bugle above the bar; a Red Duster on the ceiling; recycled cinema seats; wooden doors doing duty as table tops (complete with diagonal beams uppermost, which could be inconvenient if you're not careful where you put your beer down).
Like other Antic pubs this one is different to most pubs one visits. The ale selection was typically good, and I wouldn't mind visiting again.
On 23rd February 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Earl Haig Hall
Visiting The Queens next door I thought it worth walking the few paces down the road to photograph this new addition to the Antic stable. I knew that I was there outside its published opening times, but knowing that their opening times are not always sacrosanct and seeing lights on gave the door a speculative push. It seems that it was in use, as some sort of exercise group was underway. Unfortunately nobody was serving beer. Before beating a retreat I noticed that it was an ex British legion hall (undoubtedly named after the British WWI commander), with a bar counter at the far end of the room, and with some basic tables and chairs. It looks like a drinking barn - in fact as if you were drinking in a British Legion hall, but with a better ale selection and higher prices. It seems as if Antic will adapt just about any premises for pub use, and this place could be put to much worse use.
On 11th January 2014
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]