The Swimmer at The Grafton Arms, Holloway

It is hard to believe that there could be as nice a pub as this, in such a pleasant street, so close to the blight on the landscape that is Seven Sister's Road!

We called in at 2pm, an hour before the Arsenal game kicked off, and it was busy, but not jammed like many pubs closer to the stadium would have been.

Butcombe Bitter was excellent as expected, and I think we have found a new venue to add to our prematch ritual.

1 Nov 2012 12:29

The Old Dairy, Finsbury Park

Arrived exactly when it opened at noon last Saturday. Really nice spacious building, with an eclectic range of sofas and different table styles.

It is obviously a very food-oriented pub in the evenings, but we found it to be a great place for a couple of quiet lunchtime beers.

Beer was extremely well-kept.

We sampled the home-made scotch eggs and sausage rolls which were tantalisingly displayed behind the bar, and both were awesome, if a bit pricey.Publish review

1 Nov 2012 12:22

The Butchers Arms, Carhampton

Called in for an early dinner with four adults and two children. We were the first customers on the Sunday evening. Should have bailed out when we we tried to order, only to find that more than half of the menu items were unavailable, but we were settled with drinks by then.

Elderly Australian(?) guy was running the bar on his own (although he couldn't work the till) and also waiting tables. Food took an hour to arrive, and was fair. Steak was a bit tough, but chips were good. The kids wanted desserts, so we ordered and waited almost another hour, meanwhile our main course plates had not been cleared away.

My patience snapped and so I cleared the plates myself and dumped them on the bar, and demanded the phone number of the owner. Much to my surprise, the barman claims to be the owner! Watch out for this place to be boarded up, as I can't imagine it surviving the winter with this clown in charge.

(Bonus whinge: the WiFi that is boldly advertised outside didn't work either!)

1 Nov 2012 12:00