The Claddagh Ring, Hendon

I was chatting on Facebook to a friend tonight (I am so modern) who had just come back from here and not having been here for 6 or so years I thought I would pop on to have a look at what people had to say. The pub is terrible of course but the real find was Snarling Mallard...Exterior : 30's English Roadhouse Style Pub with mock Irish adornments. Haha, he could not be more accurate, read the rest of his reviews, the man is a genius.

14 Aug 2010 05:15

The Torriano, Kentish Town

I was quite surprised to see that the reviews for this place were patchy at best. I came here about 4 months ago and was pretty impressed with a lot of things they do pretty differently. The milkshakes is a great idea, I rarely do not drink alcohol when in a pub but I'd like a better choice if I don't want to. Also the crepes were ace and a great pub food, all sorts of flavours and dietary types catered for and really cheap. I didn't think the tattiness (which is only slight anyway) was a tendency to be hip but there again who knows. I guess a lot of people go to gastro pubs these days and whereas it is true that the service and the food and drink in those places is generally excellent I often find that there is no vibe whatsoever and sometimes the whole experience is horribly clinical, the Torriano was a welcome opposite of that. Also great, great tunes being played.

24 Dec 2009 21:00

Monkey Chews, Chalk Farm

Read the postings for this and really was not surprised by any of them. It really is an odd place, things happen in here that do not happen in other bars. The one I used to regularly have was them running out of beer (I swear they actually ran out of Guinness one night, or at least that was what they said). However, I still feel warm to the place because the staff are really nice, the clientele is friendly and neither chavvy or poncey and they put on good stuff, certainly a lot better than the toilet venues on Camden High Street.

6 Jun 2009 04:01