The Sir Richard Steele, Belsize Park

With so many copycats around, it is easy to forget that The Steeles is the original on which so many 'retro' pubs have been re-modeled. Its hand-painted ceilings, downstairs and upstairs, make references to the Sistine Chapel and help make this pub one of the most original in north London.
The live music is back, great comedy nights upstairs every Saturday and The Steeles seems to be subtly reinventing itself. The rowdy football fans have gone elsewhere (as have the drug dealers and Castlemaine XXXX) and the atmosphere is generally much friendlier.
Plans are afoot to develop the garden and the toilets, the latter, without doubt, being the pub's weak point.

1 Feb 2008 11:35