The Oakdale Arms, Harringay

This place took some finding but we had to persist as it was no 3 of 13 in a BITE crawl. We arrived, sore of foot and dry of palate to find just the sort of place i like. Yes, it was a bit tatty, but a genuinely mixed and relaxed crowd and some nice touches like the CAMRA guides from the late 1970s lying around. (Calling it a 'nice touch' makes it sound contrived which I am sure it is not). I agree that the service is very good, as is the beer.
We found some cracked old leather armchairs and I took a pic of IITC which made him look like a deformed jellyfish. Were it not for our punishing schedule I could have stayed all day. Although the big screen was a bit faint.

A bastion of old pubness in a barren desert. Once places like this cease to exist our streets will be all the poorer for it. Although Hassan took his sweet time turning up. Never been in an MPV with so many curtains.

24 Apr 2006 12:49

The Thornhill Arms, Islington

A good interior and good service. Judging by the profusion of English flags outside on Saturday we half expected to see a crowd of skinheads inside but no - a few regulars only. A nice little place with lots of Arsenal memorabilia, if you're that way inclined. My travel companion bemoaned the lack of toilet seat, as he was eager to drop the kids off early while pub WCs were still relatively clean. We left as a mini-mpv full of bog roll pulled up outside. How ironic.

24 Apr 2006 11:56

Canal 125, Caledonian Road

Fairly good interior with an enormo-mirror at one end - better in fact than the drab exterior suggests. Full of happy Gooners who all beetled off to the Clock End twenty minutes before K-O, after a rousing singalong to Chas n Dave's Greatest Misses. Guinness was pretty fair but the sun hadn't yet reached the terrace, which left me feeling a little chilly. The prospect of trying to digest a cold fatty bacon roll in these conditions was less than appealing. So I didn't.

24 Apr 2006 11:51