Uk Barblog

Minchenden Association (Oakwood - London)

Minchenden Association - Bramley Sports Ground

A rare haunt for private parties and drunken scout group , this shack on Bramly road towards oakwood could easily be mistaken for a shed at the side of a sports field, where it actaully serves as a venue for small private parties and meetings. The bar is very very small, a cubicle of optics and a couple of fridge sporting the barest of beverages. A little on the expensive side but cheery and friendly. A very communcal feel as you would expect, and it is sandwiched between two picadilly tube stations.

Overall, if you are heading down here to use the bar, expect to be a stretch from any cash points but to get a warm welcome to what is essentially a porta-cabin with a bar and a stage, 3/10

The Jester (Cockfosters - London)

The Jester

Not strictly housed in central Cockfosters- this "off the beaten track" local sits in between Cockfosters and New Barnet and it is some kind of miracle that this place makes enough money to stay alive. Clearing the people on the surrounding estates are community drinkers and entering the lounge bar I find several of them sitting in apparent silence over a few pints. The bar is actually split into two areas labelling one the public bar (equipped with pool table) and one as the lounge bar (with one or two uncomfortable chairs). There is also the opportunity to sit on the picnic benches out front and enjoy the cleaner air of the london suburb of Barnet. Unfortunately due to its localised nature this pub might be percieved as rough, but the barman proved to be respectable and his establishment was well kept.

Overall the prices seemed a little steep but the variety behind the bar was above average and being so detached they really have to make a living somehow. Probably worth the visit for a break from the bustle of Barnet on a friday night but only for one or two . 5/10

Fishmongers Arms (Southgate - London)

Fishmongers Arms

The fishmongers arms sits quite carelessly next to a large supermarket in a part of the world which seems unpopulated during the day except for the odd local drunk and a pub reviewer. This place has a quite quaint - if badly maintained fron garden which is good for the summer sun and inside it comprises of a pool table to the side of a bar which winds around to a seating area on the far right. The bar staff are not very friendly but the prices are reasonable and the seating are old tattered leather chairs which look like they were disposed of by someone with more money to spend. Prices are around £5.50 for two pints and indeed the pub is larger than it looks but with the character of an old gaurd dog - it has the growl but its somewhat tattered inside.

Overall much nicer than the scum pubs you get in Southgate nearby and easily the best choice for someone that prefers to leave with a disappointed head than no head at all - 5/10

White Hart (Southgate - London)

White Hart

Hidden well enough from the view of the high street the white heart enjoys a strong precense from the same community that use Southgate College, 20-somethings with a lot of energy to expend on elevated levels of noise - hooliganism and drugs and the White Hart is somewhat a base for these activities proving to be nothing less than intimidating to those poor ale drinkers that had only wandered in this staggered-step style building to wet their whistles. The place itself has many windows but sitting ina  slight ditch it doesnt get the light during the day and this way the dodgy dealing that occur in the shaodws prevail.

They say that if you havent got a nice word to say about a place dont say anything at all - i say "avoid". The drinks are well priced and the place looks reasonable when empty but that doesn't recue even the most dangerous pubs from the bottom of a very deep barrel of impression - 2/10

The Oakwood Tavern (Oakwood - London)

The Oakwood Tavern

This watering hole is the closest traditional pub to Oakwood tube station on the Piccadilly line of the tube. It is nestled among a parade of shops and at night is the only thing alive along the block. I say "alive" but the faint noise of crowd applauses every time the door opens is hardly a party. Once inside you find a bright modern irish bar with lots of screens showing the sport of the day and plenty of enthusiastic old men peer intently on the ball rattling around a pitch. The place is generally never busy so its always quite quiet but somehow its difficult to find a seat. The tables at the back are widely spaced and at the front are tiny stools with table-on-lap with the bar squeezed between the two. The bar persons are friendly and although the service is slow the drinks are moderately low for cost at £2.60 for a half pint and a coke. The only feature appears to be scrawling on all the walls of traditional scenes from some forgettable place 100 years ago.

Overall the place has no atmosphere and is not relaxing or exciting but mundane, boring. It seems like the sort of place 20 of the local residents have decided to get old in without being classified as regulars by the staff. In all 4/10.

The Lord Nelson (Wood Green - London)

The Lord Nelson

A very boozey stagger up the road from the goose lands you smack bang in the middle of a bar/pub with drunken locals and crazy residence locked tightly in away from a world outside where other punters are banging on the doors to get back in. Inside the place consists of some seating up the front a central bar and then towards the back a DJ, dancefloor and rather nasty toilets. The lighting is kept quite low and the drinks are rather cheap at about £1.60 a pint. The music is commercial funky house type stuff with a bit of rock thrown in here and there and the punters are just literally the local residents. The place really doesn't have any charm, even the bar staff have a bad attitude.

Overall i wouldn't hurry abck to this place, the best things were the late license and the cheap alcohol but that doesn't make a pub; 4/10.

The Cock and Dragon (Cockfosters - London)

The Cock and Dragon

Grandure, fancy and frolic in the open fields of cockfosters and in all its glory welcoming the day trekkers off of the picadilly line in cockfosters and hikers out of trent park. What better combo that a well stocked country pub and an exotic thai restaurant to the rear. But friends, do not be folled by location this pub can punch you right in the wallet if it wants to, seemingly as busy as an innercity gastro, this mini monster boasts wall to wall stuffed animals, birds and fish alongside many many types of spirit in as good a stocked a bar as i have seen in a while. And there is plenty of seating as well dispite the number of people within, its ashame the car park gets full so quickly. A pint will set you back in excess of £3 and the thai restaurant at the back is not cheap either (although the food is terrific, definitely worth it- but perhaps watch out for the over-salty soy sauce.) And what better way to enjoy a romantic expensive meal with a partner of thai than to land back in the manor or an inn and take a dimly lit corner by a window and peer into the countryside for the rest of the evening. Okay a little idealic, perhaps i forgot to mention the impotence and arrogance of the staff, the dirty tables and the difficulty of finding the place but it is diffinitely worth at least one adventure.

Overall 6/10, could be so much better if only it reflected the price of its surroundings and the bar staff greeted you with a smile instead of a frown :(

The Goose (Wood Green - London)

The Goose

The Goose is a fairly large sized wetherspoons-like-pub opposite wood green tube station and cinema complex. On entry you weave between various tabls to reach the bar which is weel stocked and cheap as every wetherspoons is. It a good place to bring a crowd as it never seems to get over-populated but the clientele is very much loud students and old men with ale. Theres fruit machines and the like scattered about and although it is quite big it still feels rather boxy with little or no character, bare washed walls and a large church-like exit. The place closes at midnight on a Friday.

Overall good to see a whetherspoons of this size but its nothing special - 5/10.

The New Crown (Southgate - London)

The New Crown

this popular wetherspoons is very similar to the Admiral Byng in Potters Bar except for one major factor, the crowd. The crowd in Southgate is always up for a fight and the New Crown can never help but be in the center of things. Don't get me wrong the whole place: food, drink, prices, toilets and serving times are all good you just keep a hand on your wallet and your eyes to the ground when you're in this place, but mind you dont spill your drink on one of the resident hermits. he'll cut ya!

Overall a timid 7/10, flee, flee!!!

BomBora Australian Bar (Oakwood - London)

BomBora Australian Bar

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[UPDATE] :August 2006: Bombora in Oakwood has now closed permanently.

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This bar is very small and hidden away though just a stones throw from the station. They serve cocktails in 5 unique sizes. Glass £3, Jug £5, Fishbowl £7, Sharktank £10 and of course the Big burtha £50. Big burtha is a bloody bath-tub of cocktail that must be pre-ordered the day before. It has a great atmosphere and the bar staff are very friendly. They also do some interesting shots but the cheapest cocktail bar in london!

Overall 8/10 becuase the beer is extorsionate. Have a nice big burtha!

The Merryhills - Oakwood

the Merryhills
I think when you drive past the merryhills its looks rather small and out the way but its literally a stones throw from Oakwood underground on the picaddilly line. And it pretty big inside wide huge amount of seating and a well equipped bar. You calmost feel liek you're ina  casino sized pub. Theres lots of pool and snooker tables at the back and they host private functions upstairs in a much smaller room. The crowd is not that inviting, rather loutish but if you were doing a pub crawl down the north end of this line on the tube then you couldnt give it a miss.

Overall 7/10.