Randomness Guide to London Menu

A pub and live venue in Kentish Town, alongside the Kentish Town Forum.

As a pub, this place is fairly basic, unchanged in all the years Ewan has visited. It's one long room, unfashionably kitted out, but friendly and warm enough. There are booths along the front wall and more tables along the edge.

There are several handpulls, though on an October 2008 visit, no ales were on. In the past, Bass has a been a mainstay. Otherwise, just basic lagers and Guinness are the order of the day.

The venue is in the back area, a large black room with a lobby area with a bar (extended around the corner from the main bar) and its own seating. The venue is reached via a door from the street before you get to the pub entrance. The double-doors from the main bar through to the venue are kept permanently closed now it seems, though you can still get through the toilets. It should be noted that prices in the venue bar are a little more expensive (around 30p) than in the pub. The venue has a raised stage area and a small TV monitor at the back of the room displays the performance (the venue offers to sell bands a video of their performance).

On the whole it's a good venue with decent sound, though the booking policy for bands is a bit hit-and-miss, so a random visit is unlikely to turn up any great bands of the future.

See also:

• Fancyapint review
• Pubs Galore comments
• Beer In The Evening comments
• Qype comments
• CAMRA Regional Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors entry