Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 5 and Version 4 of Great Northern Railway Tavern, N8 7QB

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* [http://www.fancyapint.com/pub/2844 Fancyapint review]
* [http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub2844.html Fancyapint review]
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A pub on the High Street in Hornsey.

Note: The Great Northern Railway Tavern closed for refurbishment in early 2011. It's now open again, but our comments below predate the refurb.

This Irish pub occupies a grand Victorian building overlooking the High Street. Some of the old decor features remain, including ornate ironwork at the entrance, engraved frosted-glass windows, leather-banquetted booths, and privacy screens. The swirling designs of the ironwork are echoed on ceiling and walls, and there's at least one stained-glass skylight. Several TVs and flatscreens are set rather incongruously amongst all this.

The front part of the pub is broken up into a number of booth areas, separated by small frosted-glass privacy screens. A larger area to one side has a pool table (note: according to the link above, this was removed as part of the refurb). At the back is a more open space with a few comfy chairs as well as normal chairs and tables and a larger TV screen (possibly a pull-down projection screen?), leading out via a conservatory (which seems to be used mostly for storage) to a small beer garden. There's a bit more seating out the front on the pavement.

Kake and bob visited on a Sunday afternoon in August 2010. There were quite a few people in, but plenty of seats left. An orange juice and a pint of Greene King IPA (their only real ale, though they also had bottles of Old Speckled Hen) came to £4.20. Football was showing on the many screens spread around the pub, with the sound up quite loud.

They do Thai food, but we're not sure what times.

Ewan's verdict: Nothing special, just a rather grey and dingy locals' pub.

Kake's verdict: I like the booths, privacy screens, and old-school decor. I might pop in here again if I was passing, though not for an extended stay due to the lack of real ale options.

Accessibility: A step and a half up to get in at one door (the side without the pool table), and stepfree from there through to the toilets. Can't remember about the other door, but in any case there's a step between that side and the toilets. Two steps up and then more steps down to get to the beer garden.

See also:

Last visited by Kake and bob, August 2010.

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