Picture of Picture Palace, EN3 4AQ

Picture Palace, EN3 4AQ

  • Howards Hall, Lincoln Road, EN3 4AQ

The Picture Palace was a pub in Ponders End, situated in a converted cinema. It has now closed. According to the Aug/Sep 2021 London Drinker, the owners decided not to reopen it after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

The information below is retained for historical purposes.

Pub in Ponders End, situated in a converted cinema.

It was previously owned by Wetherspoons, but sold on to Hawthorne Leisure around the start of 2016. The pub reopened under its new management in May 2016; we haven't visited since, so some of the information below may be out of date.

The decor is rather nice, with a high, ornate ceiling, pictures of Laurel & Hardy and Charlie Chaplin above the bar, several leather sofas, and booth-like things against the walls, as well as your standard tables and chairs.

Kake visited on a Monday afternoon in November 2007, after sampling a couple of other very empty pubs in the area. This place, on the other hand, was quite well-populated, by couples and groups as well as your standard Wetherspoons lone drinker. In fact, there were only about three people actually on their own, and one of them was me. No music, but a good buzz of conversation. The BitE comments linked below suggest that this isn't always the case; possibly everyone was in there for the Wetherspoons Real Ale festival, which was on at the time, but still, Monday afternoon's not generally a busy time for any pub.

Service from the man who sold me my first half pint was friendly and polite; the woman who sold me my second seemed rather disengaged, and I saw her make a complete hash of serving someone else with a tray of coffees. Not unfriendly though. I was drinking two of the festival ales, Murphy's Law and Wobbly Bob, which were on at 80p/half pint (£1.59/pint). I expect normal prices are the usual low Wetherspoons prices.

Kake's verdict: If I was in the area, I would be happy to spend time in this pub again.

See also:

Last visited by Kake, November 2007.
Last edited 2021-10-01 15:19:45 (version 32; diff). List all versions.