Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 2 and Version 1 of Old Dairy, N4 4AP

A vast and cavernous former dairy (as the name suggests), located just near Crouch Hill Station at the top of Stroud Green Road, run by the Real Pubs people (who also run the Bald Faced Stag among others).

There's something a little disconcerting about somewhere so big, but the new owners have decorated it nicely and laid it out with solid wooden chairs and tables (though some were close to being unusable, so rickety were they), and a good number of leather couches. The area where we ended up had two leather armchairs and a mirrored coat/hat stand. There's a separate dining room area along the Crouch Hill side, which is filled at the weekends by parents and children. A couple of other rooms branch off from the main area, some of which are cosy and quiet and others (such as the one by the intersection, with its surrounding of pane glass) can get very noisy.

They show sports on a big screen occasionally, and there's also a bar billiards table by the entrance.

On tap are London Pride, and when I visited Flowers IPA and one other. Draught lagers include Leffe and Hoegaarden, as well as Addlestone's cider. A half of Leffe and a black coffee came to £4.45, which is fairly expensive I think.

Food is served noon-3pm and 6:30-10:30pm Monday to Saturday, and noon-9pm Sunday. The food menu looks very interesting and not quite as expensive as the nearby Noble (which in general is a smaller, cosier place for a drink). I haven't sampled it though.

The huge space attracts a lot of large groups of locals, and it can get a bit overwhelming at times. However, it's certainly not a bad place for a drink.

See also:

• Beer In The Evening comments
• Fancy A Pint review
• Time Out review

Powered by OpenGuides 0.83mod.
Site design adapted from the Creative Commons Licensed “Naturalist” by Darren Hester.

The textual content of this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 licence.