Historical version 3 of Southampton Arms, NW5 1LE (view current version)
- None
- 139 Highgate Road, NW5 1LE (streetmap) (osm) (gmap) (bingmap) (streetview)
- thesouthamptonarms.co.uk
- noon-midnight Mon-Sat; noon-11:30pm Sun
Very good real ale and real cider pub in Gospel Oak.
It serves an interesting range of ales and ciders and has two Meantime brewery lagers (Helles £3.20/pint and Kolner £3.40). On bob's visit in July 2010 all 12 hand pumps photo had something on and there were three extra poly-pins of cider on behind the bar. This meant there were 7 ales, 7 ciders and 1 perry. Drinks are served in mugs (except the lagers).
During bob's time there, two of the ales were finished and replaced with something different. Only one of the ales was from a brewery you regularly see elsewhere (a Dark Star stout). All of the ales were very good, as were the ciders and the perry. All ciders and perries are £3.20 (a four-pint jug is £12.20). Real ales are £2.90 (with a four-pint jug £11.20). They will do four-pint takeaways, charging you a £2 deposit for the container. On our visit, the beers included Ottley No. 1, Maypole Mild, Chocwork Orange and Dark Star Extra Stout. On Ewan's visit a couple of days later, there were 7 ales and 4 ciders (including ales by Dark Star, Red Squirrel, Art Brew and others, with ciders by Millwhites, Burrow Hill). There is also a suggestion form for beer or ciders you would like them to get.
Food is pretty basic and consists of pork pies (£3 for half a large one) photo, sausage rolls, scotch eggs (although on bob's visit they only had vegetarian ones), a cheese selection, salami, and roast pork baps. The pork pie was very tasty and had the right amount of jelly, i.e. not noticeably any.
On a Thursday night it was busy inside and out with a crowd of friendly people. The bar staff were pleasant and seemed to be actually enjoying themselves.
They accept cash only. There's a quiz night on Mondays, and live music on Wednesdays.
bob's verdict: As a Real Ale drinker this pub has joined the ten or so pubs in London which are really worth going to. If you drink real cider you should go as soon as you are able to.
Accessibility Info: At least one step to the gents which are technically outside. There was possibly a step up at the entrance as well. There is not much room to manoeuvre inside.