Following a beer-swilling, red-wine-glugging whirlwind tour of London’s boozers, I’ve once again thrown myself into the foray and entered pub territory. This time my perfect winter pub mission has seen me voyage north, to Crouch End - the previously artist and student enclave but which is now ruled by buggies and people in puffa jackets. In the middle of art supply stores and charity shops sits The Maynard Arms, a pub with more than 100 years of history, and in the perfect place to shelter us from the grey December drizzle.
Venue and Atmosphere
The Maynard Arms is one of those curious buildings that Britain is famous for - from the outside, the old pub is seemingly small and quaint but push open the door and find a whacking great space. Despite being established in 1851, the boozer is far from dusty and old; following a recent refurbishment, battered bar stools have been replaced with royal blue leather booths, the bar has been stripped back and opened up in a gastro style and exposed brick gives the place a relaxed sense.
Being so close to Christmas, the restaurant was filled with families and friends catching up, giving the whole place a jovial atmosphere. There must be something in the water in Crouch End as there were more babies than I have ever seen in my life, from tiny, barely-peeping newborns to terrible toddlers. While the area may have lost its student credentials a long time ago, the area doesn’t suffer the same snootiness as other North London destinations - something abundantly clear at The Maynard Arms. Despite its gastro-pub decor, there’s no snobbery; staff are welcoming and customers, while having spawned more than my social circle, were all in good spirits and more hipster than yummy mummy - I even felt the tiniest flicker of warmth in my cold, dead heart.
Food & Drink
I have one criteria for a perfect winter pub and that’s that food should be hearty enough to induce palpitations, something that The Maynard Arms nailed - I left the pub so full that someone on the tube offered me their seat - clearly my food baby was ready to pop. The menu is short but focuses on British classics; the mackerel pate (£7.50) starter was a great slab of creamy pate topped with a sharp horseradish sauce that undercut any overwhelming richness. The duck rillettes (£7.50) were comprised of smoky flakes of bird breast, crunchy bacon and a sweet chutney - enough gluttony to help you survive the cold weather.
The mains are mostly classic British meat plates with a gastro twist; the double-stacked rare breed Dexter beef burger (£13) was topped with welsh rarebit-style cheese and crunchy fries. The ribeye steak (£23) came with a rich peppercorn sauce and potato cakes - wisps of potato that had been layered with garlic and lightly cooked. There was also a chunk of crusted bone marrow which was deliciously meaty.
It was a Saturday and I was hungover, so yes, I ate pudding. Forget traditional crumble, the Bramley apple and blackcurrant crumble (£5) was a mixture of apple chunks and strewed berries topped with a crunchy granola and lump of vanilla ice cream. If you want to leave feeling like you may never be able to do your trousers up again, get the sticky date pudding (£6) which was a candy-floss sweet cake slathered in toffee and bananas.
Steak and peppercorn sauce at The Maynard Arms.
Summary
The Maynard Arms had all I need for an afternoon in the pub; a menu of belly-busting meals, real ales on tap and a chilled atmosphere that meant we could while away nearly three hours and not feel like we were intruding - winter pub perfection found.
