please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Yup. Lost it. Huge shame.
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This place used to be fantastic up until about 3 years ago.
It had a great mixed bunch of people, old boys smoking their ready-rubbed at the corner of the bar opposite young women just off the tube for a quick glass of wine.
It's now an awful place & I can't think of a good word to say about it, so I won't!
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I walked past on Saturday and noticed the two huge banners hanging off the front of the pub advertising the Thai food and there ability to do functions and take-away and wondered what is running the pub now, the bar or the Kitchen. From the comments posted it sounds like the latter, which is a shame as I really like this place.
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This pub is nice and big but thats about all it has going for it. staff dont make you feel welcome and the locals make you feel like you are walking in on their territory. after being across the road (gertie brownes) my expectations were high and sadly this pub did not meet them.
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What has happened to this Pub it was once one of the top entries in The Good Beer Guide now it’s not worth a visit most the time. The staffs are always Ill Mannered with no Please or Thank You and the Quality of the Beer seems to vary from bad too worse every time I go in there. I think you should go back to concentrating on your Ales Like before and get shot of the food if it’s affecting the business this much.
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Just want to agree with latest review about the decline of this pub. Used to be the best pub by far but now White Lion and Bald Faced Stag are nicer but very expensive. But you pay the prices rather than sit with some of the dodgy clientele that have decided to make this pub their own. (The oikey lot.) The bar staff can be rude too.
Landlord and wife are very nice but seem to be letting things slip a bit. Get rid of the bad element: Those who command the pavement tables all summer. Give one or two of the staff a good talking too. A single round, let alone a whole pub night out, is not cheap these day and the competition is hotting up.
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A pub which appears to be on the brink of decline. Claims to be offering a Thai kitchen service - but could do with a more adventurous ale range (vinegary Cottage Western Star alongside Greene King and London Pride). Recent visits have been enlivened by attritional price increases, and an attitude on the part of at least one member of staff bordering on the offensive especially with regard to temperature. Rather than turning the heating down when she was hot behind the bar, she opened the door brusquely instructing that it should be left as such - making customers cold and increasing the pub's carbon footprint. Suddenly East Finchley has a choice of good pubs - and Madden's may not be in the forefront.
anonymous - 16 Nov 2007 00:17 |
A pub which appears to be on the brink of decline. Claims to be offering a Thai kitchen service - but could do with a more adventurous ale range (vinegary Cottage Western Star alongside Greene King and London Pride). Recent visits have been enlivened by attritional price increases, and an attitude on the part of at least one member of staff bordering on the offensive especially with regard to temperature. Rather than turning the heating down when she was hot behind the bar, she opened the door brusquely instructing that it should be left as such - making customers cold and increasing the pub's carbon footprint. Suddenly East Finchley has a choice of good pubs - and Madden's may not be in the forefront.
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I only popped in here last night for a quick Pint and ended up having about four. Good real Ale & Excellent Guinness. It has a smallish bar area at the front but also has really good large seating area to the rear of premises.
Good customers & most staff seemed friendly with good manors. Only down side was the girl that served me did not seem to crack a smile laugh or say Please and Thank you to Anyone all night which totally let down all her colleagues hard work and good manners Just shows one bad member of staff can make a big difference. But over all a very good Bar.
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Can anyone confirm if you can still get a Chinese from next door and have it in Maddens as you could back in 2002 when it was advertised in the good beer guide?
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Best pub in North London. Very friendly - great for a quiet drink / catch up with friends / football. You just need to think about your timings.
Best bit by far is there is never a queue for the bar - very quick.
Great ale.
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Madden’s looks a little naff from the outside but I found it to be pleasant enough. The front area, by the entrance, is like a proper pub and the rear area, by the toilets, is decked out with sofas.
Unfortunately the Stella was off so I only stayed for a quick pint as the only other strong lager was Kronenburg, but my short stay was enjoyable and I will be visiting again.
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Ales well kept - Service excellent - Customers happy and relaxed. It looks like a bar but feels like a pub.
Careful placing of screens makes it comfortable for watching sport but not intrusive if you aren't.
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Always a random night to be had in here.
Great bar staff, friendly locals and Asian Elvis!!!
My mate was jiving along the 'The King' with two ex-bunny girls one night!
Now that's the kind of randomness i like!
cxe78 - 12 Jun 2006 17:43 |
Visited for first time to hear a jazz band I like. Found the pub very busy (Saturday), a varied crowd, service above average for a Saturday - and good-humoured, pub atmosphere generally welcoming, 3-4 pubbers chatted - not bad as I was new there. Will go again.
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Excellent pub. Really good selection of real ales which are obviously kept well. Great atmosphere. They show all the football matches including those at 3pm on Saturaday via a satelite link of questionable legality. Can be busy for the football, but a great many different supporters come here and there's never been trouble.
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Definetely the best pub in barnet. Great atmosphere, great drinks, great people and with a newly installed pool table - you cant go wrong.
anonymous - 26 Jun 2005 17:35 |
This used to be called Welch's and had the biggest selection of real ale I've ever seen in a pub. Sadly I believe the owner committed suicide some years ago and the pub reopened as Maddens.
It's a bit of an oddity as the front of the bar caters for the bingo brigade and the back has more of a trendy trainers and leather pouffe atmosphere.
They do live music at the back which sometimes is just an excuse for a late licence, but other times is excellent - esp 'Asian Elvis' who has to be seen to be believed.
A downside is it can get very crowded and smokey, especially if there's a match on, and getting to the bogs becomes quite a struggle.
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Swiftly developing a soft spot for this place - nice decor, nice punters, nice staff including the remarkable quizmaster, who clearly devises his questions to confound only me as I've managed to come near enough last the past two times I've attempted it. They show the football as well though it doesn't attract the usual muppets that go along with the beautiful game. Apart from me, obviously.
From the outside it looks like a ropey Irish bar, incidentally, but it's not. Recommended.
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whats wrong with builders?
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This place sells lovely beer. It is a pleasure to find somewhere that still cares about serving proper beer aimed at men, not boys and builders.
But it is always empty apart from an old man with a secret woe.
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won 2004 enfield and barnet
BARNET PUB OF THE YEAR
dan - 24 May 2004 12:26 |
A splendid and genuinely friendly pub, full of characters. Lovely to sit outside in the summer and watch the World go by… EF’s answer to the café society.
Well kept Abbot bitter (among others) and Pusser’s rum. Who could want more?
steve - 13 Feb 2004 14:33 |
shop conversion, but not as they usually are tiny and full of pissed off old irishmen in jumbers and brown jackets. aqlthough only 25 odd years old, this and the nearby windsor castle are the only so-to-speak real pubs in east finchley, probably the best in all 3 finchleys east north central. the front of the pub is a proper olden days traditional pub, where you can sit on your own in total peace with a pint, yet at the back it's all brown leather couches, pine floors, etc, very young professional, but both blend perfectly and unabruptly, the old man can feel totally at home here with his pint of ale, and the trendy 20something professional will, too . 6 han pumps, and a very varied, always-changing selection, including seasonals, good staff, landlord and punters.
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A long, narrow pub with two regular, and up to four, changing, ales on handpump. Lots of Arsenal memorabilia. Large screen tv for sports. A good Chinese restaurant next door serves excellent food which can be ordered from, and eaten in, the pub as late as 8pm. This is a good pub.
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