please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I was in here last Friday afternoon and although it was dead I could imagine it being very good with the right crowd and less of the depressing blues music. The beer garden was shut, but hopefully it is now open with all this bright sunshine we’ve been having this week. I saw signs for a restaurant upstairs and I thought that the downstairs seating was plentiful and well laid out with a sunken part by the windows. You can spot the gates to Alexandra Palace through a sea of cars and traffic lights.
Normal lagers plus some premium on offer alongside Addlestones, Wessex Red and Whippet of Oz.
This is not a bad pub and the walk down the hill from Muswell Hill is nice, but I’m not sure it is worth the walk home again.
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Went in on Saturday. The beer was excellent Sharps Coaster and Summer Lightning. As for the food that was really, really good. Service couldn't have been better and sitting out in the conservatory couldn't have been nicer. Top pub abd top restaurant.
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Went here for a quick pint the other day. A great place to relax with the Sunday papers.
Beer nearer 3 quid than two - but wine list looked fairly reasonably priced. Great smell drifting from the kitchen. Don't attempt to walk up the hill to MH after.
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This is a great little pub with decent gastro grub. Good beers and lager's, great wine and even a cocktail list. Doesn't look much from the outside, but do venture in, you will not be disappointed. However if you want fruit machines, pool and a juke box, go round the corner to The Famous Royal Oak. This is more wooden floors and furniture. a great boozer.
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pretentious is not strong enough a word. don't get me wrong, the staff are ok, they just seem to have been inundated with tossers drinking there. which means they've had to make their food all wanky and their beers all posh. I hate it I hate it I hate it.
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The Pear Cider is fantastic. Barman/waiter seemed to be a bit of a dopey bollocks - couldn't work out pear from apple, ice from water... you get the picture. Sat out in the beer garden one Saturday afternoon with the Mrs, nice relaxed atmosphere but a bit wanky nonetheless.
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Almost as pretentious as SGLA.
anonymous - 7 Apr 2005 01:07 |
Picture the scene, the secretariat of the SGLA decides to indulge in a spot of bourgeois decadence and indulge in some scran at Victoria Stakes. It was a beautiful summer's day, and out we ventured onto the patio. Clearly the waitress was confused to see two young men dining together, and approached us with what could only be described as a mixture of caution and curiosity.
Food was tasty, I'll concede... but once the lamb's livers were cleared and the remnants of the roasts returned to the kitchen, I had no room for afters. Ma camarada, however, ordered some sorbet for himself, at which point the waitress asked if we wanted two spoons.
Oh, how I laughed. But not as much as when she smacked her buttocks into the table adjacent to ours and knocked all the condiments to the floor.
I will never return owing to their prices, it ain't for me. But for the experience alone I'll give it a good mark. Well done.
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Somewhat disappointing in the last 6 months or so, food just isn't what it used to be when it first opened - it used to be fantastic but now it's very average with very high prices....Wine list could be better too.... Saying that I like the bar, the staff are friendly and there's a nice atmosphere with good decor but the last 4 or 5 times I've eaten there it's just been really poor....
anonymous - 7 Feb 2005 10:27 |
I love this pub...
we used to come here every Bonfire night after the fireworks at Ally Pally when it was an old man's pub - now it sells great food and good wine and beer. I have never been disappointed with their food - always great, always huge! Love the caraway seed bread and olive oil you get to munch on while you're waiting... they also do the best porterhouse and chateaubriand steaks I have ever had in the UK - and ostrich and bison burgers for the daring! If you have a hangover, the house bloody mary with freshly grated horseradish is a real kick up the arse... go and try it out!
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Went here for Christmas dinner.
Most people had finished their main course before the restuarant brought out the accompanying vegetables, some 20 minutes later. The resturant still had the cheek to ask for a previously unadvertised service charge - the christmas dinner being advertised at a set price.
anonymous - 21 Dec 2004 11:06 |
P R E T E N T I O U S
Peter - 9 Nov 2004 18:38 |
Just before the Summer, there was a sign at the back door saying "Beer Garden - opens 1st June". With that in mind, I popped in there one hot afternoon after work to partake of a cold crisp lager, only to be told that I was only allowed in the garden if I ordered food. (Gastro, so a tenner at least for bangers & mash.) The "Beer Garden" sign that promised so much had been replaced by a sign saying "Outdoor Dining". Presumably to keep people like me away - cheers.
Oh, I presume CJ and Matthew have actually been to every pub in North London. Sorry, but it really angers me when people have the self importance to claim that their knowledge is the only knowledge worth having.
brett - 7 Nov 2004 16:51 |
Jason, the owner is the salt of the earth, Lovely lovely pub. Best pub in North London. Good food and they sell Swedish cider - Kopparbergs... Nice!
Matthew Pelham - 2 Nov 2004 14:29 |
They've done a great refurb on this. It used to be a right dump.
A nice bar dowstairs and a great dining room upstairs.
They have Abbot Ale and Greene King IPA on draught.
It's a posh nosh joint so the foods a bit pricey but, though I am no culinary expert, it's a case of getting what you pay for.
KevinS - 18 Oct 2004 15:43 |
The best pub in North London
CJ - 3 Aug 2004 14:19 |
Nice Victorian pub with a restaurant upstairs that does great food. Only downside is that it can get very busy on the weekends and the range of beers is not huge. Nonetheless, a very nice place for a night out.
Kris - 23 Jul 2004 13:19 |
The wine selection and most of the staff are nice - except for the obnoxiously rude, dismissive manager who lacks customer service and the ability to make good judgement - who has also managed single handed to put my friends and I from ever returning. Until he goes - we stay away!!!
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Great Pub, shame there isn't enough room for us all to go - but that's what keeps it good.
The rest of muswell hill please take note - The Village, Green Man, Ha Ha and all the other trash wannabe trendy places... this is how it should be if you want to get rid of your idiot customers.
Clem - 7 Jul 2004 15:39 |
Great Sunday lunch washed down with a pint of Abbot Ale from Bury St Edmunds. Bit of an ass if you live in Muswell cos you've gotta walk all the way back up the hill after with a large about of potatoe etc in you gut.
Dan - 14 May 2004 11:54 |
Lovely atmosphere and exquisite food. The beer garden is really worth a vist on a balmy summer evening. Its only real failing is that it's not at the top of Muswell Hill. Maybe they could swap with the Green Man!!
David - 9 May 2004 18:17 |
Fantastic. I have not been in a pub in a long time that has this sort of atmosphere.Chilled, relaxede, food excellent and staff are undeniably one of the greatest assets to the business. Combine the music, which is at an audible level, the scrumtous food, the garden which was erected to blow your mind away, the open fire in the winter-seated restuarant, then you have a fantastic winning combination. Keep up the good work Victoria Stakes. Well done to the owner.
Laurence Fishburne - 12 Feb 2004 13:02 |
Muswell Hill has very little in the way of good pubs, so this is a godsend if you don't mind the trip down/up the hill...
anonymous - 10 Feb 2004 11:13 |
It is a fantastic place, with an eclectic mix of food and wines. The manager is really hot too.
Kelli Moose - 15 Dec 2003 00:21 |
The Victoria Stakes is a classic London gastro pub with an atmosphere that is cool & relaxed. The exceptional menu combining modern English and South Pacific flavours more than warrant the slightly high-end prices. The wine and beer is good, as are the cocktails, and a garden restaurant makes for an unforgettable summer pub experience. All-in-all the Victoria stakes is great value and well worth the visit. www.victoriastakes.co.uk .
Kevin Mann - 17 Nov 2003 11:59 |
Great food, good selection of beers & their garden in the summer is the best in London.
Though the upstairs resturant in the winter is cosy with the open fire.
Jasper - 1 Nov 2003 14:38 |
A bit in an out of the way location, halfway between Crouch End and Muswell HIll but worth the walk, or the W7 bus trip. It was renovated year ago or more and sells fabulous food. The interior was completely redecorated and designed. Very comfortable section with leather sofas and the rest is wooden tables and chairs. A restaurant section is also upsatirs and it 'looks' like they're building an outside area at the moment.
Loats of choice of beers (Belgian) and a huge wine menu too. The music isn't too loud, they even have guest DJs occasionally, and its relaxing during the day, busy in the evenings but not too busy. The bar staff are great and it seems to attract a slightly thirty-something generation.
BlueDuck - 18 Jul 2003 14:18 |
