The Brownswood Park Tavern, Finsbury Park - pub details

Has been completely revamped and gone quite 'gastro-pubby' if we can still use that term! The revamp will divide punters I am sure as there is a very different feel to the place. The upstairs room is light and airy and there were lots of people eating. The main improvement is the beer garden at the back - it's huge, better furnished and is a much nicer space. I am sure there will be lots said about it and for what it's worth i liked the old pub but understand why it has gone the way it has - they need to make money - and will carry on going.

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celt7 - 13 Oct 2011 09:55

This pub was one that I have passed frequently on the bus over the years but had never got around to visiting. It appeared to have closed down recently, but this closure is now revealed to have been temporary and the place has been revamped and reopened as 'The Brownswood'.

First off is that I don't like the renaming. The place was called the Brownswood Park Tavern, and was no doubt referred to informally by regulars as 'The Brownswood', but I don't see the need for this trend towards enshrining an informal name as the actual name of the pub. (I have seen this elsewhere, eg another pub in Stoke Newington that has had its name shortened in this style.)

As to the pub itself, it has a fair few ales on hand-pump but the selection was not particularly imaginative and the prices were on the expensive side (£3.30 for a pint of Harvey's Sussex Bitter). My pint, which I noted was served somewhat short, was drinkable but not a patch on the same product (Harvey's) served at the Half Moon, Balcombe. I am not an expert on what makes the difference between an excellent pint and a distinctly average one, but this definitely fell into the second category.

This pub, although appearing to be jumping on the real ale bandwagon, is not a patch on places like the Southampton Arms or Jolly Butchers. The ambience is different (I'm not keen on the 'clean' interior and bland star motif decorations on the walls of the upper floor). I would say it appeals to a different crowd. It doesn't appeal to me, that's for sure.

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beermann - 30 Aug 2011 19:16

Judging by the below reviews, this place evidently has a sizeable local following. By far its strongest point is the tremendous and seemingly unspoilt interior decoration - bits of the pub, and particularly the dining area at the back, can't have changed much since the Victorian era. It's not on the CAMRA Heritage Pubs list (I've just checked) but perhaps it should be.

Pub-wise, it's very much a locals' boozer of a somewhat down-at-heel kind, but I did note that, unusually and laudably for a pub of this kind, it was serving two ales: Deuchar and Directors when I visited. It was rather dark and depressing on the afternoon I visited, but perhaps that's the price paid for preserving the interior as they have done.

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grecian - 5 May 2009 10:18

It's alright, food looks quite nice, but I've never indulged. Only criticism would be the fairly large (but friendly-ish) dog that was lying around, tripping me up.

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DeliaSmith - 4 May 2008 13:46

i am really sad to hear about kay, my sincere condolences to billy. I moved away a year and a half ago and i had many a lock in with them. i have only just found out thru this site. i am in shock. they were the only pub in london that i have ever had the village feel as i had in cornwall.. PROPER LANDLORDS.
Pauls flatmate

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starrygazingbeerdrinkr - 24 Nov 2007 23:40

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