Jolly Butchers, Enfield

Returned here recently after somehow failing to pop in for a couple of years. Still lovely. Looks great outside and in. Very polite and attentive service, well kept beers, reasonable priced. Good either for just a quite drink or for watching sport or a live band. Lost of nice comfy seats. My choice for best seats in the house is the recess just to the left of the front door, where there is a high table that allows you to see everything in the pub but also has windows on 3 sides for watching the world go by.
All in all a really good local pub doing well at a time when so many other pubs in the area are disappearing. It makes you appreciate it all the more.

9 Apr 2026 15:15

The Angel, Waltham Abbey

I have totally fallen in love with this pub. I have only visited on 4 occasions so far, but I liked it immediately from my first visit and have found my opinion being reinforced and strengthened on every subsequent visit.
This is an unassuming and yet delightful little neighbourhood pub on the edge of the town centre. It's a McMullen's house and serves their usual range of beers. Here they are kept well and served with a friendly welcome. It's the ambience of the place that makes it so appealing to me though. I first tried the left hand bar, which on the day I first entered had the air of a little local private members club, but in a good way. As in it was full of what I presume to be regulars just sitting there utterly relaxed and chatting away in a very cosy room, rather than there being any "you ain't from around here now are you stranger" hostility towards new customers. Like the staff the customers were relaxed, cheerful and friendly. There was football on the telly but nobody was screaming or being overly exuberant, they were just watching the game. That doesn't sound like much but sadly these days, it is hard to find a pub where people aren't taking it all waaaaay too seriously and making it a horrible place to just try and have a drink. There are a couple of booths with a long table and bench seating that also have their own smaller TV at the the end for people to still watch sports. There is also a dart board. On my second visit to the pub with my other half we were sat near the board and the darts was also on the telly, not particularly our thing, but again everyone was managing to watch and play without shouting or losing their temper and the vibe is totally relaxed and friendly.
The right hand bar, still has a TV but is much more the place people go to for a quiet chat over a few drinks and has a pleasant, convivial atmosphere again and is also very cosy and a great place to hide away from unpleasant weather outside and literally just relax and take a breather. It is the larger bar and is more spacious with a decent number of tables. Haven't eaten here yet, but the food looks and smells lovely. This pub isn't where you would head for a "big night out" but for a nice catch-up with mates, a weeknight drink with your other half or maybe even a cheeky pint on your own while you read the paper, it is a little slice of heaven.
My only two criticisms have been: 1) that at times they have on member of bar staff working both sides of the pub which can lead to a more relaxed pace of service, which didn't bother me personally as I was not in any kind of hurry, but might try the patience of some who crave instant gratification at all times. 2) Not a criticism of the pub, but of McMullen's who brew many wonderful beers but not all are available at every pub at any given time and so sometimes they don't have some of their best offerings here and worse still they did give them "Rival" which is apparently McMullen's attempt to produce an alternative cask based Stout to compete with Guinness. Not a rivalry, not even the same league. It was wretched.
Enough of that brief negativity - let's end on a positive note for a wonderful pub. If you are anywhere near here and fancy a pint - make this your first port of call!

9 Apr 2026 15:09

The Sun and Woolpack, Enfield

"Fun" Fact - I lived in Enfield for over 40 years and never set foot in this place until the very day that I was moving out of the area and had some time to kill while various bits and pieces were being sorted out. I now regret not trying it earlier. I was here in a Friday more or less as they opened the doors, and found it to be a very nice place in which to have a couple of afternoon beers on a warm day to pass an hour or so. The place was of course virtually empty, so depending on your viewpoint I was either getting it at its best or worst - but bar staff were friendly, as were the two other customers. Service was naturally quick, the beer was cold and very drinkable and well priced. The building itself is nice and airy and has a lot of natural light through the front windows, through which you can watch Enfield Wash go about its business, or not if that is what you are trying to forget about. They have multiple TVs for sport, a pool table, they do food but I didn't eat and seem to have DJs and Karaoke on fairly often according the the posters in the place. Not quite as "spit & sawdust" as I was expecting and slightly reminiscent of the sadly departed Sporting Green, which I used to love.
For a quiet daytime drink I would say this place will do you nicely.

9 Apr 2026 14:27