The George, Kingsbury, NW9

Visited 23/04/25 No cask. The two handpumps with decorative ceramic handles looked like they hadn't been pulled in quite a while. Keg offering of Carlsberg, Angelo Poretti, Heineken, Stella, Thatchers Gold, Guinness, Camden Hells, Shipyard Pale Ale. This is a large venue, really quirky (see below for examples) and would be pretty good if only there was a more exciting beer range. The Guinness was the saviour here for me. There is an attractive (given the geographic location) seating area out the front with picnic benches in a pretty green setting. The seating area out the back is less attractive decking with the same picnic benches and wraps around the rear of the pub. Inside it is essentially a large square with the bar counter occupying the rear right hand corner making the seating area an L shape. The walk from the entrance to the bar counter is stone tiled with the same along the operational front side of the bar, the remainder of the front part is boarded. There are a few stools on the right end of the bar counter. To the left of the entrance are a few booth tables in the front windows and then a mish mash of seating including a leather sofa and leather bucket chair set up separated by a low table in front of the fire grate that looks like it is used but probably not this time of the year. An upright piano stands against the wall to the right of the fire grate. To the right of the entrance are regular tables and chairs and a banquette on the front window serving a few tables. A dartboard sits on the wall to the right of the bar counter but not obvious it is used. To the left and beyond the bar counter is a slightly raised and carpeted venue where diners are probably housed, but none on my visit and which leads to the rear outside seating area. The toilets are access by (for gents) a red telephone box door and (for ladies) a Tardis door! Whilst they are marked as such, I found it necessary to check rather than look like an idiot that tries to open a phone box door for a wee. Lots of signage, objects and life advice on the walls plus, as the name suggests, this venue pushes itself to be different to many of the venues in this post code area. Indeed, I can't imagine walking into any of the Irish bars around here to be greeted by the sound of the original version of Vindaloo being belted out on the sound system, or the brass band version of the Colonel Bogey March! Felt appropriate for what ordinarily would be St George's Day, but that isn't 23rd April this year.

Built in the 1930s for Cannon, this roadhouse pub is one of the grandest examples of brewers’ Tudor I’ve ever seen; it looks like the kind of suburban North London mansion that a participant in the Brink’s-Mat or Hatton Garden bullion robberies would inhabit. As per Google, there are ugly meal deal and drinks’ flyers affixed to the periphery’s ironmongery. Inside, it’s lost much of its once undoubted grandeur, but it’s still a fairly smart pub. The bar back is modern ‘olden-style’, the front modern. The floor is flagstone in the baronial tradition, walls a mix of trendy elements, seating being lounge-style, large tables or leatherette booth-style arrangements. Items of note are the lavatory entrances: the gents a mock-up of a K9 phone booth, the ladies a TARDIS (I suppose they need more space for the cubicles). There’s a multitude of Irish tricolour flags and rude signs above a seating area with statements such as ‘BULLS*IT CORNER’. Customers were few at the time of my Friday visit approaching 10.00pm, including some Asians, perhaps enjoying a swift one after visiting the mandir up the road. There were two unused pumps, then fizz, a half of Stella £2.75, served by a friendly old-school Irish landlady. Given the immense trek to get here for cooking lager, it’s not worth the effort, but pickings here are thin and this place is a joy to behold compared to the Green Man.

Facebook page of The George - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The George - www.facebook.com

Official site of The George - www.thegeorgekingsbury.com

Official site of The George - www.thegeorgekingsbury.com

I walked into the George at about 22:30 on St George’s Day night and was confronted by six or seven slaughtered locals ‘doing the hotstuff’ around the bar which I was dragged into. After some impromptu grooving I gained access to the bar where I was served a decent pint of Guinness by a polite barman. I did spot two hand pumps in amongst the sea of standard draught taps and these were drawing Greene King IPA and Spitfire. There are screens throughout for showing the heavily advertised Sky Sports and there is a dartboard and pool table to the right of the entrance. There are some picnics out the front along with some parking and there is a larger garden to the rear that I did not visit as the disco was blocking the rear exit. To be honest it was nice to find a non Irish bar in the crawl I had through Brent, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to return here.