The Cat and Lantern

Nothing could be more well hidden on a high street in plain view of day than the Cat and Lantern, a pub totally famous for that gut-felt pain you get when you are stabbed casually with a butchers knife and no-one comes to your aid. Yes I am talking about the violence, chav-festival of rumour and claim that this place has held highly for the last few years and yet how far from the truth could this have been- lets say a stretch short of the length of time!! Inside the cat and lantern was empty- the time being 9pm on a saturday night and the new sign swinging outside reading “under new management”. It was clear the old ways were untolerated under this new government. The bar to the left served up virtually no beer that was displayed as being offered- half the fridges were turned off and the only company was the bar-woman and two of her friends. The seating was obviously readily available and we enjoyed the exclusivity even if the landlord did throw us a few dark looks later on.

Overall the drinks were a good price and from the looks of things you should try and make this your new barnet local before it packs out again- and don’t worry no risk of death- that is until you venture into the horrible toilets. It has pretty botch character but needs work- oh so much work. 4/10

The pubs in Barnet have an incredible heritage, highlighted in Richard Selby’s recent book about Barnet pubs. I have to say this is one of the best books on the history of Barnet and well worth a read.