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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.
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5 responses so far ↓
1 luke F // Apr 9, 2007 at 2:14 pm
the cat and lantern is shit!!
im 16 and even i know that!!!
shitest pub in barnet!
go to the prince just down the road its much better!
both my mum and my sister have worked in the cat, thats how i know its shit
2 Eve Tomlinson // Apr 18, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I used to work in the cat a few years back, when it had live bands and it was great and the locals were great too!It’s a shame to hear about it like that! What happened to Linda & Del?
3 chris // Jul 7, 2007 at 4:34 pm
pub was sold by Del and Linda to an irish pub franchise group who didn’t give a toss about it….then thay sold it and it now up for rent as a retail unit…probably Turkish take-away!!!
4 The Great Smell Of Brute // Mar 17, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I remember when the Cat & Lantern was new: it was a breath of fresh air to the Village then. Shame it was gradually run down by successive owners over the years…
…And the writing was on the wall for the place as soon as it reopened as the Chav Bar or whatever the last set of owners decided to call it.
5 Matt // May 18, 2011 at 10:37 pm
I worked in the Cat in the Mid nineties. It was getting a bit tired by then but it had a small revamp which freshened things up a bit. The ‘Beach Party’ (including loads of real sand) did a great job of scrubbing up the real boarded floor too. loads of other off the wall events happenned there too. memorable ones were a night where everyone arrived dressed as Peter, the Landlord and a snow party. that one took a LOT of clearing up.
there was Live music on most Fridays and a nicer cross section of real life poeple/punters, you couldn’t meet anywhere.
It’s a shame boozers like this fall to neglect and subsequent decline. I look back on my days there fondly as a punter and a Barman.
lots of good pinball was played too. Of course i insisted on inflicting my mix tapes on the place on every one of my shifts. AND smoking. Anyone else remember smoking INDOORS.
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