The Catcher in the Rye

This pub is a short stretch up the high street from Finchley Central Station and then suddenly it appears right at the side of the road. Apparently this pub has recently had a refit from a more traditional a shady image and now presents a couple of small tables outside with two entrances. These lead onto a bar with a rather loud bar-woman present. She seems to set the tone of the place- “we come from a rough background we doesn’t take any BS now, the bar is right here in your face - order your drink already and stop dawdling”. The taps are all plain steel coloured and if you couldn’t read what was written on the pumps you’d be without a beer - needless to say they don’t do cider! The rest of the pub arcs around the bar in two paths. One cul-de-sac’s into the front window in the top corner while the other side leads through a darkened way to a beer garden out back.

Overall the place has character (for what is clearly a gastro) but it is a little small and really needs to replace the riddles on the walls with Finchley Central wanted posters - to maintain its long standing image as the punter’s pub in these parts, else its the fairy pub among the wolves and with nothing but bottled cider a 4/10