North London’s your oyster - You just need a Crouch End taxi that won’t cost the earth

Built in 1851 by the Maynard family, this charming and eponymous gastropub is one of Crouch End’s true glimmering jewels. Set up to feel as warm and welcoming as possible, it’s filled with comfy Chesterfield sofas and the kinds of booths you can slide into and never come back from. The rest of the pub is still decorated with a lot of the original features – lending it that authentic village feel. Out back you’ll find a cute but spacious beer garden that fills up quickly in summer time and is equally hard to pull yourself away from after a shandy or two. The food is original and often surprisingly daring for ‘just a pub’.

70 Park Road, N8 8SX
www.maynardarmsn8.co.uk/

For an altogether more authentic north London boozer, try the Harringay. This is the kind of place that puts no stock in shabby chic decor. Relying exclusively on good beer and a fine atmosphere to carry it home. Housing over 150 different beers, it’s not hard to see why this is a popular haunt with local ale drinkers, but it’s not just the kind of place old men and snobby craft ale enthusiasts go. It’s generally popular with all sorts; young and old. There’s a great little off licence attached next door in case you need a few carry-homes (Dusty Dick’s), and they often have live music on too.

153 Crouch Hill, N8 9QH
www.theharringayarms.com/

Odd, quirky and fun – proving that it’s not all pubs in Crouch End is popular Jimi Hendrix themed cocktail bar Kiss The Sky. Serving brightly coloured drinks with all the passion of a city centre bar, they host an excellent (and rather popular) quiz every monday. And as you’d expect from a bar whose name was pinched from a Hendrix song, they also put on acoustic gigs on Sundays. Sport is sometimes screened and there are any number of drinks offers on throughout the week and after work on a Friday.

18–20 Park Rd, N8 7EB
www.kisstheskybar.com/

This is exactly the kind of place you hope to find in a place like Crouch End. It’s small but cosy, stripped back but civilised, modestly priced but always brilliant. The food and drink is described as “Barcelona with edgy Brooklyn cool”, and while it may be a bit of a stretch to imagine Bar Esteban on a trendy corner of Williamsburg, we can definitely see what they’re getting at. What really tickled our fancy is the way Bar Esteban has jumped right in and started serving a hand selected range of Spanish sherry and wine to compliment their excellent meu. Hands down one of our favourite places in north London.

29 Park Rd, N8 8TE
www.baresteban.com/

If London is drowning in a sea of Chinese, Indian, French and Italian restaurants then the one thing it doesn’t have enough of is Israeli restaurants. Especially if the food at Palomar is anything to go by. Shuffle in the entrance and down the long bar to choose your seat in front of the chefs (there are larger tables at the back but it’s less fun) and they’ll ply you with incredible Mediterranean food for as long as your palate can handle. Generally it’s a mix of small and larger plates so we recommend going with a friend you don’t mind sharing with. Also, be prepared to drink while you’re here. It’s practically obligatory.

54 Tottenham Ln, N8 8PT
bistroaix.co.uk

Lending even further credence to the theory that Crouch End might just be a village from some halcyon multicultural nirvana is TooTooMoo. This pan asian cafe restaurant perches elegantly on the side of the road with its windows open for all to see inside. The menu is made up of all those Asian goodies you’ve come to love. Gyoza, soft shell crab, even sushi. And they aren’t shy with the drinks either. Laying down a firm claim to having the most creative and innovative cocktail menu in all of Crouch End.

230 Archway Rd, N6 5AX
www.tootoomoo.co.uk/crouch-end

Built in 1873 as an entertainment venue, Alexandra Palace – or Ally Pally as it’s affectionately known – is a vast expanse of lush green parkland and beautiful housing. What’s great about Alexandra Palace is the way it continues to embrace its heritage even after all these years. As one of the city’s premier entertainment venues it still hosts everything from fairs and fetes to full blown music festivals and even a yearly box car race. But of course, even when it’s not that busy it’s still a great place to visit, if only for a long stroll through the palace’s stunning grounds.

Alexandra Palace Way, N22 7AY
www.alexandrapalace.com

If you’re lucky enough to live in Crouch End then you’ve got one of the best cinemas in London! Once a Salvation Army hall, The ArtHouse is now a two screen cinema which shows everything from European arthouse cinema and foreign language films right through to summer blockbusters. Far from limiting themselves to just films though, this little picture house is also a sometime art gallery and live performance space, where they put on comedy, music and theatre. Inside you’ll find a quaint little cafe and bar where you can stock up on goodies before the performance.

159A Tottenham Ln, N8 9BT
www.arthousecrouchend.co.uk

Slink downstairs at the ever popular Crouch End pub, the King’s Head and you’ll find one of the area’s best kept secrets – a comedy night. From Wednesday through Sunday every week local punters in need of cheering up file in to witness some of the best comedy acts in north London. The shows range from standup through to sketch shows and even live music (Sunday’s are often designated jazz evenings), and they’re more often than not alive with a really mixed audience of young and old. Tickets usually cost around £10 per show and the pub’s not half bad either.

2 Crouch End Hill, N8 8AA
www.downstairsatthekingshead.com/