The first pub was the Stag & Hounds (N9 9JW) which is an Ember Inns pub. The pub is in a huge building which you would only expect to see from an old pub in the suburbs. The outside is painted white and decorated with mock Tudor beams. There is a car park just to the side of the pub which is very useful as this is very much a pub geared towards dinning and families. There is an upstairs dinning area but the downstairs also offers dinning at all tables. The pub was much larger and spacious then I had expected from the outside. Upon walking through the two sets of doors you there's quite a large space before arriving at the bar which stretches down towards the bottom of the pub. The pub is carpeted throughout, and it seems a good hard wearing type. There was a family gathering happening at the bottom end of the pub, and a few drinkers scattered around the rest of the tables near the bar area.
The pub offered what I deem a standard London selection of keg beers with the likes of Stella, Peroni, Coors, Hop House 13 and Carling. Ember Inns also offer a good focus towards national ales band on this visit they had Brakspear and Purity Pure Gold on, alongside their house ale of Ember Inns Pale Ale. There was also a Christmas ale on Ember Inn Snow Place Like Home which was brewer by Black Sheep. I selected this as my drink because Black Sheep make some nice ales, and it was Christmas, why not. It was only £3.20 for a pint and CAMRA members get a 20p discount on a pint. The beer laced the glass well and was one of the better Christmas ales I've had this year.
For my next pint I opted for the house Ember Inns Pale Ale which is also brewed by Black Sheep. This wasn't as good as the Christmas ale but again at £3.20 it's a decent price. I noticed that there was a cask setup on the floor, with a hand pump attached to it. It wasn't in use but was there to advertise both the up coming ales board and that on Monday's they only charge £2.49 for any ale, which is a very competitive price. This seems to be an Ember Inns promotion for their whole estate and not specific to just the individual pub. My last drink at the Stag & Hounds was a bottle of the ever so wonderful Hiver The Honey Beer. The honey adds a sweetness to the beer which is not over powering. I would recommend the Honey Beer and their Honey Ale to people.
After my drinks at the Stag & Hounds I decided to wonder across the road to the Beehive (N9 9JZ). The Beehive is again a big pub that has plenty of frontage onto the road. There are benches outside for the better weather but today was more an inside affair. The Beehive is a Greene King pub, which I was well aware of before entering but which I was surprised to see was only serving Greene King IPA and the remainder of the ales were from other national breweries. There were 5 ales on across the eight taps, with the remaining three acting as repeaters. I selected the excellent BoltMaker by Timothy Taylor. The pint was in excellent condition and retained its head.
The Beehive appears to have had a recent refurbishment turning one side into a gastro looking dinning area with wood flooring and cream chairs around tables whilst the bar area remained carpeted with casual seating. The refurb has made the pub very light throughout though loses that more warmth feel of the Stag & Hounds, which I feel you get from carpet. The pub wasn't too busy though some regulars and the landlord were sat opposite the bar discussing the spurs game they had come back from.
My last drink of the evening was a bottle of Mahou Cinco Estrellas by the San Miguel brewery. I've not come across this beer before in a pub so was certainly drawn to see what it tasted like. It wasn't outstanding but was drinkable. It just came across as a pale lager, whereas I was expecting something slightly more powerful like a reserve style beer due to the 5.5% abv.
If there was perhaps another pub nearby I would have popped in there for a final pint, but as nothing is within walking distance, I called it a night and made my way home. The two pubs were both imposing suburbia pubs that offered a good range in ales and lagers, and had their own style that would appeal to different clientele, and as expected of pubs in the suburbs were geared up for food.
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