It is rather lovely to have an real ale bouzer almost on one’s doorstep, especially one as nice as the Oakdale. It’s a good size pub, with two big rooms, so I’ve never really felt crowded in there, although at the beer festival a couple of months ago it was pretty busy. It has a really comfortable feel to it, as well as pool tables, darts competitions and a pretty good juker (of which more later). A small group of us tootled down on Saturday night and worked pretty comprehensively through the beers on tap. I understand the Oakdale is the only pub in London that sells Milton beers, including the darkdark stout of NERO, which makes guinness taste like soda water, it’s so deep and bitterchocolatey and [drools]… There were several other beers of darkness about including a very quaffable Mild (did you know it’s “wild about mild” month?) and the rather disturbing Vindolanda (another Milton one I think) which, as Liz correctly pointed out, tasted an awful lot like soy sauce, but not in a bad way…
So overall a top north London bouzer, however, towards the end of the evening I put my quid into the juker and selected my five tracks from the somewhat rock-based, but reasonably wide-ranging selection. As the helium-voiced strains started up “when I was young, seemed that life was so wonderful…” the track was abruptly cut off before Sheffield Dave could even get started, “NO SCOOTER IN THIS PUB!” shouted the landlord much to our dismay. “His pub, his rules” maybe, but why have it on the juker then?