London's no. 1 Wetherspoons pub, and there's a beer festival on. Turnpike, Broadside and Barn Owl for well under two quid. Crowds of old blokes talk about cricket and Guinness while pockets of cleaned-up 30something ex-Clash fans get nostalgic for the days when Stoke Newington was cheap and you could get proper beer and a fight down the road at the Three Crowns.
The Bank of Friendship, Highbury Park, N5
They have a theme tune which is sort of Bryan Adamsish and goes like this:
"It's the Bank of Friendship
The one for me and you
The Bank of Friendship
We can drink there too."
Actually, no - that's a complete lie. It is a nice, usually quiet, local, its under-the-counter Irishness only obvious when you spot the Ireland football shirt and picture of Pat Jennings on the wall. There used to be a crowd of Dubs who sat by the door of one bar who'll probably know you if you went to school in Dublin between 1946 and 1960.
The Arsenal Cafe, Blackstock Road
There are so many with virtually the same name around here. Anyway, they do a great bacon and tomato sandwich on thick crusty white. Free Mirror to read while you∂re waiting. The owner looks like the actor Paul Sorvino.