The Lord Clyde, Canonbury, London

With its newly renovated beer garden, a fab menu (don't go without trying a Scotch egg with piccalilly!), a good selection of beer on tap and a friendly bunch of folks behind the bar, The Lord Clyde is indeed lord of the Essex Road pubs.

I've only been twice. But both times I've been more than pleased to be there. I'll be back (soon I hope!) and wish such an accommodating and laid back watering hole was just a little bit closer to where I live.

It's a brilliant place for a small gathering or a chin wag session with a close friend.

Damn tasty scotch eggs. Pork pie is good too. Add this to the real ale festival for St. George's Day and you have a pretty ideal pub. The owners are fixing it up bit by bit - there's now a beer garden, just in time for what will hopefully be a nice summer. Will be back to try some proper meals - the bar snacks are so nice the kitchen clearly knows what it's doing.

Decent pub with a changing selection of ales and remarkable scotch eggs. I went on St George's day for its mini ale festival, and it's obvious they care about their beer here. Still too many lager drinkers for my liking, but this place has real potential. It looks like it's been done up relatively recently, with plenty of dark wood and leather, and the garden out the back should hopefully come in handy this summer.

Not a bad boozer. Harveys Best in good nick. A lot more reasonably priced than the Embassy up the road. Will be back to try the food at some stage soon.

Proper Ale glasses with dimples and handles. Nice layout….bit gastro with the menu but not overly gastro pub in its feel and its layout. Smelt faintly of smoked kippers (but not in the bad way, honest!)

Had 2 ales on tap, including Ferrymans Gold, an award winning golden ale on my first visit but had unsurprisingly run out by second visit. The Ferryman was due to be back on duty the next day, however. There is an English wine there too (I didn’t know such things existed).

The landlord still has a few ideas for things he would like to do the pub and if they are along the lines of what he has done so far then that’s a good thing.

Lovely pub up the less fashionable end of Essex Road. It has a proper 'local’ feel thanks to the regulars and the super-friendly bar staff who introduce themseves and remember your odrer that you wouldn’t expect from the glamorous exterior and chic wood floors. Menu is decent (more gastro-pub than regular fare) and the dishes certainly lived up to expectations.