The Jolly Butchers is located on Stoke Newington High Street, just a stone’s throw from salubrious Church Street. This busy, bustling N16 pub is a must visit for beer aficionados and Stokie socialites alike.

The Venue
The Jolly Butchers is an imposing building, painted a deep garnet red colour, with tall pillars, large curtain-framed windows, an enormous sign reading “Ale & Cider House” and picnic tables outside for the smokers. Inside, the place is bedecked with chalk scrawled blackboards, worn, wooden floorboards, shiny tiled walls and battered furniture with a curious wallpaper mural of printed faces in circles across the back wall. It’s at once warm, charming, shabbily chic and very inviting.

The Atmosphere
A winning combination of friendly clientele, a great location and a truly superlative selection of beers make the Jolly Butchers an exciting place to be, whether it’s a Monday evening, Friday night or Sunday lunch. The place is always packed to the brim with Stoke Newington folk and is rich and full of life, which adds to the general buzz of the place.

The Food
The open kitchen in the corner of the venue dishes up sturdy pub classics from 5-10pm during the week and 12-10pm at the weekend. The Sunday roasts are particularly popular and come in at around the £9.95 mark, depending on whether you opt for beef, lamb, chicken or pork (booking is essential – we’ve learned the hard way) but equally as good are the Jolly Butcher’s burgers – Scottish Angus beef with pancetta, cheddar, tomatoes and chunky chips (blanched in goose fat for extra crispiness) and the fish and chips which is beer-battered and served with mushy peas (both £10.50).

The Drink
Finally, we come to the drinks…the Jolly Butchers serves a vast array of lagers, ales, stouts and ciders, many of which are London brewed, many of which you probably won’t have heard of before. Unique and boutique, there’s an impressive 23 on draught at times, and plenty more in barrels and in bottles behind the bar.

It's impossible to mention them all, but some particular highlights include: the Kernel range (bottled) brewed in SE1; Scottish BrewDog on draught is also an excellent choice, particularly the intoxicating Winter Porter, which at 8.5% is a cockle-warming option. There’s also Camden Town Brewery's Hells Lager, Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot (an American take on barley wine), Brooklyn Lager, ales from Redemption, a mysterious beer which is simply labelled “?”, a German Stiegl Weisse and innumerate more weird and wonderful options. Pints vary between £3.50-£6, sometimes more if you get something particularly obscure, but trust us, it’s more than worth it. Bottles of wine offer a standard pub choice – merlot, pinot grigio and chardonnay should set you back about £17, but the list ranges from £15-£20.

The Last Word
Undoubtedly one of the best pubs in north London. Beer lovers and pub frequenters, make sure you take a trip to N16 and check out this jewel in Stoke Newington’s crown.

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