Sitting at the bottom of Muswell Hill is this quaint little venue, fully equipped with a fine selection of wines, cocktails, beers and quality food.

The Venue
The Victoria Stakes is ideally located for an afternoon beverage after the Farmers Market, held every Sunday across the road at Alexandra Palace. If you’re walking around Muswell Hill it may seem a bit out of the way, but if you want good food and great drink then the extra walk is most certainly worth the effort. Having filled your belly, a bus might be needed to get back up the hill again. For those of you driving, parking isn’t great but if you don’t mind a short walk there are several residential side streets off the main road where you should get lucky and find a space.

Very popular among locals, The Victoria Stakes is often busy. When they’re not in the large concreted beer garden at the back of the pub, everyone stays in the warmth where the huge windows sport beautiful heavy red curtains. Every once in a while the beaming light that shines through on a clear day momentarily turns to darkness as a double decker bus tries to gather momentum outside to get up the hill.

The decor is kept traditional, smart and clean, emitting a warm and comfortable feeling. The first thing you notice - other than the happy young faces - are the tables, chairs and sofas that fill the room. With so many chairs and tables in the fairly small space it can be quite troublesome negotiating the turns; however, it forces you to be chummy with the people around you. They have done well to section an area off, enclosed within a wooden banister. To get in here you must walk down the three steps where you’ll be greeted with loads more tables and chairs.

Next to this area is a whirling staircase with a banister entangled with fairy lights. Follow these fairy lights up the maroon carpeted steps and you’ll stumble upon the restaurant.

The Atmosphere
Inside, it’s warm, snug and full of twenty-to-thirtysomethings reclined on the studded green or maroon leather sofas whilst numerous couples fill up the smaller tables. The bar staff are very friendly and extremely helpful if you have any questions that you want to fire at them.

The Drink
The Victoria Stakes prides itself on its drinks. With two guest ales on rotation, a pint of which will cost you £2.70, this is a great place to try some new flavours. They’re also hoping to install an extra tap which will allow them to offer a regular ale for £2.80.

For those that like a fruity cider, Addlestones can also be had on draught. Also on tap are Staropramen, Stella Artois, Carlsberg, Guinness (£3.10), Grolsch and Heineken. Those interested in bottled beers have an interesting selection to choose from including Duvel, Budvar, Nastro Azzuro, San Miguel and Corona.

The Last Word
A great little pub with some very interesting drinks and a young crowd, the Victoria Stakes makes for an excellent local.

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