See you at the pub: The Coach and Horses

When you’re in New York, you’re at Nevada Smith’s. When you’ve got money, you’re at Emirates. But where to go while in London? We’re spoilt for choice when it comes to Arsenal pubs in North London, so we’ll try to take you though some of our experiences in our search for the perfect pub.

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The Coach and Horses
178 Stoke Newington High Street
London N16 7JL

Match attended: Porto v Arsenal, 17th February 2010

To be fair to the Coach and Horses, this was not a typical match; due to a particular concurrence of work and recently-dumped friends, I found myself alone at a Stoke Newington pub to “get work done” while watching the game. Unsurprisingly work fell by the wayside, but not just due to Arsenal-related distraction…

Drink selection: Good. Though I spent the match teetotal (or to be literal, tea-total--hohoho), past memory serves to show that the drinks options are wide enough.

Drink price: Fair. There’s cheaper, but not by much.

Screen size and visibility: Poor. Sitting at the back couch – the only real option available to a solo viewer — meant that the screen, though medium-sized, was continually blocked by: the Thai waitress, an Arsenal supporter in a black hat, a group of hipster girls, and the chav Tottenham supporters who decided to sit across from me and talk loudly throughout the whole match.

Crowd: Poor. There was a small clutch of Arsenal supporters made noticeable by shouts of victory and defeat, but as a whole the crowd was more concerned with drinking and pulling than watching the match.

Singing: Are you kidding?

Location: Good. Close to home, but that clearly doesn’t say much.

Overall rating: Poor. Though usually a great pub for writing or catching up with friends, Arsenal-watching is clearly not its forte. There are other Stoke Newington options that we’ll be checking out in the future in our quest to find the top Arsenal pubs throughout the capital…keep watching for more!