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The Salisbury, London N4, pub review

Rare dimensions: the late-Victorian opulence of The Salisbury - HJUK
Rare dimensions: the late-Victorian opulence of The Salisbury - HJUK

The Salisbury Hotel on Green Lanes in Haringey is a beauty of rare dimensions. If you pop its alleged architectural style – French renaissance – into Google you are shown an array of châteaux and cathedrals, which seems about right once you’ve substituted the warm red of the London Brick Company, founded by architect and developer John Cathles Hill, for the crisp limestone of the Loire.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Hill, the self-made son of a Dundee tollbooth worker, envisioned the Salisbury and its sister, The Queens Hotel in Crouch End, as upmarket social hubs serving the tracts of north London he was busily building from his office in Archway.

A monthly swing-dancing class sees half the downstairs bar transformed into a flapper’s paradise

Since then the Salisbury has been working on its cultural hinterland, serving as a location for films including The Long Good Friday starring Bob Hoskins, Richard Attenborough’s Chaplin and a scary David Cronenberg thriller called Spider.  This triple bill would make a fantastic all-dayer in a place brimming with entertainment facilities: the Salisbury hosts a monthly swing-dancing class that sees one half of the downstairs bar, with its snug booths and black-and-white floor tiles, transformed into a flapper’s paradise.

salisbury green lanes - Credit: © Remarkable Pubs Ltd
Wonderfully detailed: the back bar at The Salisbury Credit: © Remarkable Pubs Ltd

The space is vast but wonderfully detailed, with fine wrought iron, wood panelling and stonework, and an original Arts & Crafts glass skylight in the ballroom. There is so much here to love and admire, but my most poignant memory is that of trying Portobello London Pilsner for the first time, being temporarily transported to central Europe and realising I’ve rarely been so impressed by a beer. 

It was accompanied by a packet of rosemary and thyme pitta chips that were delicate and delicious, savoury and salty – like falling face first into the herbs at a garden party – a perfect pairing.

Worth a pilgrimage.

1 Grand Parade, Green Lanes, London N4 1JX 020 8800 9617; thesalisburyhotelpub.co.uk

Emma Hartley is co-founder of 24hourlondon.co.uk, which alerts Londoners to late-opening bars, restaurants and clubs nearby