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The ivy-clad Faltering Fullback is one of London's most distinctive bars - and it has a glorious beer garden
We all get that feeling of déjà vu from time to time, of having been in a place or situation before at some unspecified point. I'd wager a guess that for most people, that sensation comes sweeping over us when we enter a pub for what we think is the first time.
Whether it's as we walk through the entrance, or to the back room, up the stairs, out on the terrace, or even the loos, images from a slightly inebriated night out suddenly come flashing before our eyes, as we say: "I have been here before!" It's a revelation that usually gets a pretty ho-hum response from those we're with, rather than leading to a soaring rendition of "Journey to the Past"... unless you're already drunk... again.
I had that feeling yesterday when I visited Finsbury Park's famous ivy-clad pub, The Faltering Fullback, one of the most distinctive bars in the capital - with a glorious beer garden to boot. It's in a conspicuous location on the corner of Ennis Road and Perth Road, and it's covered in ivy. But much as I admired its façade, it didn't jog my memory one bit.
Nor did the pub's cavernous interior with its rounded bar, its rustic lounge with its globes, posters of old movies, 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' and The Marx Brothers' 'Animal Crackers', not to mention an enormous back room. The latter has the size and feel of an old banquet hall and, littered with memorabilia, I can imagine it's a raucous space to watch live music or football.
I admire all of this as I knock back my beer. A great thing about the Faltering Fullback is the prices are very reasonable for the capital - £6.20 for a pint of Madri and £6.30 for a Moretti. Maybe more expensive than other cities, but given London is usually £7 plus a pint, I'd say it's a pretty good deal.
It's through this gigantic back room that the trail leads to the Faltering Fullback's final trump card - a stairway, but to where? When children visit with their parents - this is a family-friendly pub - they must be delighted at how much there is to explore. Up the steps I go and I still haven't cottoned on to my past history with this bar. But as the sunlight hits my eyes and I catch the sight of palm leaves, along with an open vista of wood-decked terraces all around me - it really is charming - it all comes flooding back. "Ah! This is that pub!"
I remember one sun-soaked afternoon catching up with my friend now uprooted to Edinburgh, for what was meant to be lunchtime drinks that somehow went on until after dark. So delighted were we with this beer garden, ordering one round after another, we clearly just didn't want to leave.
And it's no wonder why. The Faltering Fullback's beer garden feels a bit like an Ewok village or the Merry Men's treehouse kingdom in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, with its multiple wooden levels. And with the sun raining down, boy it gets busy. Luckily, tables and chairs are dotted in a semi-circle all around the stairwell, and after a short wander, it's not hard to find a place to sit down.
So, here I come to write my review of visiting a glorious London bar - supposedly for the first time - and it turns out I've been plastered here once before. As I sip a little bit more, I wonder at how much I admired The Faltering Fullback's quaint allure, and yet none of it struck a chord in my memory until I reached the beer garden. Why is that?
Quite possibly, it's the magic of beer gardens. There's nothing quite like them. And as the sun starts to glimmer in anticipation of 2025 being one of the hottest years on record, we could all do with a liquid lunch in an Ewok village.
📍You’ll find The Faltering Fallback at 19 Perth Road, Finsbury Park, N4 3HB.
🚇 Nearest station is Finsbury Park.