El Comandante , Holloway  

Holloway is a surprisingly decent area for pubs, but it was still nice to discover the El Comandante a few years ago. Formerly the Lord Palmerston, with its original name still visible, clues to its reinvention are subtle: a small poster in the window and the glass in the old Watney's lantern replaced with something a little more, well, revolutionary. Essentially, this is a South American bar in an old pub. Not much has been done to renovate the interior - a fresh lick of paint and some huge Che Guevara posters is about the sum of it - the usual huge palms were sadly missing on our last visit. The lager on tap is unexceptional but the latin music from the jukebox definitely adds to the ambience, although unless you like R&B its best to avoid Saturday nights. At other times however, with a warm welcome from the Bolivian landlord, its easy to forget you're on the grey backstreets of N7. If nothing else, it puts most other - more popular - South American bars to shame. Viva la Revolucion!

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