Little Green Dragon
Richard Reeves cycled round a hundred micropubs for charity in 2015, then took a shop unit at the top of Green Lanes and opened Enfield's first one two years later (CAMRA).
Why go
It opened on Sunday 27 August 2017, and Reeves named it after the Green Dragon that used to stand further along the road, now a Waitrose (Time Out). Four real ales at a time, from local microbreweries and independents further out, and they change constantly. They come off gravity from a temperature-controlled cellar room built behind the small bar counter, which is the detail that separates a micropub that means it from one that has a fridge. Four keg lines run alongside, often Bohem from up the road, and the ciders and perries come off the same cold room.
CAMRA's Enfield and Barnet branch has named it Pub of the Year in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2026. The gap in 2023 is a branch rule rather than a lapse: the reigning winner sits out the following year's judging. It was Greater London Pub of the Year in 2018, its first full year, and again in 2024. In October 2024 CAMRA put it in the national final four.
Inside there is no television, no piped music and no fruit machine. There are board games, table skittles and shove ha'penny, bus blinds of local routes on the walls, and a screen by the door showing when the next bus goes each way.
Order this / avoid
- Order: whatever is on the board tonight, because next week it will be four different things. Take a cask cider or perry if the beer list has already gone somewhere you have been.
- Avoid: arriving hungry. There is no kitchen and there never was. Mondays are shut, midweek does not start until five, and under-18s cannot be in the room after six.
What locals & experts say
- Jordan Bassett, Time Out London, October 2024:
Quirky, justifiably acclaimed micropub in Winchmore Hill,
and on the beer,Of course, CAMRA is most interested in the beer, which is locally sourced, on regular rotation and always interesting. Well worth spreading your wings for.
3 - Londonist, August 2025, on the board and the trip:
this place pulls out all the stops, with an ever-fluctuating board of well-priced beers and ciders (on our visit, Burning Sky's Aurora was doing a roaring trade), bar games (including shove ha'penny and table skittles), snacks (pickled eggs and properly piquant Mr Singh's crisps) and live music sessions from local musicians.
The same piece is blunt about the journey:It's hardly central though; the LGD's lofty location, at the tippity top of Green Lanes, and over 10-minutes' walk from the lesser-known Winchmore Hill station, might be off-putting to some.
5 - CAMRA, via Ed Cunningham's report for Time Out, October 2024: the commendation praised
everchanging selection of cask beers
and aneclectic range of seating
. Owner Richard Reeves responded:Clearly, at this stage of the competition, it is about far more than beer quality, so I really must thank my incredible family and staff and amazing regulars.
Cunningham reported the news; the verdict is CAMRA's and the words are Reeves'.4
Good to know
- Where: 928 Green Lanes N21 2AD, at the top end of a six-mile road. Winchmore Hill station is over ten minutes on foot.
- Timing: closed Mondays. Five to ten Tuesday to Thursday, two to ten Friday to Sunday. The pub often shuts for maintenance in the first weeks of January.
- Booking: no. The venue's own line is that it is a pub rather than a restaurant and reserves tables only in special circumstances.
- Food: crisps and bar snacks. That is all of it.
- Children: welcome in daytime with a parent, not permitted after 6pm.
- Music: live and acoustic, usually Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm and Sunday afternoons.
- Seating: wall benches, low sofas and a couple of salvaged bus seats, plus pavement tables and a courtyard behind.
- Awards, by level: CAMRA Enfield & Barnet Pub of the Year 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2026. CAMRA Greater London Pub of the Year 2018 and 2024. CAMRA National Pub of the Year 2024, one of four finalists.
- Sites: one, independently owned, leasehold held by an individual.
- Hygiene: the FSA holds this premises at 5, rated 15 January 2022, under Enfield. FHRSID 1043283.
Verdict
should-visit — Worth the detour, and it is a real detour. Richard Reeves cycled round a hundred micropubs for charity in 2015, then took a shop unit at the top of Green Lanes and opened Enfield's first one on 27 August 2017, naming it after the Green Dragon down the road that became a Waitrose. Four cask ales, all changing, poured on gravity from a temperature-controlled cellar room behind the counter, plus four keg lines and real ciders and perries off the same cold room. CAMRA's Enfield and Barnet branch has named it Pub of the Year in every year it was eligible since 2018, made it Greater London Pub of the Year twice, and in October 2024 put it in the national final four alongside Preston's Black Horse, Bridlington's Three B's and Oswestry's Bailey Head. Time Out's Jordan Bassett found the beer 'locally sourced, on regular rotation and always interesting'. There is no kitchen, no music on a TV and no fruit machine, and the food is crisps and pickled eggs. It stops short of must-visit for two honest reasons: Londonist's own writer spent ninety minutes each way getting there, and the national title went somewhere else.