The Little Green Dragon in Winchmore Hill wins CAMRA award, reports James Cracknell

Richard Reeve, The Little Green Dragon publican — Publican Richard Reeve quit his job in IT to open The Little Green Dragon last year

A pub that opened last year on the site of an old hairdressers has been named the best in London.

The Little Green Dragon in Winchmore Hill is Enfield’s first ‘micro-pub’ and only serves real ale. It is named after the former Green Dragon pub, around the corner, which closed in 2014 and is now a supermarket.

“It’s taken us by surprise,” Richard Reeve, who runs the pub in Green Lanes along with wife Sujal Zaveri, told the Dispatch. “I never thought when we opened that in just a year’s time we’d be named the best in London.”

The award was made last month by the London branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) after The Little Green Dragon had earlier been judged the best in Enfield and Barnet. It only opened in August 2017 after Richard quit his job in IT to become a publican.

He said: “I discovered a micro-pub in Kent and I loved the concept, so I decided to do a sponsored bike ride around all the micro-pubs in the country.

Best pub award — Husband and wife team Richard Reeve and Sujal Zaveri receive their ‘best pub’ award from CAMRA

“They tend to be converted from shops and specialise in real ale. I get depressed whenever I see pubs closing but I met a lot of people along the way who had quit their jobs to run these pubs – and there wasn’t anything like it in Enfield – so I decided to give it a go.”

The Little Green Dragon dispenses with a lot of the usual distractions you’d find in many pubs, with no slot machines or televisions, and instead focuses on serving good beer. Some micro-pubs even ban mobile phones, but Richard hasn’t taken it that far yet.

“Because of the lack of space a lot of people come in and end up sitting next to strangers and striking up conversation,” says Richard. “We don’t have loud music or TV screens so people make their own entertainment – although we do have some old-fashioned board games!”

Among the real ales served at the pub are beers from local breweries such as Enefeld, from Edmonton, and Bohem, from Tottenham.

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