please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
This pub has now had a makeover. It is now a quite trendy looking gastro type pub. There are two hand pumps now. When I visited they only had Adnams Ghost Ship on, this was very well kept. Other trendy beers on keg including blue moon. Staf were very friendly. Worth having a look in if you're in the area.
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The worst and dirtiest pub in Finsbury Park. Now run by Turks and the prices have gone up. Greedy arabs.
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One of the remaining bastions of proper North London Irish pubs, blessedly free of any fake paddywhackery on the walls. Contains tables, stools, variable drink and the odd window for looking out of. Come on in for a lonesome pint or a chat or an argument, depending on your mood.
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It's a rough Irish pub in Finsbury Park full of hardened working class drinkers, half of which are watching the horse racing and the other half simply sit looking glumly at their pints. The décor is spartan, the service is matter of fact, the quality of the fosters was poor and one is led to concede that perhaps chain pubs are not such a bad thing after all...
...one half expects to see a down and out author writing his great novel in the corner but that would be romanticising the issue entirely.
2/10
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People around the world ape the mythical "Irish" pub. if they saw the real thing they might not be so quick to romanticise the idea. The Blackstock is scruffy, but it is a proper Irish pub. Relatively friendly, but full of self-destructive alcoholic navvies with soiled trousers and pockmarked faces. Fun for the whole family. Needless to say they do not have any ales.
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i came here a good while ago to meet someone all i am going to say is this place sells beer.regarding clientele while waiting i overheard two irishmen speaking in gaelic no further description required !!
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Agree with donjaun:
"The worst pub in Finsbury Park" and yes that is quite an acheivment
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A mate (on good authority) reports seeing cockroaches running around the floor in this pub. The clientle sum up Finsbury Park well - down and outs, Irish 'part of the scene' and crazyness all round. I won't be paying this place a visit!
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The worst pub in Finsbury Park and that is saying something.
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I went in there again last night in case my last review was to harsh-well I needed the toilet and I was very desperate.Well the place has got even worse.....!The carpet is better,but the 1st thing you notice when you walk in is the smell.The pubs staff are terrible.Last night there was this fat ugly bird behind the bar sitting on top of the fridge with her feet resting on the shelf holding the pint glasses.There was a man customer just walking round with no drink,crazy drunk shouting at people.Another geezer sleeping in the corner and some old Irish man having a full conversation with himself at the bar.A young bloke was tormenting people saying he was the landlord,I found out he IS the landlords son.He asked me what I was doing there,well it is a pub.
So it smells bad,dirty barstaff,mental customers and a geezer questioning why you're there.
Not for me...!
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I was in the last week,and it was as bad as ever.It has never been done up.They have 2 tables outside but you cant sit at them as there were a large group of men eating takaways and drinking Tennents Super beer out of their cans.Inside is not much better.The carpets try to eat your shoes,and the toilets try to choke you to death with the bad smells,thats if you can get in them after waiting for the barman to open the door.I nearly messed myself waiting.
As the previous comment says that the pub has been done up and looks really nice.I would hate to see what he thinks a good pub looks like. Rating 2,as there might be a worse pub out there-who knows
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i have worked in this pub it is a gt pub with good mangers
it has now been done up and looks realy nice
a nice pool tabile and good for football
worth going in for a pint or 2
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The previous poster reviewed this pub AFTER the owners of the Blackstock tidied it up a bit and re-painted the outside. I dread to think what he'd have made of the pre-refurb version. Actually, scratch that, very little that matters has actually changed - the clientele remain an eclectic bunch, the beer is lager/keg only (but quite cheap) and the opening hours are longer than the Pins across the road.
This last point is the only reason I can really think of to use the Blackstock instead of other pubs in the area (apart from those seeking a seriously unreconstructed boozer, or Arsenal fans on matchday, getting their edgy real-pub fix before catching the train back to their commuter towns), though going in towards midnight can be interesting for too many of the wrong reasons on a bad day.
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feral , disgusting , dirty and totally unkept. thats just the staff , the pub and regulars are in even worse condition. wouldnt wish this place on anyone.
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Hey, Fussywhore, the reason people go in places like this are to avoid the usual wa**** that patronise most drinking establishemnt's inside the M25. God bless the Blackstock, an unspoilt Khazi for decades..
If you don't get it, there will be an aluminium clad hell hole not far away for you..
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truely awfull..........really how does a place this run down still have a licence to open its doors??? women.......dont go in there!
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very cheap beer, but a quite run down pub. staff are friendly and good Guinness on tap. massive screens for the football too
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many a session i had in here would rather it over the pins any day in here u can have the crack with the staff unlike the twelve pins
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This is the worst pub I've ever been to in my life. It is full of old depressed looking alcoholics. The bands are hopeless and I'm amazed they get people to pay to go in there.
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mighty fine pub
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cheap! of course it's cheap - that's the only way they can get people in there. If you are used to having someone lock your bedroom door at night and going to the toilet in a bucket then you might like this pub. No need to build a time machine - if you don't know what pubs were like in the 70s, pop in, although if you are a girl the clientele will think you are a prostitute, even if you wear trousers and Doc Martens. This place gets a big fat zero
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One of the best pubs in north London. It has got great character! What a pub should be like.It mustn't change!!
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In there a couple of weeks ago, killing time before meeting someone, found it nowhere near as bad as sme have painted it. No real ale, true, but a decent, and cheap, pint of Guinness make this as good a place as any for a couple.
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Ignore the person below - the Blackstock has had a minor refusbishment recently but of the best kind, i.e. you can hardly tell. It's still a really good pub, it hasn't been spoiled. The well-worn red vinyl upholstry has been replaced with green upholstry. They haven't quite finished yet though - let's hope it doesn't go too far.
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Pub seems to have had a bit of a lick of paint recently. Nice decor, and bar staff that are pleasing on the eye. The broadsheet papers, and leather sofas excellent! Full wine list and canope menu, olives on the bar, nice touch. The place to be seen in Islington!
anonymous - 25 Sep 2005 20:45 |
Not the trendiest pub on the planet, but who cares? I was told to avoid this pub by locals, I ignored them and got stuck in with the cheap(ish) prices and have no complaints about the quality of the beer. The regulars tend to sit in the place all day (and night) wasting their giro's. Some of the old geezers have a story to tell and on the whole seem friendly enough. Just don't expect a bowl of olives with your pint! A relaxing down to earth boozer.
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A great old-school boozer, far better than many of the bland refurbished dumps. Yes, it isn't glamorous but if you go in with the right attitude you'll find an interesting place to spend an afternoon.
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This place does have the ingredients of a decent pub: beer, seats, lights and an ensuite facility (still accessed by a behind-the-bar buzzer). Having said that; vomit can have all the ingredients of a good meal. An interesting mix of people - not that they were mixing - all marshalled by a charmless, lunatic-looking bar duo. The kind of place it's nice to go for a quiet pint with 12 mates.
petek - 25 Feb 2005 15:11 |
Dingy hell-hole of a pub. If Rab C Nesbit lived in Finsbury Park he would drink here. Carpet sticks to your feet and so does the pavement outside afterwards. Wallpaper hasn't been changed for 20 years. Toilet door is activated by a buzzer behind the bar to prevent the crack heads outside from making use of it.
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This is one nasty pub. Smells of cleaning fluid. Fortunately there are 2 doors so when you walk in you can continue straight ahead and walk out the otherside.
Clientele bring their dogs with them...
Will - 4 Mar 2003 17:18 |
