please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Dire. Waited 5 minutes to not get served, mug punter beside me accepted 2 " pints " about 80% full, 4 staff behind the counter, only 1 serving. Avoid like the plague.
|
An awful, awful refurbishment - it's like they've tried as hard as possible to make it as soulless as they can. There are so many better pubs in the area. Avoid.
|
Whoever refurbished this boozer should be banned from ever touching another pub. Awful place.
|
I disagree with most of these reviews.
The "old" Canonbury was tired and dated and long due an overhaul.
The "new" Canonbury has had a fantastic refurb that has really brought it back to life.
Regarding the prices, what do people expect??? This pub is right in the heart of the most expensive and exclusive part of Islington. �4.00 for a pint of Kronenbourg is worth it in this place because the surroundings are superb, the beer garden is the largest in London and I know numerous dreadful pubs in the vicinity that will charge you �3.80. Come on people an extra 20pence!! It hardly breaks the bank.
We live very close to the Canonbury and whenever anyone visits this is where we take them.
We have never had a bad meal here and have always been impressed with the quality and quantity of the food. Their Burgers are superb and very well presented. A particular favourite is the pork belly which comes with pigs cheeks. Absolutely delicious.
The Canonbury is what it is. A bar and restaurant. It is not a pub.
If you want a traditional pub, and I regularly visit traditional pubs in the area, the Canonbury is not for you.
It is unashamedly modern and is a great place to have a meal or just a nice jug of pimms in the garden.
I do however agree with some aspects of the service. All is great when the place isn't too busy, friendly courteous staff who always greet you with a smile, but when it's really busy the service level drops and it can take some time to get served. I can only assume this is down to extra part time staff who don't have a clue. The owner needs to get this problem sorted as it certainly annoys customers and should be fairly simple to get right.
Visit during the week when it's not to busy and you won't be disappointed.
|
just another middle class pub that specialises in overpriced average (or below average for my overcooked burger on a burnt roll with cold chips, �12.99). yawn... what's wrong with proper pubs???
nice beer garden though.
|
�4 a pint!
There are plenty of other great pubs nearby where you can avoid being mugged for your drink. The Canonbury looks like a branch of All Bar One since the refurbishment and the staff could do with some training in customer service.
�4 a pint!
|
Perhaps the new management have taken note of the comments here from a few months ago and hired more staff which you would think would help the consistent comments here of long waiting times at the bar and generally poor service and attitude. Unfortunately whilst there were as many people behind the bar as there were in front on my last visit (were only talking 8 people here on each side) I waited almost 20 minutes to get served. The manager thought it was more important to slice fruit than try and serve his increasingly more irritable punters and im surprised the serving staff can even get home at night, given that they were completely incapable of keeping note of who was next to be served (not helped by them constantly moving up and down the bar and changing positions - do they get any training at all?!?!). Easily the worst run bar i have ever been in in London and thats saying something - so easy to sort out, makes such a big impact on business - please please sort it out because at the moment its a joke and friends are of the same opinion.
|
I visited this pub a few years ago when in the height of summer and with it's massive garden there were only two bar staff and it took an age to get served - with attitude. On my return yesterday I noted the refurb, hoped there'd been a change of hands and looked forward to a more pleasant experience. I was very disappointed.
This time with a restaurant full of (mostly screaming little) people on a Sunday afternoon there were still far too few staff, at least any that gave a damn. Drinks ordered from our table at the same time turned up one by one over a period of around an hour (we're talking cokes and beers not cocktails) as we constantly asked where they were, only to be repeatedly fobbed off. Hopeless.
Food was ok, the roasts looked good but some of the "main" dishes could be mistaken for their starter versions by the size of them and were well overpriced.
They had Pride, Deuchar's IPA and Landlord (had this, it was fine) on tap.
|
I'll second Garvers' comments; a completely soulless establishment to boot refurbed to 1998 specifications. Also had a game getting served, as a very important "staff meeting" was taking place apparently.
|
This is one God-awful refurb. You'd have to try hard to mess up such a great building, and boy, have they put the effort in. They've coated the place in the kind of dated shades of brown that only a DFS catalogue seems to indulge in these days - coupled with pub furniture bought secondhand from a Travelodge just off the A13. They've raised the bar height to a ludicrous level for a pub, making it difficult to see what's in the fridges or even just linger. And the owner's given his creation a super-tacky fake 'crest' and ordered the undertrained and bewildered bar staff to wear even tackier polo shirts sporting said 'crest'. This is the kind of pub that only people from Milton Keynes would think is 'happening'. Disaster.
|
Fantastic, huge garden and good range of drinks. Shame about the interior and the absurdly expensive prices.
|
Don't listen to the critics - they're either the footballers that forced it's closure a few years back or journalist friends of the neighbours who were gunning it down from the start. The Canonbury is now a gorgeous boutique bar and restaurant. Smart yet friendly and unpretentious. Its refurbishment has restored it's Georgian glory whilst simultaneously adding a a much needed touch of Mr and Mrs Smith. Comfy leather sofas, gleaming bar, decent nosh and such a lovely function room that I'm trying to find an excuse to book it! Love it, love it, love it.....
|
I booked the upstairs room for a wedding party with 22 eating and plenty more arriving later for drinks. The room was very nicely decorated and plenty of guests commented favourably. We were able to have our own music and set up a laptop for the wedding photos (we were even offered the plasma screen to hook it up to). Everyone enjoyed their food, and Simian ,our host and waiter, performed brilliantly making sure all was as we wanted. I would definitely reccommend the Canonbury as a venue for a party or special 'do'!
|
This is a big bright pub with a large restaurant area at the rear and a range of expensive standard and premium lagers alongside Black Sheep and Timothy Taylors Landlord and Golden Best. There are plasma screens dotted about the pub that were showing a muted black and white film during my visit, which I thought was a bit over the top.
The barman that served me was friendly enough and I didn�t find this place anymore offensive than the many other gastro pubs in London, but I still wouldn�t return.
|
Disagree with below reviews, refurb is great and staff were very friendly and helpful - not over priced (although expensive) and good choice of beers and food
|
What has happened to this pub makes you want to break down in tears. It was a great old pub with a lovely (and huge) garden. It has had the life kicked out and then "renovated" by someone who gets their design ideas from the features pages of "Hello" and "OK". The gaden is now just a slab of concrete from which you are kicked out at 9:45 come hell or highwater. A second mortgage is required to get a drink and better food can be purchased from one of the Kebab shops on St.Paul's Road. As for me I am going to stick to standing outside the nearby Compton Arms.
|
So near yet so far; lovely building, great refurb (in my opinion, but one newspaper thinks it looks like "Watford Premier Inn" on the inside), huge garden. Large restaurant area, but more space for people who are there to drink than a few gastropubs I could mention.
But... The restaurant and bar service is currently a shambles; either there aren't enough staff, or the management is awful, or they hire people who are incapable. We waited 45 mins to order food, without success, before finding out that the kitchen was being closed to clear the back-log. We gave it up as a bad job and left (for a good lunch at the Albion). I really hope they get their act together and make it as good a pub as the setting deserves.
Also: �4.25 for a pint of lager?! Unjustified.
|
The Canonbury's new garden is really lovely. The food is bog standard gastro pub food, small portions and overpriced... such a shame. If they increased the portion size it would cost them very little and make the average food with high price tags more acceptabe. Would recommend for a drink on a summer's day.
|
It's a pub and restaurant, very nicely furnished but drinks are quite expensive. Menu looked reasonably priced but I haven't sampled the food yet!
|
Didn't quite pick up from the last food review whether this is a pub, or essentially a restaurant. Anyone know?
|
Exceptionally fine job they've done on the decor, looks like a great place for a drink - but I wish the menu had been given equal consideration. Admittedly this was the opening night, but service was very slow and food quite ordinary. Fries massively oversalted, beans tired and tasteless, the meagre mediterranean platter consisted of lowest quality ingredients - Carluccios' one around the corner is a taste sensation for the same money. At least the chicken pie was decent enough. Looking forward to better things to come!
|
The Canonbury is reopening this week - looks very nicely furnished from the outside and the garden is huge (biggest beer garden in central London apparently). Looking forward to the opening...
|
Closed for rebuild. Don't know what will happen to the building
|
