please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Now called the Joker of Penton Street. It's a former pub re-hashed as a "trendy Islington bar" with 'industrial' lighting, bare boards and tables etc. No ales but plenty of designer keg brews (ranging from £4.85 to £7 a pint). Okay for what it is but there are plenty of pubs in the area that serve better ale at far cheaper prices and are less pretentious.
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The Compass is fine for a drink but out experience of the food was very bad. Very little available and when it arrived it was awful. Probably the worst food experience any of us have ever had in London. I know it sounds harsh, but it was that bad....
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Reasonable pub, clean and well staffed when I went in the late afternoon. They only had Adnam's and a strong Perry on pump, a third was blank. Too pricey at �3.35, but I guess location is everything in Islington. I got a glass with a handle, always a bonus. They also do comedy nights here.
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I've been here a few times recently. Food is good. Ale is good, though limited in choice. Atmosphere is also good!
Decor is relaxed-smart.
Looks like the owners behind the bar. They normally go out of their way to be welcoming, which is a rare thing. I had grumpy service once. Maybe I looked like someone he didn't like?
This is one of the better gastropubs in Islington. Fairly priced quality food, with a pint of ale if you want it!
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Good quality food and very decent bar snacks - they do some awsome chips, usually 3 ales on - though its ashame they dont seem to vary very much but always well kept, a decent imported wheat beer on draught also, pricing isnt cheap but in line with the quality of food and drinks and for this part of london. Staff always polite and welcoming, highly recommended.
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Tried to visit yesterday to find that it is 5pm opening during the week. Looking through the window I could see Deuchars IPA, Adnams Bitter and a n other on the bar.
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Now re-opened as the Compass. Where did the Salmon go? It's a gastro pub - does duck egg scotch eggs and black pudding sausage rolls as well as meals which I can't comment on as I didn't try anything except the beer. There were 3 handpulls on - we had the Whitstable IPA. Very pleasant but the barmaid was a bit vacant. It was �3.40 for 2 halves but if you order a pint it's �3 for the same beer. Cheeky. Does it cost 40p extra for washing up an extra glass? Tut.
chick - 28 Jun 2009 16:20 |
Looked very very closed when I went past last weekend.
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Gay pub, gay bongo player. Nothing wrong with that, good for ladies night out. Owner is the only Greek poof I know.
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Before I emigrated after the '87 crash, I used pop in here for a a pint o' wallop to go with my half-pint of whelks from the market or after a go at the vegetarian buffet. The fish-monger & the buffet are still there but seemingly the other old identities in chapel st market have been replaced by linguistically challenged peddlars of cheap tat and I don't mean those who articulate thus: lor' luv a duck, I'm gobsmacked wiv wot they done this 'cruiser so I am guv..
I mean they don't speak the Baked Bean's.
In fact all you can say in this gaff's favour now is that it retains a premises licence and might one day revert back to a actual pub not a farce.
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It isn't really a pub, more a bar-restaurant, but it does that kind of thing quite well. Burger and chips was ok, not a lot of beer choice, not the sort of place that in London is going to have handpulled bitter.
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Good cold beer, friendly staff. Grown up music and atmosphere on a week day. Russian bloke on the door is exactly what you would want if you had a bar. DJs on a weekend can be shit. CLEAN TOILETS ! You could eat your dinner in there. Open late. I recomend.
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Found cheap food across the road, eat as much as you like for �2.95. Then poked my nose in this place hoping to find some sort of "dark drink", fancy taps with shiney chrome nameplates no chance of anything dark in here, that is apart from the atmosphere thick with the stench of weed. No MILD or any other style of real ale so walked out.
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DJ is lousy.
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Bit of a Nathan Barley hell hole.
anonymous - 13 Jan 2006 16:00 |
This is a cracking little bar playing a fantastic array of music every night of the week. Can`t help feeling that since last years refurb it has lost a little bit of it`s old soul. Feels just a little bit more like a place you`ve drunk in many a time before when before it seemed like a one off.
anonymous - 20 Dec 2005 12:59 |
Superb. Looks like a pub but more of a club. Great tunes. Cool.
Big Lad - 23 Jul 2004 15:00 |
The DJ meet is actually on the second Monday of the month. Anyone is welcome, particularly if you have some rare records to swap... otherwise just enjoy the music!
Nick.C - 2 Apr 2003 00:04 |
First Monday of every month there's some sort of DJ collective who hang out here. I saw one of the blokes from Portishead and Herbalizer last month. They spin some top tunes too - downtempo beats, some tasty funk, quality hip-hop, that sort of stuff. Decent beer selection too.
John F - 1 Apr 2003 15:39 |
Last time I went here it was OK, but the good thing was that the bar maid was beautiful. Worth a visit just for that, believe me.
Chris A - 25 Feb 2003 16:20 |
