please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I recently popped in one lunchtime. Great beer they had local brewery offers apart from the standard Fullers. The food for London prices was good value as well. The landlord told me they had only been there a year so guess different to the review below.
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I've been popping in the Crown since before the windows got smashed in all round. I liked it then, and I like it now, but only because the beer is ok and I have good memories of the place. Very up itself now. I go elsewhere for a proper pub. Thank goodness the beer is ok.
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While visually, a charming, Victorian pub with good food, the service leaves a lot to be desired�. I�ve been a regular there for over 10 years and sadly, it�s now pretending to be something it�s not and is at the stage where if something is not right or you need to make a complaint, you are in the wrong. Instead taking feedback from a regular, (formerly) loyal customer, they will try to argue their way out of it. To prove a point. Even over a slice of bread. No apology, no grace, and one regular customer less. This has happened a few times recently. Perhaps Mary Portas will turn to pubs and come sort them out? Instead of sorting the problem and smoothing things over, you will end us leaving with an even worse experience. Ultimately, it is part of a chain and the mentality born of corporate training reigns. If you don�t like it, don�t come back. It�s a waste of what used to be a great gastro pub but there a lot of other options nearby so unless you�re the type never to complain, don�t waste your time with The Crown. I won�t. I�m so done, Fullers need a new word for done.
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This place seems to get better every time I visit. Very nice food, good range of Fullers beers (+ a guest ale) and a lively atmosphere.
It's also a very pretty looking establishment (inside and out) in a rather nice area.
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A strange place for Fullers but I liked it. Large central bar with lots of "eating "tables surronding it. Nice cosy area at the rear by the open kitchen.
Excellent Pride (very reasonable for the area at �3.25) plus ESN. Red Fox and (Gales) Seafarerers on offer yesterday. Service was fine although the place got pretty busy very quickly in the evening.
Well worth seeking out.
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I'd agree with Rob372 that the service can be a bit iffy but it is a nice pub serving good beer and food in a really nice setting.
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What a great find. My friends and I went out for a bit of a sunday session in islington last week and stumbled upon this gem. Only went in for a pint and ended up staying for several hours and enjoying a brilliant sunday roast. Def recommend and will certainly be going back.
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Lovely central oval bar and internal features. Nice quiet location , not too far from the main drag. Happy with my Fullers porter. Service was pants, not a word passed from the lips of the barmaid. (I was one of 6 people in there on a thursday afternoon)
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What has happened? Despite being a managed house the crown has always had the feel of a pub well run by people who care about it. Good food, good beers and a lovely victorian interior. That was the case.
It seems recently however that the staff have all been exchanged for eastern europeans that really don't care two stuffs about the customers or the pub. Although the menu looks nice the food is far from it, huge mountians of dried out over cooked sunday roast piled up on instant oxo type gravy.
It's one of the nicest pubs around, it just needs is a decent chef and some good staff.
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This very much a gastropub, with prices to match (�12.50 for fish and chips), but the Chiswick Bitter at �2.70 a pint was pretty good. Another pub with many original Victorian features � original tiling, panelling, etched and cut glass windows, snob screens, and what looked like original floorboards. As is typical with a pub of this era, it has a central island bar in order to service the several separate drinking areas that would have been the norm when it was built. Definitely worth dropping in for a pint if you are anywhere in the vicinity.
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It would be a very nice pub, extensive Fuller's range, a bit of preserved glass here and there (e.g. a couple of remaining snob screens) around the large island bar, and situated on a quiet residential corner. But it's one of those places where you feel like you are drinking at a restaurant, not a pub. And best to avoid it if you're offended by a bit of braying (being a brayer myself I cannot complain all that much).
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Very "Islington", but neverthless very good. The interior is sympathetically designed and retains some of the etched glass of its previous incarnation. The location is beautiful on the edge of one of London's nicest small squares. I also enjoyed a wondrous dish of Duke of Berkshire belly pork with fennel and the best carrots I have ever tasted. Jovial service and these poepel are clearly on to a winner.
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Called in here with a group between Christmas & New Year. Excellent beer quality, friendly staff and an open fire. A very pleasant place indeed.
Food was snacks only due to kitchen fire.
Also wide range of bottled beers from various countries.
Recommended.
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Shocked to see this place rated so low! Dropped in for a quick one after seeing Kate Walsh at the Union Chapel. Chiswick, Pride, ESB and a very tasty Mr Harry on draught and Discovery and Golden Pride in bottles. The latter at a ridiculously cheap �2.25 or so according to the price list written up. Not sure I can believe it when they had Paulaner Weisse listed at �4.50. OK maybe it's overpriced and the food list looked noncy but certainly worth a trip for the beer and architecture.
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I can't speak for the food, but we found the Crown very pleasant to soak our Sunday evening away recently. Usual Islington prices so take some plastic.
Above all this is a beautiful Victorian pub, much less scoured out than almost anywhere. For example it has those little swivelly acid glass windows over the bar - so it's high on my list.
Beer fine, as others point out.
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I visited the Crown last weekend after a friend told me she had a delicious meal there in May. I have been disapointed by the Crown in the past but was told there was a new Head Chef so thought I would give it a go . I had the Asparagus with Roe to start which was delicious and the Rack of Lamb which was the nicest most succulent Lamb iv'e had so far. I couldn't fit in a pudding but they looked great. Very Satisfied Customer.
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The last of three pubs on a mini crawl of this part of Islington that had been, frankly, disappointing. My friend and I only had time for a pint here but it was the best of the evening, a well-kept pint of Fullers IPA, so rarely seen on draught.
The pub had a friendly atmosphere and a mixed bunch for clientele.
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We went here for a meal on Valentine's Day and were very disappointed by poor service and poor food. It is listed by the Times as a great gastro pub but when complaining to the waitress she genuinely admitted "The food can be a bit touch and go - we change the menu every day". We had to send back a starter and would have sent back a main course too if we hadn't been desperate to get out of there.
anonymous - 14 Feb 2007 22:24 |
I had read on a rival site to this one that there was disabled access here and so I visited on Saturday lunchtime. I did not find the doors accessible and so could not get in. A shame as I remember this pub from my pre-disabled days and used to like it: a good Fullers pub which I was keen to finally see during the day as for some reason I only ever used to end up there late on Saturday nights, worse for wear.
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Cosy little pub but nearly all tables set for Sunday lunch. Seems fairly typical of the many dining pubs I've been to in the area. Fullers OK.
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went there and very expensive for food prety basic no taste . better pub in islington all around . not worth to spend money in !!!!!!!!!
anonymous - 5 Jan 2007 21:55 |
Popped in here at the end of october to see a bit of the football before heading to the Academy.
Not too bad for london prices beer wise, but after chatting with a few other people and glancing at the menu it did seem ridiculously expensive. Still, people were eating so maybe the food is worth it.
staff seemed friendly but i'd have to frequent the place a few more times to be a propper judge.
overall, an ok place for a few pints.
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This place is okay but I am not sure why it is so popular. The food is not bad, but nothing special, and is very expensive for what you get. �10 for a small hamburger and chips is taking the piss. Very crowded at weekends. The regulars obviously like it but I am not quite sure why. Plenty of outside tables and air con inside so it makes sense in the summer, but you will need to get there early to get a table.
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I love this pub, the staff are friendly and the food is great! The selection of Rum beverages is fantastic. The Crown is a lovely little treat tucked away in Angel. Go there!
Panda - 18 Aug 2006 12:30 |
wotz known in da business as a coont's pub. seriously the people that go in here don't know anythin about enjoyin themselves. load of smug people really,that;s all i can say. expensive, unsatisfying and out of date - a bit like the old Pop Tarts at the back of my kitchen cupboard
anonymous - 13 Jul 2006 23:47 |
Not a good place - what is it with all these identikit gastropubs in islington? they are all the same. expensive average food, bad service, why not go to a restaurant?
i think this place is a smug and boring hang out for snobby breeders
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stumbled across this place by accident the other day - popped in for a sly half and ended up spending most of the day in there - always a good sign in my opinion. I like to drink bitter and found that this pub had a better selection that a nubmer of other pubs in the area - still plenty of lager on offer for those with under-developed palates though.
I actullay thought the food was quite reasonable for the quality and taste. Staff were friendly and seemd to know their stuff. I recommend it.
jinky - 13 Jul 2006 12:41 |
me and the missus happened to be Islington over the weekend - crowds, heat, noise, etc. We wisely ducked off Upper Street to seek some fresh air and stumbled across the Crown. In we dived seeking shade, refuge and a cool beer. Once the thirst was quenched (Honey Dew for me, Europ*ss for the lady friend) - hunger struck. Thankfully the helpful bar and kitchen staff were on hand to guide me through the large menu (I recommend the burger). In the end we stayed all afternoon and all night. Throughly recommended - well presented bar, friendly staff and nosh to satisfy all tastes!
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I've been visiting this pub for the past year on and off and it's somewhere I always make a beeline for when I'm in the area. It's got a lovely vibrant and friendly atmosphere - cosy in the winter with the fire - and has the added bonus of a non-smoking rooom. It's often heaving at the weekend but in a nice lively way and does the best sausage sandwich I've had anywhere in England.
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Had the misfortune of paying a brief visit to this place a few months back. Dull indentikit gastro type affair. Full of try-hards.
anonymous - 11 Jul 2006 13:27 |
I think the people who know this secret should keep it to themselves so as not to ruin the day of others.
What was once a nice pub has been gastrofied in the most unsympathetic manner. Despite being a Fullers house the beer is slightly suspect and they clearly aren't interested in serving it - the kind of place where the wine list takes more prominence.
The food - nothing under a tenner. Don't want to seem tight, but come on - we are only talking banger and mash, burger and chips, the usual. And from what I saw it was fairly slapped together lacklusre fare. Nonetheless decided to give it a try. So �10.50 and 50 minutes later I am left contemplating the dregs of a pint of ESB, starving and disconsolate. When hearing it would be ready in "10-15 minutes, if you will only be patient", and feeling thoroughly hacked off, cornered the manager and demanded a refund.
Will not return, ever, and will be slagging this place of to all who may accidently stumble upon it. Honestly, you are better off in one of Fullers' rather sorry "ale and pie" houses.
anonymous - 26 Jun 2006 08:37 |
This must be Islington's best kept secret. The Crown is my favourite lunchtime haunt - 5 minute walk from the office on Upper Street, the place virtually to yourself, real fire, fantastic ales (best Pride in north London) and amazing food. It's a little pricey as it's a 'gastro' but all the food is homemade - if you get there early enough it smells like a bakery as they do their own bread of a morning. Lush.
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I've spent a lot of time here because a friend lives nearby. I haven't found it packed with the types Stonch describes below. (But of course you're going to get a few dickheads in here - this is Islington, after all.) The lovely Victorian interior has been mucked around with at some point in the past but has some preserved features (an island bar with engraved glass 'snob' screens). The food is good (but over-priced) and the limited real ales are well kept. The bar staff are always efficient and friendly, which in my view is one of the most important things about any pub visit.
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I love Fullers so expected to love this. But I didn't. First of all they don't even do ESB and have no Fuller's bottles in the fridge - what's that all about? Secondly the food was really expensive. Thirdly, it is full of the dull smug sloaney type which thankfully don't seem to infest many places in these parts - reminded me of the dreadful Duke of Cambridge in that respect.
I think this is best avoided. The interior is nice but ruined by wine drinking nobs guffawing over their �10 bangers and mash.
anonymous - 6 Feb 2006 10:17 |
So, have you been to ALL the pubs in London then, Mr Potted Meat ? If so, and this truly is the "best pub in London", then you must expect people to want to come along and see for themselves. If you haven't been to all the pubs in London - which I strongly suspect is the case - then you shouldn't write such comments on this website - which is meant for serious objective comments.
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Best pub in London. But if you don't live in Barnsbury, go to your own local and leave this one to us.
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Went here on a sunny sunday afternoon...very pleasant outside and in, can't really comment on the food although the table next to us did not seem impressed in terms of what they were paying for what they were getting ,but all in all a good proper pub...
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always the best pub in islington (not a huge amount of competition), it has morphed into something trendy and blairish, but is still very good - especially if you're lucky enough to get there on a quiet summer night.
richard - 1 Jun 2004 13:47 |
Good selection of beers, including real ales, and a guest ale. Food is excellent. Better than the standard Sunday pub roast.
Decor is what gives this place its atmosphere. Interior wood panelling, stucco ceiling (at least, it looks like it). The bar itself is interesting, with woodframed, revolvable glass panels (if that makes sense!). Can be noisy on a Fri/Sat night with a young Islington crowd, but a lot more subdued and relaxed in the evenings during the week.
Brett KS - 29 Jan 2004 10:45 |
I have eaten and drank in the Crwon on numerous occasions. The food served is as good as any restuarant in Islington. I like the traditional feel of the place and the bar staff are very friendly. A great place.
Ric Moore - 4 Dec 2003 11:51 |
i drink in the crown everyday and i feel the food is lovely and i also feel that the manager is very friendly.
Siobhan Smyth - 3 Dec 2003 16:35 |
Traditional pub gradually developing over time into more and more agreeable contemporary English pub (like no shocking sudden transformations!) with good beers and increasingly good food.
Well known in the area. Surprised you've not got it listed.
Michael Holms Coats - 2 Oct 2003 20:55 |
