please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Five of London's Underground stations were named after pubs that existed close to their site. Angel, after the Angel Coaching Inn which dates back to 1638. Elephant & Castle; Manor House, after the Manor Tavern which was later renamed Manor House in 1931. Royal Oak and Swiss Cottage named after The Swiss Tavern which was built in 1803 and later renamed Swiss Cottage.
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Have to say we were very dissatisfied with the lack of customer service at this pub. My family and I were in London on the way to a holiday at the end of may visited The Angel and ordered drinks and food. Told that one of the 4 meals was unavailable so reordered, no problems up to then. This is when the issues began. After a few minutes a member of staff arrived at our table saying that another dish was unavailable(mashed potato) so changed for jacket potato. Then another couple of minutes passed when we eere told a third meal wasn't available either, so changed that one too. Whilst waiting for the food, we went back to the bar for more drinks, collected and paid, took them back to the table at same time as meals arrived.Then noticed beer very cloudy, but more importantly two meals only had part of the order included, no vegetables despite being on order. At this point I went to the bar to explain to someone that these issues were unacceptable and was met by a lady with a badge saying shift manager, so politely explained to her the problems. She said its nothing to do with her as she Didn't take the order.By this time my brother in law joined us to say that his food was stone cold, so she agreed finally to give ys our money back, we returned to our table where we were met by a staff member who was taking away our food. Hre reimburse d our money, and then gave us our drinjs money back when the manager asked us to leave. Very disappointed, we are not complainers and feel we were treated very badly.
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Last 4 reviews are accurate imo. Pub often has more interesting range of beers than some other 'Spoons eg the much bigger one on Kingsway, Holborn.
Oddly, there's another 'Spoons, The Glass Works, in very close proximity to The Angel, about 200 yards away off Liverpool Road opposite Sainsbury's, though I've never visited.
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One of the better 'Spoons in London. Real ales well kept and staff friendly and efficient.
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visit this pub several times a month...always find the service good and the ales top notch..food is typical Wetherspoons....good value ,served quick and with a smile...
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Called in last night, good range of beers in good condition. A welcome haven of reasonably priced beers in the otherwise expensive mess that is Islington.
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Typical Spoons. Visited last night at 9pm - good range of ales (although I get frustrated with gimicky Christmas specials) and one of the better mixed grills. Clientele is mixed, a few office workers, a few locals, a few guys who seemed to have been there since opening. That said the atmosphere was OK and certainly not "rough" as others have suggested.
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Usual slightly bland Wetherspoons - plenty of other better places nearby
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I visit this pub a few times a week,staff are lovely especially their door staff,great banter and food not bad for a spoons!!was reading a comment from 8th april about rude and racist staff???? firstly some of the bar staff are french ,the security lady yve is half french .and there is always a good crowd of austrailians/americans and FRENCH. i guess the person who wrote comment got the wrong spoons,so ignore that comment guys and give it a go for yourself!
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Very rude staff, discrimination and racism on the doors.I have been refused entry by the bouncer on doors on a saturday at 8 pm while my sister was visiting me in North London, only because we were talking french when trying to enter the pub. We were going for a meal as I always did on my own for years within the Wetherspoons branch, but we were stopped at the door and asked for ID with awful manners and I simply refused and left saying it was totally uncalled for and that I will never visit a Wetherspoon pub again. we were then told ' we dont care, we dont want to see you here ever again anyway '.If its not racism and public humilation, tell me what it is.
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Average Wetherspoons, you know the drill... far from the best pub in the area, but serves a decent pint and it's pretty handy for the tube
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Can't agree with the comments about it being rough. Go in here a fair bit and never seen trouble. I think it's one of the better Wetherspoons. It usually has a good range of beers. There are certainly better pubs around here but don't be put off going by the negative comments if you just want a few good, cheap beers.
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Full of alcoholics and poor, obnoxious students.
It's a Wetherspoons, so expect cheap prices and a cheap environs.
Sky Sport News streamed 24/7 on two giant tv screens, average age is probably 62. Kind of soul destroying, but then so are most (not all) Wetherspoons. There are many superior establishments within 300 yards of this place, so I would say avoid. Try the York instead.
anonymous - 17 Jun 2010 14:20 |
Not a bad 'Spoons as far as they go, I've been to much worse and much better, it's one of those pubs that you know everyone will find and will be able to have a drink/bite to eat without commenting on how expensive it is compared to where they drink/eat!
i guess if i had to sum it up i'd call it "reliable"
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We have found ourselves in here a couple of times recently and yes it's one of the dodgier Spoons on the circuit, however there has been a reasonable range of beers available and everyone seems to keep to themselves. The Staff have on both occasions tried to overcharge us, but when you are in this part of town you have to stay on your mettle and question everything. It serves its purpose.
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Pretty rough and basic, but thats its charm.
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Many years ago, I used to own this place. I had thought of having another go, but I'd need to pass "GO" so many times, and judging by the comments here, I'll stick to Mayfair and Park Lane.
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Popped in for a quick one before Magnum at the Islington O2. Festival was on so sampled some third pints. Unremarkable Spoons.
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This isn't the best Spoons due to it's location and whilst I was there a strong smell of Skunk was wafting in from the people standing outside. Maybe not the pubs fault, but I'd rather drink elsewhere.
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Functional, basic boozer, opens early and sells Weston's Vintage cider at �2.59 a pint. Why pay �3.50 + for Strongbow elsewhere? Characters around the bar - mostly Irish and Scottish. As I'm Welsh I liked it!
schaf - 11 Aug 2009 10:11 |
Another soulless Wethersoons branch, handy for Angel tube and before starting a crawl along Islington High St/Upper St. The exterior gives the impression of a wine bar. But the interior is more Wetherspoons standard. Service was quick. Real ales on offer were Burton Bridge Porter, Harviestoun Schiehallion, Brains Reverend James, Ruddles Best, Marstons Pedigree, Greene King Abbot Ale. Cider was Westons Organic. Sky Sports was showing. Whilst it was still morning during our visit, it was fairly busy. But there's plenty of other places nearby to choose from.
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Went here last weekend and there were 6 guest ales , ranging from 3.7 to 4.8, there was something for everyone including porter lovers. this pub is slowly improving .
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Went here last weekend and there were 6 guest ales , ranging from 3.7 to 4.8, there was something for everyone including porter lovers. this pub is slowly improving .
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Went in for a Sunday roast and came up realy quick. Food was OK, so was the staff. It was very relaxing to sit there: no trouble what so ever and a quiet a few OAP's having a meal. Selection of ales was ok and different from other nearby JDW.
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I would avoid unless you want to be glassed!
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This place could be 'The Jockey' if channel 4 ever decided to make a Londoncentric version of Shameless, I'm sure the casting agents wouldn't have too much trouble finding extras for the shoot, look no further then the clientele. Horrid place and even stinks when you walk past.
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Always got a good selection of real ales and tries hard. Cheap prices will always encourage tramps etc. but a fair boozer and never any trouble.
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This pub is like the William Hogarth print Gin lane, brought to life in the 21st centuary. Avoid at all costs.
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This is the pub I go to the most often.
Why? Well its a spoons, so its cheap and cheerful, staff are good/very good [Where has the Welsh manager gone? She was great!] Food is average!!
Yeah, you get a few lost souls coming in [mainly the black guy with the tache, but he is harmless and bothers no one, even smiles occasionally!]
Only thing I dont like, is that the toilets are not cleaned regularly, so you might have to stand next to a puddle of pee when you go to the loo. Also you get a few arsehole McKenzie wearing "yoofs" come in . Very student orientated, have never seen trouble in there, and I have been going for years.
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unless you really have to do a 'monopoly board pub crawl' i dont suggest you go in here
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Normal Wetherspoons, but not normal for the area, as not many of the other pubs round here have such a gritty, depraved feel.
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Welcome to the twilight zone.
anonymous - 8 Sep 2007 10:10 |
Very ordinary Wetherspoons - cheap, but not very cheerful...
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A haven for the underclass, very depressing venue, this place reeks of failure and misery, Weatherspoon's seem to attract that sort of clientele, probably a combination of cheap prices and early opening times. I have only used this pub as a meeting place as it's location by the tube is handy even for a person with a poor sense of direction, once you have met your guest exit statge left, rapido, not the sort of venue you would linger in.
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As Wetherspoons go this one isn't that bad. The usual collection of JD regular�s sit alone at tables nursing pints and mumbling to themselves. The ale is often chilled to near freezing point. The expected collection of lager and shots suit groups of people getting a few cheap ones in the tank before they disappear off to one of the many terrible bars nearby. Further along Upper Street they will be paying up to twice as much for the same drink alongside the same people who were in Wetherspoons earlier.
A good meeting point close to the station with friendly staff.
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Have been a regular here for a while now and always find the staff helpfull and happy....A really nice atmosphere in the evening when the lights dim and the candles are put out. Also "muppet" customers kept to a minimum. Being a real ale drinker I have found the beer too cold previously but the manager has now addressed this and they are now served at a much improved temperature and with 4 guest ales and 4 regular ales there is always a good choice.
anonymous - 16 Jun 2007 22:35 |
checked it out as there is a JDW beer festival going on at the moment, Wetherspoons have made a great play of the fact that they have an advanced cooling system which enables certain lagers to be sold close to freezing point, i didnt realise this applied to the real ales too :-) jesting aside ales in this chain are almost always served way to cold so if Tim Martin is reading this suggest he goes on a cellarmanship course pronto
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The weakness of this place, considering previous posts, seems to be inconsistency. We paid two fairly brief visits and were quite favourably impressed - beer in good nick, pleasant staff and no problem customers. However, it seems we may just have been lucky.
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I visited this place on Saturday lunchtime. I had not intended to, having tried to go somewhere else nearby (see my posting for The Crown, London N1) but ended up here and decided to try the place as it has disabled access.
Let me start by saying I do not object on principle to Wetherspoons pubs: there are in fact some in Central London that are perfectly acceptable. This one is not. Disabled access does not extend to the non-smoking area. There may or may not be a toilet accessible to wheelchair users - I didn't stick around long enough to find out. My one drink was a pint of Weston's Organic Vintage which they have on Draught here, although given the clientele that's a case of casting pearls before swine. Yes, the place was full of people who looked well gone even though it was just after 12.00 noon.
By the way, this is not the pub that gave the area its name: the original Angel is a few doors down on the corner and is now a Cooperative Bank. As for this place, I wonder what the future holds for it come July when the type of customers I saw will probably decide the smoking ban means they confine their drinking to a few cans of wifebeater from Poundstretcher in front of the TV at home.
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It's a pleasant pub with a few guest real ales on as well as the usual London Pride, Pedigree etc. You get a wide range of ages and everyone from local people, pensioners, office workers and students. The food is fine - what you expect in any Wetherspoons - and the staff are pleasant and friendly. The only think I found odd was that smoking is banned on Wednesdays from 3pm onwards (honest!) I read it in a beer mag and thought it was a misprint but it's true. Personally I prefer no smoking pubs so no quibble with a ban, but it seems like a recipe for confrontation and makes no sense to ban smoking one afternoon/night a week. I think the staff find it difficult to enforce it and the smokers are confused and cross.
chick - 28 Dec 2006 15:32 |
I found this place did excellent good value breakfasts but over time, it has definitely gone down hill, think the eggs must be microwaved or cooked night before to cut down on time. Its a shame really as it was definitely the best breakfast in Islington. I know this pub is nicknamed "Vagies" (for Vagrants) and I suppose the cheaper the beer the cheaper the clintele. They don't have enough staff on to cope with the demand of food and drinks, extremely poor management.
anonymous - 28 Nov 2006 11:45 |
I visited on Friday 13 October between 1630 and 1930. A typical Wetherspoons. Very busy with a good cross section of customers. The staff incredibly were on the ball and for once the service was excellent. My only complaint is the toilet, as you can guess, it's downstairs and they are steep. This is not helped by one of the hand-rails overlapping and I would have thought that in this age of 'health & safety' not desirable/allowed
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Visited last night with two friends from Italy. Being a Thursday it was curry club night. The beef madras was edible but rather disappointing in quality. Also I had to call into question the honesty of a (unnamed) staff member who proceeded to deliberately charge me twice for one drink in conjunction with this offer in the assumption that this would go unnoticed or that I would approve it. There was no apology when I brought it to his attention. Therefore I take this opportunity to warn customers of the following:
The curry club price for the meal package is advertised as �4.99. This price INCLUDES a drink from a limited selection. What does NOT appear in any printed literature and, indeed, anywhere in the pub premises is any policy stipulating that if you substitute another drink, you will be charged the full package price PLUS an additional drink price. This is where the potential for (at worst) staff dishonesty and (at best) misleading information arises.
If the company policy stipulates that they cannot substitute, and that a customer MUST pay the full price for the meal and drink, the staff clearly need to be trained to explain this before taking money from the customer. It was only when I asked why I was being charged almost �7 for the meal with only one drink that this was explained (with no apology).
I invite J D Wetherspoons to clarify and explain this.
anonymous - 15 Sep 2006 13:14 |
"There used to be a tramp who sat outside singing 'Do you really like it - we're lovin it lovin it lovin it!' through a traffic cone all day long. Got to be a perk. I haven't seen him recently, though. I hope he's not dead."
I remember him!! Does anyone know if he's still there? I moved away from the area a while ago so wouldn't know...
As for the pub - last time I visited (about 2 years ago) it was OK - same as most Weatherspoons, you can get slaughtered for a fiver on rancid warm beer.
anonymous - 23 Aug 2006 14:01 |
A loud altercation took place in the front of this pub last Saturday night at about 2200, between two females and one male. It had to be broken up by staff.
I could hear it from the junction with City Road/Pentonville Road when cycling down to the Wenlock. It is a shame because the pub is handy for food; had I planned to visit that night I would have been deterred.
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Cheap (particularly for Islington) and conveniently situated opposite the tube station. However it is bland and totally lacking in any atmosphere. Lots of great pubs in Islington, why go here?
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went in there last nite about 10ish what a surprise! no longer juust a dodgy old mans hole! it was clean no skags and v pleasant - give it a go!
anonymous - 29 May 2006 00:25 |
Very busy at 11:30 on a Weds night. After the cinema it was raining, this place was open ... walked past it a thousand times over the years but finally went in.
Like an airport bar, or the lounge area of a cross-channel ferry. No other word to describe it. Full of students and nutters and drunks. Really good service and very, very cheap (as you'd expect from Spoons of course).
I can see the attraction if you are a student, poor or standing immediately outside wanting a drink past 11pm on a rainy night in the longest winter ever.
anonymous - 30 Mar 2006 15:20 |
Positively classy compared to the Wetherspoons on Holloway Road or Stroud Green. Though still has its fair share of professional boozers and at 4pm is usually chock full of plasterers and plumbers waving their cash about having nicked off work early.... Still the beer's decent & it makes a change from the posing palaces that make up most of Upper Street
anonymous - 28 Mar 2006 23:31 |
We love this pub. Busy but always able to get a seat. Yes the customers can be a bit rough round the edges but there is never any trouble in here. Only problem was my mate fell over coming up the stairs from the bogs and split his lip, everyone thought he'd been beat up down there.
Cheaper than west end and central London wetherspoons too!
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Went here last Friday evening after work and I was very pleasantly surprised. The beer was good, and there was a wide and varied selection of it. Cheap and clean, it wasn't the worst by a long way.
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A dull and rather plastic looking Wetherspoons that comes with all the usual JD trimmings. Interesting local snippets on the walls, a good range of beers and spotless loos are enough for me to give a decent enough rating but on the downside, the food is a bit bland along with the d�cor and it does attract its fair share of down and outs. That said, I have never seen any trouble or had any problems here. Nothing to write home about but in today�s day and age, I never feel at home unless there is a Wetherspoons close by to fall back on.
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Full of scary people who look like they might attack or rob you at any moment lots of old wasters and filthy chavsters getting drunk in this cheap hole. Management and staf don't seem to give a shit about the place at least it makes any pub you go in afterwards seem good.
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It's not one of the better Wetherspoons around. But it's far from the worst either.
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'And full of disgusting, unhygienic and socially uninhibited old men'.
I do my best to get around.
Returned there the other day and was pleasantly reassured of how tacky it still is. No pretension here, just refreashingly earthy Dickensian grime fine tuned by the GOBs (Grumpy Old Men)to create a seedy atmosphere of pure delight. It would be improved with stale straw and piped farm noises.
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The creepiest and most depressing JD Wetherspoon I've ever been in, which is saying something. In fact, this place has got to be one of the gateways to Hell. Cheap and nasty, in the cheapest and nastiest sense of the phrase! And full of disgusting, unhygienic and socially uninhibited old men.
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Bit weird, but enjoyable and a good meeting place.
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For some reason, I love this pub. Apart from the cheap real ale aspect (also a good selection of wines) there is truly a wide cross section of Camden life frequenting this pub: suits, local grumpy old men, ladettes and couples. The decor is basic but seating is adequate. The kind of place to meet up but not to stay the term: unless you intend just to get very drunk for a minimum outlay.
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Last time I was here an old couple was having a major domestic complete with physical violence. It's that sort of pub.
As with all weatherspoons, the ales are superb and cheap, and the food is abysmal and cheap.
This one has the added quirk of nearly everyone either being under the age of 18 or over the age of 45.
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same old stories will be playing here soon so be there or be some n nerd on a computor giving bad feedback about a pub.. wot u complain bout? its cheap, thats good!!
mike - 13 Oct 2004 13:50 |
the drinks are cheap but the pub is awful.
Mike - 26 May 2004 13:04 |
Not a bad starting point on the way to getting blind drunk.Shorts are so cheap you can get blasted and forget the lack of atmosphere,music and bus station decor.
Paul - 7 Jan 2004 15:00 |
Bit of a dump and dirty. Kitchen seems to bugger a lot of the orders up.
On the plus side, you can get blind drunk for about 27p, seeing as it's a Wetherspoon's.
anonymous - 31 Dec 2003 19:54 |
Generally full of drunkards and rough looking people who have not shaved in a few days.
One to avoid - unless you like living dangerously knowing you could be glassed at a moments notice.
David - 17 Nov 2003 15:41 |
probably the cheapest pint in Islington just an average Wetherspoons really, useful bolt hole but nothing special.
Steve - 5 Oct 2003 13:24 |
On my way to another pub in the N1 area I visited this "branch" of Wetherspoons on the night of Sunday 10th Aug 2003 (when it was 100 degrees in London). Although the staff were ok, I was accutely aware of a lack of cleanliness about the place. I had to move table twice because it was sticky or dirty. I had a soft drink due to saving room for beer in the Wenlock, but the main purpose of my visit was to eat. I had a soup starter which was quite good but the spaghetti bolognese main that followed left a little to be desired. A microwaved block of sauce with some of the pre-cooked pasta now over-cooked. I have had a lot better. If staff & management took a pride in their jobs the pub would be a better place for all.
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There used to be a tramp who sat outside singing 'Do you really like it - we're lovin it lovin it lovin it!' through a traffic cone all day long. Got to be a perk. I haven't seen him recently, though. I hope he's not dead.
Joe - 7 Apr 2003 14:41 |
