BITE user comments - beer
Comments by beer
This place rocks. Love the bar staff. The London Pride is well kept (and another guest beer promised soon if the landlord Matt is not telling porkies). Staro also keeps the 'connoisseur' lager drinkers quiet. Jack the chef serves up mean fodder too. It's a lovely place and never too packed or moody like its neighbour the Queen's Head. It is just far enough up Essex Road to keep the tourists away. A hidden gem.
27 Feb 2008 20:23
I will never go back and recommend that you do not go there until they sort themselves out. This is a fancy gastro pub but they are so up themselves it ruins the possibilities of the nice interior and position. The beer is average, the food just OK for the price, the bar staff variable, and the waitresses in the restaurant upstairs incredibly surly and rude. Last night they argued with me because I refused to pay the full 12.5% service charge that had automatically been added to my bill. Bearing in mind half the bill was bottles of wine that we had to serve ourselves to I thought my 20% tip on the food was enough. But these moody mares thought not and told me I had not paid enough. Awful.
23 Feb 2008 10:19
Great place, a real gem in the City. Only problem is the completely inappropriate cheesy Euro-house music played by the bar staff.
I was told by the barmaid last night that the place has now been acquired by some chain or other. What a pity. We can only hope it's not Tiger Tiger or something in the future.
26 Oct 2007 15:14
Gone. Boarded up. Will the last person to run a pub in Hackney please turn out the lights when they leave.
30 Apr 2007 10:40
Morning Mist! Like it. Only someone with a vested interest could come up with that. You've taken a fine looking pub and made it look like a childrens' play area.
20 Mar 2007 16:15
The Duke of Cambridge, Islington
This is a restaurant. It has the atmosphere, furniture arrangement and staff you would expect to find in a restaurant.If you like hanging out here, you like hanging out in restaurants. Nothing wrong with that, but don't try and convince yourselves, and others, that it's anything other than a restaurant. Traditional pubs are about drinking alcohol not eating organic food. "Locals" are traditional pubs. I guess you can have a "local" restaurant, but not a "local" in the common sense of the term. Ergo, this restaurant cannot be a local.
19 Mar 2007 16:50
Still a great pint, but the whole place has been painted turquoise. Probably the most bizarre redecoration of any pub ever, perhaps in a misguided and pretty laughable effort to "feminise" a Victorian boozer. Would love to see the business case for this work. - "I've got it! All the young trendy monied things will be falling over themselves to come here if we install a coffe machine and paint the whole pub turquoise". Rating still high due to quality of beer. If that goes, the rating will plummet.
2 Mar 2007 09:00
Was in here a few weeks ago and the Pride was really very good indeed. Probably best pint I've had in Islington for a while bar any visits to the Wenlock.
4 Oct 2006 14:29
Sad to report that this N1 institution has now closed and is due to open any time as...a women's clothes shop (Jigsaw). Tragic really as, although not the best pub in the area, it was something of a landmark and always popular. That's it then - the last pub on Cross Street has gone. At the current rate, there will be no "pubs" left in Islington. Just chain bars, coffee bars and shops.
22 Jul 2006 15:59
The Pitcher And Piano, Islington
Awful. Best part about our visit was the door closing as we left. Baldo must have a vested interest in talking up these dreadful, charmless chain bars.
23 Jan 2006 17:32
Delicious cocktails.
If you find yourself on a Thurs/Fri/Sat evening, freezing cold, waiting in line for the dubious pleasure of being jostled and harrassed in the forever packed and uncomfortable Embassy over the road, make a sensible decision. Cross the road and have a nice drink in a warm and comfortable atmosphere in EQ.
23 Nov 2005 10:46
It's a good bar with good cocktails and a well though out vibe, but to say, as below, that it's "the only decent excuse for going drinking in North London" is ill-considered. I would suggest going to some of the outstanding N1 bars and pubs which are not on Upper Street/Essex Road, not to mention the rich pub environs of Hampstead, Primrose Hill, Highbury and Highgate, before arriving at such a verdict. As for being reminiscent of bars in NYC, finding a bar in NYC (ie Manhattan rather than Brooklyn) with "comfy seating" and a "decent pint" can be challenging to say the least.
23 Nov 2005 10:38
The Marquess Tavern, Canonbury
This place has gone dramatically downhill. The Landlord left a while ago and the place is now a shambles. TVs on showing nothing in particular, children running about and dreadful RnB music being played at high volume. The drinkers of old have all understandably moved on and the current customers are all gormless dullards in flammable sportswear. Not sure what Youngs plan to do about all this, but it is not reflecting well on them at all.
7 Sep 2005 17:00
Now been refurbed and renamed as "The New Rose". The new owners/staff are very friendly and generally they have effected a vast improvement. Exposed brick work and careful restoration of wood interior has added a new dimension to what was previously a pretty unattractive space.
The ususal leather sofas are there (no sign of this Shoreditch export declining in popularity yet)and most of the trappings of the feather-cut mullet/drainpipe set are in evidence but it would be a little unfair to laugh too hard. Effort has been made - the Jukebox is well stocked and there is a lot of space for live music/DJ if the place goes in that direction. Locals of the previous incarnation look appropriately baffled by all this.
Probably destined for fashionable N1 venue status (it is near soulmates such as the Embassy, the Warwick and the Queens Head) which it deserves. Only drawback is the beer selection. Standard lagers and no ale. Not that this will bother the target clientele.
21 Jul 2005 15:12
Came back on Friday night and have never seen the place so busy which is heartening. A really fun atmosphere and an unparallelled selection of beers. The Adnams was a little ropey but there were some delicious alternatives. Is there a hint of good taste entering the pub going mainstream? N1 All Bar One has closed. Viva La Wenlock.
2 Mar 2005 11:35
Particularly inviting for a clandestine afternoon cocktail. Must respond to bikingtiger - Islington is full of great bars and pubs - but very few of them are on Upper Street.
21 Feb 2005 10:06
The Prince Albert, Angel, Islington
I'm loathed to comment on this splendid little boozer but I suppose its discovery is at hand anyway. A great addition to the N1 pub canon. Really good beer, comfortable and friendly. Will soon be colonised by all those people who are tired of the crowds now packing into the Island Queen. If you like good pubs, you won't be disappointed in the Prince Albert.
15 Feb 2005 14:10
The Mucky Pup, Angel, Islington
Revisited for the first time in about a year and this is still a first class boozer. Very cozy and very good beer. Whoever is moaning about "cheaply framed pictures" should perhaps stick to the art galleries and forget going to pubs altogether.
15 Feb 2005 13:58
A uniquely charming old pub. I dread the day I visit to find it changed in any way.
14 Feb 2005 16:19
What the hell happened? This place was an institution, a legend. It had character and a very colourful history. It now looks like an airport cafeteria. Chronically bad refurb, absolutely criminal. Such a pity.
11 Feb 2005 10:25
The Downs Hotel, Hackney Downs
As with many pubs in the wilder parts of Hackney, has potential (lovely building, could be a cosy local) but sadly has been left to rot. Bad. Very, very bad.
9 Feb 2005 13:21
The Brownswood Park Tavern, Finsbury Park
Never fail to have a good time in this great local. Good beer and such friendly staff. Highly recommended.
9 Feb 2005 13:13
This is an outstanding pub. One of a sadly diminishing stock. However, in response to the comment from eccentric_man, try the Tamworth Arms in West Croydon. A good solid Youngs pub, still thriving (I hope).
7 Feb 2005 16:23
The beer in here really is very good. Lively place, full of character (and characters). You could do a lot worse round Angel than come here.
28 Jan 2005 14:18
I was here may years ago and recall that it was a good laugh and I'm sure it remains so today. However, as the previous posts reflect, there was the age old problem for single men in South London - no women, or at least 1 woman to every 4 men. This is true of all South London suburbs with the exception of certain pockets of Clapham. Take my advice guys - get up to North London for a night out. No queues, loads of late venues, loads of women. I'm letting this particular cat out of the bag as I am now married.
14 Jan 2005 14:18
This has now been renamed "minging mango" or something. Never has a queue outside and when you go in there you can see why.
6 Jan 2005 13:15
Was there for a pint over xmas. The beer was mediocre and the place was super-heated, very uncomfortable. It really cannot call itself a "pub" either - as the barman himself admitted, they make all their money from food, so this is what they focus on. If you want to go and have a drink, go elsewhere. If you want to go and have a meal in a restaurant which looks a bit like a pub, go here.
5 Jan 2005 10:07
The Prince Regent Bar and Kitchen, Islington
I still like this pub, but:
1. On December 30th there were quite a few children in there at 10pm. Call me boring but that is not why I go to a pub.
2. There was no ale on - at all.
3. At 6pm on NYE, we were told the place was closing for 2 hours so we went elsewhere and had a great night thanks very much.
4 Jan 2005 13:36
The Old Queens Head, Islington
I am a fan of this place but recently have been disappointed by the lack of any real ale. The tap is always off. This is a great shame because the rest of the pub is grand.
29 Dec 2004 10:22
The Glass Works, Angel, Islington
Apparently there is no r'n'b played so it is not entirely without merit.
22 Dec 2004 14:15
The Florence Tavern, Islington
The last 10 or so comments are clearly from the new management. However, I have been there and it is a transformation. A massive improvement in every department but...still no decent beer - the taps are there but the beer is always "off".
26 Nov 2004 16:00
Delightful place, absolutely magical. The tracksuits, the pit-bulls, the gold jewellry, the dentistry - stunning.
26 Nov 2004 15:54
The North Pole, Canary Wharf
A true oasis.
14 Mar 2008 15:22