please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
One of London’s (and indeed the UK’s) most acclaimed music venue pubs and fully justifying its reputation. The bright blue exterior with its ornate lettering is a relic from the days when pubs were designed to impress and whilst the interior is, shall we say, stylishly tatty, it retains plenty of interesting features; decorative columns, coloured glass, bar frame, patterned mirrors etc. A couple of well placed plasma screens often show sport and there is a pool table although the logistics of playing it during the busier periods are not good. On the beer front, there is Bass on hand pump but, and this appears to be a recurring problem, it was not available on my recent trip. The rest is of the standard keg and lager selections although prices are very reasonable given the usually inflated prices whenever live music is a feature.
The music venue itself is completely separate from the main body of the pub and has hosted many a famous upcoming band over the years. It is accessed through the Venue door to the left of the pub or via the toilets from the inside. A corridor leads to a sort of anti room with a skylight and access to an extension of the main pub bar. The venue itself is through the battered and sticker laden doors and is a typically dark, dingy and often stiflingly hot room. The stage is a decent size and sightlines very good, as is the sound and lighting.
The popular Forum music venue is a barely a drum roll away and the B&G naturally gets packed to the rafters prior to gigs. Sadly, the future of the pub is in some doubt so if you want to get to one of London’s must visit pubs, pick a gig and go for it before it’s too late.
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a superb pub, in what is a terrifying area. even on a sunday, a large number of people were there. despite sinking into a cavanous hole in my seat, and having a beer mat thrust into my mouth by a so called friend, a wonderderful time was had. the tables made for excellent beer curling arenas, and the prices of said beer were reasonable. not the place for the ale lover, with none on sale, not even for the cider lover, with none in the music venue area at least. hillarious locals, and good music; especially from harry and the endersons.
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We were in this pub after the Pigeon Detectives on 23/11/07 and must say it was a good pub, but no real ale!!! Really disappointing and according to one of the locals the ale has been off for a while. Nice pub and not too overprivced, especially for London.
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Of the 4 pubs I visited in North London this weekend this was the only one that wasn't over priced, had bag thieves,or poor service.
This is a pub.Clean, beautifully decorated, good beer, straightforward bar-staff.
If you and your friends can't have a good time here. Trust me it's your fault.
anonymous - 10 Jun 2007 21:07 |
Best pub in Kentish Town by a long long way.
All the other are either pretentious or rough and this is neither.
And it doubles up as one of the best music venues in London!
Genius!!!
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Nice place, decent pint.
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I came here at the weekend for the Sludgefeast gig and was very pleasantly surprised - a music venue in London that actually sells decent beer?? At a reasonable price??? Strange but true.
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Some great gigs in the back of this boozer which people often forget to mention. The likes of Keane (spit), Coldplay and Muse all played here before making it super-big, in the latters case to one man and his dog (true!). Good TV coverage for football evenings and some tasteful stuff on the jukebox The Fall, Smiths. Mark E Smith used to drink in here before Fall gigs in the Forum (venue almost next door). Well recommended for a non-pretentious North London Camden-esque gig night out.
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Went here on the 10th feb before going to the "magic numbers" gig at the forum.Full of character and a good atmosphere me and the other half stuck to the Guinness a good drop of the black stuff although mine kept being served in a john smiths glass!.another good point they sell Tayto crisps .
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wonderfull old fashioned boozer, lots of architecture to drool over and curiously lumpy seats.
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They recently installed a nice LCD flat panel for the World Cup. As it had built-in Freeview, the TV was ready to view true widescreen pictures, unlike many other pubs that show an ignorantly stretched 4:3 picture. Find out more about my pub widescreen campaign at www.radiofeeds.co.uk/wide
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Somehow forgot to review this gem of a pub until now. Yes, it is pricey but it's a really fantastic old school pub with a cosy atmosphere and appearance. The drinks are good which helps compensate for the price and the Staropramen is particularly lovely. Bar staff are efficeint and reasonably friendly.
Also you get the option of the Chronicles of Narnia style experience of enetring the gents and coming out the other side in an excellent live music venue. The venue has it's own bar and fortunately the same prices and quality and retains a lot of the charm of the pub area but is also an outstanding place to watch up and coming bands.
Sadly the place is up for sale at the moment and rumours persist that this historic pub may soon be redeveloped beyond all recognition and lose it's current charm and it's status as a vital venue on the London Live Music scene. Enoy it whilst you still can!
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Not bad, but a little over priced for the atmosphere.
anonymous - 12 Oct 2005 22:03 |
was there last saturday with a mate while our repective girlfriends went to see cradle of filth up the road.
personally i thought the beers were a little over priced, even for london prices, the barstaff seemed to do a fair immitation of Brad Pitts character from snatch in that i couldnt understand a word they said.
still, not a bad little pub for a pre gig drink i guess.
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Serves a decent pint of Stella and Bass, but when the music starts it is time to go.
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quite a nice pub
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Great pub. Sadly, owners Pat and Margaret are selling up and retiring after 15 years.Probably Murphy the hole-in-the -road man will continue his stealthy take-over of Kentish Town.
Paul the obnoxious barman is a.k.a."Musso" for Mussolini.
anonymous - 19 Dec 2004 13:05 |
Good pub to go before a gig, went there before seeing The Libertines at the Forum last December. Couldn't say what it was like otherwise but great atmosphere in there then. Definitely reccomended pre-gig.
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Bless the summer of '88!
A dingy hole of a pub/venue - you gotta love it.
Not a terrible chippy next door either.
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I saw the Libertines queuing up to see a band in here once! Great for a guinness or two b4 going into the Forum (only a stones throw away!)
Carla - 4 Sep 2004 15:45 |
the most charmingly miserable barman's name is paul and recently he helped me to win £100 so I can highly reccomend to check him out!!
agnieszka - 30 Jun 2004 20:11 |
Chris certainly knows what hes talking about re 'The most charmingly miserable bar man'
other quips that have been heard from his charming mouth have been 'jeez will you look at the lungs on that' But no he isn't the landlord thank god.. he's a lot more of an amiable chap ala King of the Hill's Hank.. so even if you dont spot any minor celebs (Dave from chas and Dave) you've always got the look a likes !
Patricia - 16 Jun 2004 16:15 |
This is a pretty decent pub. I always have fun here and its great for a drink before going to gigs. Come try.
Mark Roberts - 22 Mar 2004 04:21 |
Its all good in here. Can't fault it!!!!!
Paul - 22 Mar 2004 04:04 |
Nice pub. Not much in the way of seating but there is a cosy booth by the door. Can get a bit packed when a popular band are playing but generally an ok place.
Go here instead of the Assembly House and don't forget to try The Pineapple a few minutes walk away.
Steve - 18 Mar 2004 14:55 |
Brendan has hit the nail on the head here. I love this pub though haven't ventured into the venue part of the place yet. Me and my friends live in tufnell park and will walk the half a mile just to have a few guinnesses while being barracked by the most charmingly miserable bar man I have ever come across. He tells us to shutup when we sing, gets angry if we don't state do we want halves or pints of guinness, and tells us 'Its only a game of fucking pool lads!' if we play a good shot and say 'Yes!' Its hilarious, we can't keep straight faces and return on a regular basis to piss ourselves laughing. I think he's the guv'nor and we love he's angry leprechaun routine. Everyone must visit!
Chris - 19 Feb 2004 17:30 |
This is the best pub in London! Never mind Camden! What more could you want? Excellent pool table, decent jukebox (if you don't mind a few Irish classics as well) the beer is perfectly served especially the guinness! And they've also added extra cold to their vast selection. In terms of the punters you could meet absolutely anyone in this place. From the very friendly locals, to the array of goths, skater kids, punks and even minor celebs that flow through those magical wooden doors.
Brendan - 15 Feb 2004 14:28 |
This is the best pub in Camden for goth/punk bands. The beer is ok but if your gagging for a pint at opening time avoid this place. They have no sense of time.
Gary - 12 Dec 2003 15:41 |
Apparantly you can now watch live gigs from the Bull & Gate via their website.
http://www.bullandgate.co.uk
Peter - 22 May 2003 16:00 |
A very good pub for anyone into Metal, Punk, Goth music. Weekends are best and its a good one to add to a Camden pub crawl.
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