William IV, Islingtonback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Nice enough- interesting interior with assorted taxidermic specimens and so on.
Having heard about the good beer choices I was disappointed by the beer selection (London Pride & TT Landlord, and nothing interesting in bottles). But then again the Wenlock is just around the corner and much more suited for that.
Food was very nice if a tad pricey & of a very gastro sort. Clientele, well I wouldn't say "alarming" but definitely biased toward the gentrification brigade.
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Creamy stucco walls, various stuffed fowl paraded in glass cases, decent ales on tap, including a divine pint of Black Sheep - all in all, this pub gets a lot of things right. My quibbles involve slightly below average food (one usually expect better from a pub with gastro pretensions like this) and an alarming clientele of Hoxton lookalikes, almost all of whom are clearly aiming to look "different" and yet achieving nothing of the sort.
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Me and DeggyT plodded in like a pair of drowned rats just before Xmas when we were trying to find the Wenlock without a map and needed a pints worth of splash-and-dash.
Couple of decent ales on, Black Sheep was good, and served in a handled glass as well. Didn't look too put out when I asked where the Wenlock was either, so extra mark there.
Inside was all white-painted wood, 30-watt bulb lighting and a particular kind of ‘distressed’ look, probably added at great expense I imagine. Some nice glasswork along the pubs frontage and a few old oil portraits of long-dead Georgian nobodies along the walls. Looked like food was a high priority here, took a quick look at the menu whilst DeggyT was downloading – looked fairly reasonable in price.
Will pop back in next time I’m on the way to the Wenlock, would like to explore a little more.
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last night i went down to The William and was eager to write a review of this splendid pub. i am amazed and perplexed to read the review below. the pub has a warm and inviting atmosphhere and 'the owner' i met was charming and polite. he made time for us new customers, chatted to us and then let us be. he certainly knew most of the punters and it is clear why it was so busy, his hosting skills were spot on - a refreshing 'old fashioned' experience in this day of bland, faceless bars. after being shown the two upstairs rooms i am going to book our Christmas office party there. i did not eat but the food that was flying out but it looked uncomplicated yet delicious.
i would recommend this pub to anyone who fancies a relaxed intimate evening. if you get to meet the gentleman i met then so much the better is what i think.
who knows what happened with the previous reviewer? a mystery.
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i first visited this pub during a thoroughly dull and monsoon like week this August. To my delight I was greeted by a wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable bar manager. It was a pleasure to be served by an old style bar man who knew how to converse and hold court with all of the punters. Everyone felt a part of the atmosphere which added to a very enjoyable evening.
I returned week later with my friends only to be greeted by the most vile ignorant man who claimed to be the owner. When I asked the whereabouts of the nice guy that I had met the week before the hetrosexualphobic "owner" slurred some incomprehensible obsenities and then duly fell over his own counter. i found out that the good guy had left and I am not surprised. I will never return.
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excellent wine and beer selection, with great food. enjoyably busy with a good atmosphere
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Gastropub makeover of a classic corner local which still does beer in handle mugs. Beer includes Black Sheep on draught - not a common find. Worth a look but as it is very close to the Wenlock I wouldn't make the William IV my only stop in the area.
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