please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Michelin Stars...
Cleary this user has never been to a Michelin Starred Restaurant. You'd be looking at a lot more than £16 for a main.
What some pub-goers don't realise is that the hospitality industry is very transient and managers, chefs and staff move jobs, hence inconsistency in service and food quality.
I quite like the Londesborough, it was one of the first pubs I drank in in Stoke Newington when i moved there in 02. Good pub, even though I rather ridiculously got asked to leave after Stoke Fest last summer. Apparently being a bar-maid's ex-boyfriend is a legitimate reason to refuse service...
|
I was looking through these posts and just had to respond. I worked at the Londesborough for quite a while over a year ago but still drink there. I will say although I see where everybody is coming from, I have also been on the other end trying to explain these seemingly nonsense rules and felt it only fair to explain the method to what seems like maddness.
1. Personally I still eat there because I know the food is fresh and aside from paying some poor person to sit and cut the hand cut chips 24 hours a day it goes against what the place is about. It's not a boozer it is a gastro pub for people who do want to eat a full meal and stay where they are for a drink or ten without being shoved along. They have an adequate snack menu for those who don't want to eat. Although I think it does serve chips now.
2.... It is Stoke Newington! Everybody has a bike! You let one in you can't turn the rest away. Or ... they could let everyone and their bike in and the pub would be over run by bikes which someone would inevitably trip over while drunk and sue the pub. You don't ask at a supermarket, a restaurant, a cafe, the cinema,the doctors or your office so why ask at the Londesborough.
And 3. It is Stoke Newington! Everybody has a kid! There are families living here.There are kids everywhere. If you don't like children don't live here or simply accept that they are a part of life here and get on with it.
So although I do have my personal reasons to love this bar ,most of you have already agreed with one or all that it's good food, good drinks, friendly staff, good music, good atmosphere, generally happy and placid clientele and a nice garden. If we're fair I thought thats what it was all about.
|
I haven't been back since they refused to let us put the bikes in the yard after a session at the climbing centre. Brownswood Park Tavern is bike friendly and my choice if in the area.
|
Sorry, LemonGrass, I wasn't clear. I'd actually hoped to take the bike through to the beer garden. Even so, it is perfectly reasonable for them to refuse, but somewhat unnecessary, and the consequences were a shame.
However, the bike had a crap lock, and would have vanished eventually, anyhow. :-/
|
USED to be a great pub. Til the staff got too far up their own jacksy's, the chef had a misguided dream that he was chefing in a michelin star restaurant (with michelin prices) so wont serve chips on their own, and word got round that its fine to take little Johnny and his baby sister in arms and let them run riot because its a sunday. Note to parents - if you're going to take your kids then at least keep them occupied - its not a creche. Gone are the days when parents used to take their kids home when they played havoc.. or maybe i was just brought up well. Anyway, shame its turned into a kids club. If you're going to go for sunday lunch - aim for after 4 when the kids club is over. Otherwise you may get run over by a toy tractor and then be shouted at by mum and dad for ruining little johnys game, just when he was looking and sounding so cute.....NOT!!
|
Sorry to hear about your bike, che, but I do think it's reasonable for the pub to refuse to let you bring your bike in
|
Like it generally, in spite of it being a bit bike unfriendly. Was refused permission to bring a bike inside last year, and it was nicked :( Staff very helpful though, and got straight on the blower to the police and the bicycle patrol.
Anyway. Good food. Good drink. Good atmosphere. Good beer garden. Too expensive.
|
Peanut73 (plus others) are correct - too many uncontrolled children. I've had kids under my table as I've tried to eat, while their oblivious parents natter away on the other side of the pub.
I've also seen more than one person nearly have an accident attempting to negotiate the groups of kids who sit unattended on the step in the middle of the pub. If one of the darlings got hurt in the process, their daddies QC would shut this place quicker than you could say Health and Safety.
I guess that chap stokenewingtonsurfclub was too busy thinking about his epilepsy inducing myspace page to notice this.
Ultimately, to get the best out of this place avoid weekends and stick to weekday evenings.
|
Yes to chips!
No to selfish "Stokey" parents who want to get drunk with their mates while neglecting their obviously bored kids.
|
Chips. CHIPS. Not Wedges. Chips. I think Monsieur Le Chef should take notice. Charge £100 a plate. I reckon people will probably pay.
|
Hoorah for the Campaign for Single Portions of Chips in the Londesborough! I have asked at the bar several times if I can order a single portion of chips and the answer is always “the chef says no”. I’m not about to spend £12.50 on chorizo risotto or a stuffed aubergine. So Londesborough, you are missing out cash from your local and very regular customers. If you sell chips we will buy them. Please convey this to the chef.
(Also, may I just add, you need more green olives in your mixed olives)
|
Right on Sisters!
There is a limit to the quantity of beer that can be soaked up by crisps, nuts and olives (from personal experience I would say about 2 pints). I say - Let them eat chips!
|
I couldn't agree more with Carol below. It seems ridiculous that the chef refuses to serve chips on their own (or even potato wedges which I find quite an acceptable alternative). As I regularly spend half my salary on drinks in here, week in, week out, it would be nice to be able to snack on a potato product more substantial than crisps and not necessarily accompanied by a pan roasted poussin and all the trimmings for £12.50. I hope the notoriously sensitive chef reads this post and takes note.
|
PLEASE SERVE CHIPS AS A SIDE ORDER!
This is our local pub and we often find that we don't want to pay £12 for dinner or snack on crisps all night long.
Is it too much to ask that you can order a side of chips??!!
Apparently the chef gets too annoyed to serve chips on ther own but PLEASE this is a local pub for local chip-munching people. I know lots of people have asked the staff about this and the response is always a flat "NO". The manager needs to listen to the people and get chips on the menu.
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN! FIGHT FOR YOUR FRIES!
|
If you are a grumpy old fart with a chip on your shoulder about happy people who know how to enjoy themselves and if you are such a miserable, unfulfilled prat that is unlikely to find anybody who would even contemplate having children with you, then this is certainly NOT the pub for you.
I have spent many an enjoyable afternoon with and without kids in the pub. The food is always great and the staff are very friendly and the clientele are are lively, happy bunch. But then I love life - unlike the sour, dour Peanut73 who can hopefully find a quiet snug somewhere where he can spend all day on his own crying into his half a pint of bitter....
|
If you are a smug, middle class trendy ex-hippy with multiple children under 5, who is into extremely liberal parenting and you don't give a monkeys about irritating anyone in your vicinity then wheel your buggy right this way!
Invite your friends who also have uncontrollable children who like to scream and throw things and make it a regular Sunday outing - for all the family.
Take over the couches and enjoy your pint with your smug friends while the fourteen or so toddlers in your group scream, vomit, roll on the floor, cry and throw tantrums.
Please feel free to block all access routes with outlandish three wheeler mountain buggies. Act as if nothing is wrong when you see fellow diners/drinkers grimacing and taking paracetamol to try to abate the splitting headaches they have developed from the shrill screams of your out of control toddlers.
Absolute nightmare. Shame, because if it wasn't for it resembling a playgroup it would be a decent pub.
|
Fantastic. Great meals, well priced, and really really friendly staff. Best Bourbon Sour ever! Only thing is had a couple too many, and didn't have enough money left to leave a tip appropriate for the great night we had! Nothing to do with their prices, more to do with my lousy maths! Will be back to make up for it! Many thanks!
|
Walking the tightrope between being an enjoyable, quirky, hangout or an annoying, pretentious shambles (see also all of Stoke Newington). Either way, for Nathan Birch to say it has "gritty East End boozer" characteristics is frankly hilarious.
|
Q: Whats the difference between the Londesborough on a Sunday and a creche?
A: The children in a creche are kept under control.
|
I haven't been to this place for some time as it was generaly a bit 'slap dash', but on my recent visit back to 'Stokey'the Londesborough has proved itself to be one of the best bars in the area. The staff were full of life and very welcoming. The atomosphere had an unpretencious vibe and service was swift when ordering the huge roast chicken (enough for two)on sunday.Friday night was a bit rammed because was it because of the ecclectic music that Stokey folk love? The cocktails have gone up but so has the standard.
anonymous - 30 Nov 2006 19:15 |
I've visited only the once and that was a month or two ago on a Friday night. Although it was thankfully free of designer toddlers (and their smug, "couply" parents), I was still pretty disappointed. My overriding impression was of a vast, noisy, brash and styleless bar for aspiring city-types and football heads. The overly loud (and irritatingly generic) music meant there was no chance of having a decent conversation, and, worst of all, the outdoor space had that nasty chrome furniture.
|
Errrrr, Bristol would never have anything lie this cos Bristolians have taste. And fewer buggies...
|
It's bike unfriendly so we never go. Push-chairs are fine though so maybe I'll make sort of bike cum push-chair thing, wheel it in and watch the fashion hair quivver with confusion.
|
Firstly - |I haven't been here in a while so someone please tell me if the staff have changed because the staff were always super friendly (the manager let my boyfriend borrow his mobile etc)
Secondly - It IS in Stoke Newington Kiddie capital of London SO for those who like a quiet pint stay away until 6pm!! when we've taken the kids home to bed. This place is a godsend to parents who still want to go out and feel socially normal!!!! And still really great after 6pm when you've bribed your single mates to babysit on a saturday night.
I agree the No Chips on their own policy is daft but apart from that i love the place.
Wish on earth Bristol had something like it.
anonymous - 16 Feb 2006 17:22 |
is this the most misguided pub in north london? The rudest bar staff imaginable - I was told that I had 10 seconds to order my round or he was going to serve some one else. I don't know anyone in Stoke newington who doesn't have a rude barman story or 2 from the Londesborough. Overpriced food - £9.00 for a ploughmans anyone? A no chips on their own policy - you'll offend chef - for gods sake, this a pub not la gavroche. good dj and great bloody marys though
anonymous - 26 Jan 2006 15:18 |
Only been on a Sunday. Overcrowded and overpriced. A hamburger cost £9 in October 2005. Friendly Staff and the layout is good. Very Stokey crowd - 30 something new media, black rimmed glasses, low-slung satchels, copy of the Guardian surgically attached to the obligatory three wheeled buggy, cracking your ankles as little Tarquin screams his middle-class lungs off. Pubs are for adults, dig? I won't sit in your playground drinking a pint, if you don't crawl in my pub screeching and puking, making me feel guilty for smoking a fag. Deal?
mikez - 13 Dec 2005 16:33 |
Er, did I go to the same pub?
I thought this place was just way to far up its own arse. I really like the Bird Cage but this place is just trying way to hard to be cool. They have a good range of beers and sprirts and they've clearly spent a lot on decor, but it just doesn't work. The bar prices reflect the cost of the furnature which was clearly bought becuase it looked expensive not becuase it looked good, or fitted the venue, or went with the other furnature. I imagine the process of selecting the furniture involved the habitat catalog and a dart board.
|
Went here the other night - it's a nice enough space, small-medium central bar as you walk in with some tables near it, opening out to a large area with sofas etc at the back. Nice enough decor in the modern/traditional/revamped stylee. There was a DJ noodling away - seemed a bit halfhearted, and the music wasn't great (though maybe that's just me). The disappointing thing was the drinks, I'm afraid. Over a tenner for 3 drinks (though this did include a large glass of wine) - the Pedigree bitter was poor, and the Fosters also tasted a bit chemically (though some people would say it always does). Disappointing really. The kind of place where it might be nice to sit back on one of the sofas with a bottle of wine, but go somewhere else if you like your ale
|
Went here a few times last summer. Yeah, was pretty good if a little pricey. Good atmosphere, music ok though DJing a little random. I guess it's cool if you like listening to other peeps record collections.
The main attraction had to be the two barmaids who were there last summer, the one looked like Uma Thurman and the other like Helena Christensen...sensational stuff!
Don't know if they're still there.
Nice Mojitos.
|
Sister pub to The Birdcage. Very nice place, good beer garden, but come early or you'll be left standing... the place gets extremely packed. Good DJs sometimes.
|
friendly, chilled, great beer, great food, comfy sofas, DJ brings atmosphere but doesn't drown you out. Love it!
|
UPDATE: Agreeing with Chris below, especially after they wouldn't let me bring my bike into the yard on a fine, quiet evening. Too much crushed ice and not enough Stokiness. Imagine not being bike friendly in Stoke Newington! Fools!
Dan - 6 Sep 2004 12:49 |
Started well but bar has gone down hill in recent months. Average waiting time at the bar is about 20 minutes even when it's not crowded. The bar staff slowly grind away at bits of ice as they try to make up cocktails while painful crowds build up waiting to be served. You know the kind of place.
Chris - 17 Aug 2004 08:58 |
Very nice, large interior, great food, big yard out back, good range of beers. Well 'Stokey' but blinkin good with it.
Dan - 14 May 2004 11:39 |
Excellent food, great hosts, and brillant atmostsphere. This is undoubtly the best pub in the north of London, along with its sister pub the Birdcage, and the brand new bar recently opened - The Talbot. A must - same relaxing carefree environment, designed to an excellant standard, brunch second to none,with a vast choice in menu.Excellant choice in wines and beers. What next for these young enthusiastic bar entreprenures - who know's what other new ventures is on their horizon. A must even if you do not live in the area. Top nite out.
Gary 19 April 2004 - 19 Apr 2004 23:56 |
this is the coolest pub in stokie. great beers on tap and good selection of spirits. they have a Dj every night with really good sounds, nothing too obtrusive, just chilling out tunes, decent food (worth the price) and a nice little beer garden with comfy furniture inside and out!! what more could ya want??!!
laura - 27 Feb 2004 14:58 |
A great place, quite simply the best pub in North london. I've trawled most of the bars in Islington, and this is without doubt the best lonodn has to offer. It's got everything you look for from a pub. Great menu of simple, hearty but well produced food, perfect for the previous evenings hang over or sharing with friends. A sunny courtyard for summers afternoons. A good selection of beers, wines and cocktails. A cool mix of gritty East End boozer and cool urban hang out. it's even got firplace to read the paper next to. Don;t miss it if you're near.
Nathan Birch - 4 Feb 2004 13:43 |
Usual fare on offer here as any local-trendy bar; leather sofa's, dj and mainstream beers all present and correct. However despite being a chain-owned bar it retains a good ambience. Good use of lighting creates an intimate atmosphere and a laid-back feel which attracts a varied crowd. Preferred it much more to The Birdcage as its spacious and set back from the main road.
Matt - 22 Jan 2004 10:54 |
Like the Birdcage, just further away. It does have the advantage of a little garden though. Proper beer too, but not cheap.
Pauly - 20 Sep 2003 15:14 |
Sister pub to the Birdcage, another local in the vicinity. Good contemporary decor, while keeping orignal boozer character and feel. Well furnished garden for when the sun shines. Brunch menu by day and shared plates in the evening. Nice mixed crowd and good music in the evenings creates good ambience.
craig - 15 Aug 2003 16:23 |
