please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Visited the Wednesday night quiz in the downstairs bar. The quiz was good, but the bar was pretty horrible - very dark and dingy, rather hot, and just one ale on the pump (London Pride). We didn't drink upstairs so on this occasion I won't rate the pub.
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This is a quality pub ideal for a night our if you wanna stay local but still have good time, usually pretty busy and has an awesome selection of beers.
Seems to be easier to get served than it used to be, might be something to do with clearing of a lot onf the random furniture they used to have.
Ideal place to go with your mates or your girlfriend.
Not as poncy as some people claim either!!
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Can I just say great staff. Was in here last Saturday afternoon for lunch, after ordering and paying at the bar the barmaid came across to say that my mate's choice was off, so she looked again and reordered and added in a side order of fries. The girl again apologised they hadn't had what was ordered and said that they wouldn't charge the extra £2 or so to make it up to us. Just a little thing but great customer service. Great selection of wine and beer, nice atmosphere, expect it's a lot busier at night and maybe not everyone's cup of tea but definately worth a visit.
anonymous - 7 Mar 2007 17:40 |
Best pub in Crouch End - ok that's not that difficult but the others don't even come close. Brilliant downstairs venue for comedy and live music, very atmospheric.
There always seems to be a new beer on tap whenever I go in and the overall range is top notch. I agree with above about not enough seats, but plenty of places to lean.
Staff are good, service is quick and friendly. Don't know where they get their music from but the choice of tunes is excellent.
Food is very good, especially the Sunday roasts.
Some of the crowd can be a bit poseur-ish, some are bohemian layabouts looking for inspiration, but all are generally friendly and polite.
Great Boozer
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This place really tries hard, and credit should be given for that. The problem is that the clientele are typical Crouch End media / minor celebrity types who don't really understand what a pub or a bar actually is, and so the Kings Head is dragged down to a blander level than it deserves. Staff are good, drinks selection is fine, there are enough little nooks and corners to keep it interesting, but overall, what could have been a jewel of a pub is ultimately let down by its customers and location.
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Atmosphere is ok, friendly, not a lot of seats in the front bit where everyone goes because you can smoke so get there before 3pm.
a good selection of poncey/nice beers, although regularly run out of such drinks like erm, "white wine" on busy nights , and key beers like staropramen etc
most of the staff are friendly enough for a busy place but the younger ones a bit clueless ie. opening bottles of champagne and asking for non standard drinks can be a problem - and the manager seems to have given the bar crew futuristic fiddly stick pokey things to open up the tills and it takes ages to pay for a round
its just ok really, and popular because Crouch End is shit for pubs in general. I appreciate its not an easy job to do, but the bar manager/management clearly need to pull their finger out and sort out some of the basics - particularly when their happy to charge top dollar..
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Good beers, poor atmosphere.
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OK. Looks nice, but not enough seats. And in lieu of anywhere else stylish in Crouch End (why??) , the place is often full of posers who are there to be seen rather than have a good time. Great selection of beers, though.
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I live in Archway so the beer prices are astronomical by my standard. Still, their draft selection is absolutely stellar, easily the best in the area. They have both outstanding continental beers like Franziskaner on draft as well as a solid lineup of Real Ale with no shit, token bitters. For a poncy bar, the staff are efficient and friendly. Worth checking out for the beer alone.
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As the comments below have said, there's a good selection of beer, and the food is tasty - but we went in on New Year's Day for lunch, and waited an age for our meals to turn up. Two did - and they were cold - then the other two followed half an hour later, and finally our warmed up first lot took a further fifteen minutes to arrive. The staff were apologetic, but only agreed rather grudgingly to give us a round for having made us wait so long.
anonymous - 5 Jan 2006 17:04 |
This has gone down hill since the "refurbishment", it use to be a passable pub with a couple of small screens showing football and the great comedy club downstairs.
The comedy club still remains, but the pub looks like the afterbirth creation of Laurence Lleweyln-Bowen with drapes, and arty farty decor.
To poncy to be a pub.
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Quite smokey and seating is at a premium. Good selection of beers, friendly staff. Nothing special.
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Lovely pub, apart from the fact that there's always lots of smokers there. Lovely decor, gorgeous food. We need more pubs like this in Crouch End.
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ok for a couple of casual drinks now and then, with some nice beer on offer. seating is hard to come by, which is fine for the majority of punters who just come here to stand around and be seen in their trendy outfits, but for me it can get quite uncomfortable squeezed into some hot, cramped corner, especially if i'm tired. In such situations I either guzzle Leffe more quickly than usual or leave.
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Ok its a bit poncey, but it is in Crouch End, it is pricey too but there is a good selection of continental lagers, never eaten here but have been to the comedy many times in the downstairs bar which is always great, however they don't always have the bar downstairs open but still have three staff on the bar upstairs when two will do!
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Impossible to get a seat. Impossible to stand up because of all the people in army jackets.
Narrowest demographic of any place I've been in. Oh and the refurb is a confused mess of house clearance nonsense.
Brett - 7 Nov 2004 16:58 |
A bit pricey and the air is always thick with choking fag fumes.
They really need to invest in a decent air-con system.
Still, it's usually packed and has a good atmosphere so they must be doing something right.
Peter - 30 Oct 2004 13:48 |
yeh fair enough the refurb is well done and quite nice, but i just feel that we are loosing all of our 'traditional' pubs to these 'new style' establishments with not much character. on the whole however, a nice place to eat and drink.
Tom Riding - 29 Jul 2004 14:54 |
great comedy downstairs. V. popular pub, and contrary to some opinions I like the refurbishment.
anonymous - 8 Jun 2004 16:09 |
This pub is fantastic. I drank there before the re-furb and it was cool, now it's even better. Its trendy but without trying, brilliant place to chill out with mates. Fab salsa classes on mondays, and excellent jazz band on quite regularly as well as feature performances from comedians. Highly recommended!
Ally - 7 Apr 2004 11:23 |
Great food, good beer and loads of comfy seating
Tracey Ellis - 20 Jan 2004 13:36 |
Just been refurbished and a nice job too. A well needed but unoffensive update and totally fitting with its corner location. At last the sort of place you walk into without having too look over your shoulder.....
Matt - 14 Jan 2004 16:37 |
Its famous for the 'Downstairs at the Kings Head' caberat club where the likes of Eddie Izard and Rich Hall have played. I can' believe you didn't have it on her but then the pub itself used to be quite grotty, its just had a face lift and is now fab (wasn't very women friendly before now has great food and wine menu).
Jenny - 15 Dec 2003 14:06 |
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