The Northgate, Islington

One of the best gastropubs in London.

Food selection and executionof dishes is always excellent. Extensive seasonal produce is used imaginatively with flair and skill. Large selection of beers and wines.

You'll pay a little more than in an ordinary establishment, but it is well worth it for a decent meal and an enjoyable lively atmosphere ('buzz'). In the Summer there are nicely positioned tables outside where you can watch the world go by. In the Winter there is a cozy atmosphere. Service nearly always friendly and helpful.

Only misgiving would be the toilets. They need some money spent on them.

7 Dec 2009 17:25

The Rosemary Branch, Islington

DO NOT BOTHER GOING HERE FOR SUNDAY LUNCH - IT IS DIRE.

Pork was pink and undercooked (OK for beef or lamb maybe, but definitely not for pork); potatoes were undercooked inside and burned on the outside (how is that possible?); carrots uncooked (not 'al dente' mind you, just raw and crunchy). Moody waitress took the plates away when we asked to have the meat cooked a little more. It reappeared 10minutes later and was delivered to the table with a sullen expression, complete lack of communication and indifference.

Half-way through eating this wholly uninspiring lunch, a ''pianist'' turned up and started bashing the hell out of an old, barely in-tune upright, to the point that we couldn't hear eachother speak. It was a Sunday lunch, not a jazz/rock festival and I am not an old fogey.

Pay the extra and go to a proper establishment with excellent food and a fantastic selection of beers and wines.......namely The Northgate which is about 150 yards up Southgate Road. At least people answer you when you address them rather than looking at their feet and going off to chat with their colleagues behind the bar while other patrons are clearly waiting to be served.

Crap on too many levels to warrant a return visit.

7 Dec 2009 17:20

The Prince Albert, Camden

Our time at this venue should have been filled with happy memories of a wonderful Christmas/Leaving party for one of our MTV colleagues who is returning to Oz/NZ. We were a party of 17 having drinks downstairs before heading upstairs to the restaurant section for dinner (which we had pre-booked), followed by a return downstairs for further drinks and fun. However...

...Unless you are a relatively inexperienced restauranteur/publican you would surely expect a party of this size to be rumbustious and out for a fun evening of enjoyment and frivolity. Under the circumstances, perhaps it would be wise when taking the money from such a large party, to accept that they are unlikely to be mute and akin to attendees of a prayer meeting???

We were greeted from the outset as though we were in the wrong establishment. Pained expressions from the waiting staff suggested that we were not entirely welcome (unless perhaps we sat like church mice and politely observed that this is an establishment which plays on its gastropub credentials and is a cut above the usual Camden hostelry). Well frankly, it's not a cut above anything in the vicinity, or anywhere else!

The food is decidedly average. The service mixed to say the very least and the attitude of the staff maudlin and barely tolerant. I do not enjoy being tolerated. It is intolerable (as Stephen Sondheim once observed). Hostility should not be an integral part of hostelry. Being told that you should quieten down because you are upsetting other patrons (a Quaker-like table of 4 in an otherwise empty room) is utterly ridiculous. Being forced to engage in a discussion about the levels of raucousness and enjoyment which are acceptable is ridiculous. Being corralled downstairs to a holding area (from which other patrons were quickly ushered without any clear explanation given to them) is equally ridiculous.

Thank goodness everyone in the party was intent on making the most of our time together and enjoying eachother's company, otherwise the atmosphere in this pub would have ruined the evening. It was disappointing that such a fuss and nonsense was made. An effort to appreciate the reasons for the gathering (which were communicated quite clearly in advance) and a little buy-in from the staff instead of pervading an air of frostiness would have been a fantastic boon, but alas it was not in evidence. I worked in hotels for over 10 years, and possessing that archive of knowledge and experience enables me to say with some confidence that this outfit could have done a lot better. We were not swinging from the chandeliers, breaking furniture, smashing glasses or engaged in strip routines on the bar counter. No police were called. There was no food fight. We weren't telling bawdy jokes at the top of our lungs.

Prince Albert, get a life. Lighten up and accept that you are a venue for entertainment and enjoyment, not a police cell, a school room or a church.

It gets one point - because the toilets were clean!

7 Dec 2009 16:52