The Bull, Islington, N1

Another "if you have seen one you have seen them all" Islington pubs. Bare floors,bare tables and vastly inflated prices. There were 3 real ales on with nothing to write home about. The interior has been grahically discribed earlier.

Interior as described below 4 real ales and food served.

Located on Islington's busy Upper Street, close to Islington Green and a short stroll from Angel tube station, the Bull is a reasonably pleasant pub from the Mitchell and Butler group. The most striking thing upon entering was the pretentious, hipster crowd that seemed to be filling the front bar, but having filtered them from my field of vision, I was able to appreciate a smart room with dark floorboards, half panelled walls and a dark wood servery running down the left hand wall. A couple of awkwardly positioned support pillars break up the area in front of the bar, but also make it difficult to manoeuvre around this space, and it took a bit of jostling to get into a position to see what beers were on. A spiral staircase in the front corner also blocks the natural path from front door to bar and I dread to think how difficult it would be to get served when the place is packed. Opposite the bar, quite a few small tables run along the front windows and down the right hand side of the pub. The décor and general ambiance screamed 'gastro-pub' when I first walked in, but I didn't spot anyone eating on my early evening time visit, so perhaps other customers don't view it that way. A posh pub-grub menu is available and a fixed price menu offered two courses for a tenner or three for £13, which seems quite good value. In the rear left corner, past the end of the bar, the room extends into a small, almost snug-like space with a single U shaped banquette serving four or five small tables with the help of some wide low stools. The area was being marketed as the 'Six Nations Lounge', with rugby bunting, posters etc... and a big TV for the viewing pleasure of the small number of people who would be able to squeeze in on match days. This area was quite cosy in the evening, but a large skylight would make it much lighter in daylight hours. The aforementioned spiral staircase leads up to a nice upper seating area that affords decent views down into the main bar below. Just two ales were on the go when I arrived - Redemption Urban Dusk (£3.85) and Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay - with Brakspear Oxford Gold and Sharp's Doom Bar both 'Coming Soon'. The Urban Dusk was, to my mind, a little past its best and I didn't enjoy it half as much as I have in the past. This is a pretty solid pub that served me well as a stop-gap as I made my way from Angel to the Taproom further along Upper Street. There's nothing here that London pub goers haven't seen before, but the place was clean, the staff were efficient and the customers had stupid beards and jumpers. Two out of three can't be too bad.