The Bull, Islington, N1

Built in 1830, the Bull spent much of its life as the Old Pied Bull before going through a sucession of name changes via the Walter Raleigh and the Finnock & Firkin before reverting to a cropped version of its traditional name. Today the Bull is a smartish slightly trendy place that compliments Islington’s fairly chic and stylish eat/drink establishments. The first thing that I noticed was how cramped the interior is, especially around the bar area where an awkward pillar and some badly positioned tables making access to bar a bit of an ordeal. To the rear of the pub is a dining area that was well populated on my visit and a spiral starcase leads to an upstairs lounge bar but this was closed for private function so I wasn’t able to get much of a peek other than to note that the uupper bar wraps around the edges forming a sort of atrium from where you can gaze down to the ground floor.. The beer choices were reasonable enough with 4 ales (Sharps Doom Bar, Adnams Broadside, Brakspear Oxford Gold and Moor Revival) plus several top end lagers and craft beers. The food was more restaurant than pub grub with prices between £9-16. A different menu is published daily but I would imagine they are all along similar lines. Whilst it is perhaps abit too trendy for my liking, there are far more pretentious pubs in the aera and I wouldn’t have any qualms popping in when next in the area.

Official site of the Bull - www.thebullislington.co.uk

Official site of the Bull - www.thebullislington.co.uk

Wandered into this friendly, fashionable modern pub on a sunday afternoon and was greeted by a reasonable selection; Pride, Landlord, Black Sheep & Leeds Best, priced around the £3 mark. The latter two were in good nick. The place has a mixture of traditional tables & chairs plus some old sofas which presumably cost a small fortune from some uber-trendy Islington antique shop. As befits the location a young 'n' trendy crowd but a pleasant place to escape the hubbub of Upper Street.

Decided to wander into the Bull for a beer when I noticed they had Leeds Brewery Best Bitter on, and I actually found it quite a pleasant pub. From the outside I was expecting the usual bland Islington modernist makeover but it’s a decent mix of modern and traditional decor, with a wooden floor and half panelled walls, collection of traditional tables & chairs and some old sofas. It’s a bit of an odd shape but is larger than it looks from the outside, and is lighter inside than expected having the benefit of big windows and a skylight area to the back. Then there is a nice lounge type area upstairs accessed by a spiral staircase, which has additional comfy seating and block style wooden tables, and a big mirror above the bar. As well as the Leeds Best there were three other handpumps dispensing the usual offerings of Doombar, Pride and TT Landlord. I liked this place and will visit again when next in the vicinity.

Randomness Guide to London - Bull entry

Randomness Guide to London - Bull entry