Babel Beerhouse, Kings Cross, N1

Official site of Babel Beerhouse - www.instagram.com

Facebook page of Babel Beerhouse - www.facebook.com

Official site of Babel Beerhouse - www.instagram.com

Facebook page of Babel Beerhouse - www.facebook.com

Since the previous reviews there has been a change here, and there is no sign of Little Creatures at all. The beer offering is mainly from Magic Rock and Fourpure, with a couple of guests. I enjoyed a few halves of good quality craft beers at prices around £7.00 a pint. In the early afternoon most tables were reserved but we were told that was for later and we were free to use any of them. I was really quite impressed with the service with one barrel needing to be changed and the beer was brought over to the table, rather than leaving me standing around. Although I would much prefer a real ale pub, I would be happy to return here.

Official site of Babel Beerhouse - www.babelbeerhouse.com

Official site of Babel Beerhouse - www.babelbeerhouse.com

Ground floor bar at the base of an apartment building to the rear of King's Cross and St Pancras stations. I must admit that the last time I visited this area, it was in a state of dereliction. However, new buildings and businesses have sprung up everywhere around here and it was a hive of activity on our Saturday visit. There is a large rectangular room inside, with brewing equipment to the left of the entrance, the kitchen somewhere off to the right and the bar in front of you. Strangely for a Sunday lunchtime, no food was being served until later in the day. We chose seats outdoors on a terrace overlooking a grassy area between the high-rise blocks. It was a nice spot to enjoy a little sun. There is no real ale here, but there is a fairly decent keg selection spread alongside the bar. Although a couple of their own beers were not actually available when ordered. In fact, the only beer from Little Creatures was their Pale Ale. Also on were Fourpure Hazy Pale IPA & Citrus Session, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Hazy IPA & Magic Rock Dark Arts & Salty Kiss. The cider was Gravity Theory, which was rather on the sweet side. A bar that probably suits the new local residents here. But a shame that only one of the Little Creatures beers was actually on.

This is a large, shiny new brewpub from the Little Creatures Brewery, tucked away behind the new Coal Drops Yard development behind Kings Cross station. You enter through a doorway with red plastic flaps hung in front of it, which made it feel like I was walking into an abattoir or something. Thankfully, this isn’t the case, although the large room you find yourself in does have an industrial look and feel to it. The servery is directly opposite as you enter the room, with a white glazed brick tile counter front with thick wooden top, gleaming serving area and six very large tanks on the bar back, some of which were full of beer ready for dispense. High tables and stools fill the space opposite, under the full height front windows, which let in a lot of light in the day but make way for muted lighting in the evening. To the far right there is a somewhat cosier space with some long, padded benches arranged in front of the open kitchen. Stairs here lead up to a small mezzanine area with some very basic seating options and no customers. Meanwhile, over to the left, you’ll find a raised seating area with backless benches through the centre and nice padded banquettes around the perimeter. A lot of the tables here had been reserved for diners, which forced those just wanting a drink to make do with the standing room opposite the bar. The brewery can be found in a screened off area to the front left, visible through windows and with an image of the brewing process drawn on boards to one side. Pop music played in the background, but this was lost under the loud chatter that echoed through a room pretty much devoid of any soft furnishings. There was no sign of any cask ale on my visit, but the keg taps had seven Little Creatures beers on alongside a few guests from the likes of Camden. I tried the Little Creatures XPA, for which I was charged £5.90 a pint, which is insane for a 4.9% beer brewed half a dozen paces away. The staff here were prompt but fairly perfunctory and the beer, for what it’s worth, was reasonably tasty, but nothing that you haven’t tasted a great many times before. I quite liked the look of this bar, as I thought the industrial stylings were a good fit for this heavily redeveloped area, but the overall ambiance left me a bit cold, as did the lack of available seating and the crazy pricing. It’s worth popping in if you’re exploring this interesting part of town, but with prices that would make the West End blush, I can’t see me coming back.

This is my style of brewpub.Big ,light airy high ceilinged with the brewery kit on display.All keg with one beer brewed on site on my visit.Outside seating.Reasonably priced but a big mark up on halfs.If you sit outside you have a view of a fascinating block of flats that have been built into and around a gasholder.Clever.