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The Bull & Gate, Kentish Town, NW5

389 Kentish Town Road
NW5
NW5 2TJ
Phone: 02074855358

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Bull & Gate

I was impressed by the gin palace interior,it really should be inspected.A Young's house,there is a front saloon to the right with a real fireplace tucked to one side,a discrete sports flatscreen which will be screening live sport but otherwise off and views of the magnificent etched mirrored bar back.The light wood bar facing continues around a dog leg so that the other sections have bar access.There is a fine arched passage way to a snug type area below a grand staircase to the first floor loos ,a room for hire and a very small lounge.Further around the ground floor past some columns there is a sky light and then a formal rear dining room laid fully for service.Prints hang on all the walls and the overall feel is authentic and plush.There is also a weekly quiz and clearly this is a gay friendly pub with the barman sporting some fine nail varnish.
The 5 handpumps were offering Olde Rosie real cider,Youngs Original and Special and a decent St Austell Proper Job (NBSS 3.5,£5.60pp).Worth a squint around,another decent pub on the way up to the terrific Southampton Arms.

On 15th January 2022 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Bull & Gate

I've walked past this pub many a time on my way to the Southampton Arms. I was making a similar walk on Monday, when I decided to give it a try.

The interior is certainly quite grand and spacious, with large ceilings. There is also an upstairs bar (the Boulogne Bar) which can be seen when using the facilities.

It was very quiet on my Monday afternoon visit. One other customer joined me not longer after I arrived at the front of the pub, with another 2 or 3 people sat at the rear.

Young's Bitter & St Austell Proper Job were the real ales. I was encouraged by the sight of Weston's Old Rosie, but apparently the pump was broken. Instead, I chose a keg beer - Two Tribes Metroland. This was very nice, but it certainly should have been for £3.50 a half pint!

Nice place, but the lack of atmosphere, lack of beer choice and exorbitant prices will put me off a return visit.

On 11th July 2021 - rating: 5
[User has posted 2442 recommendations about 2441 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Bull & Gate

Despite passing it on countless occasions, I’d never previously visited this large Young’s pub, so ahead of a gig at the nearby Forum, I decided to pop in and finally check out the ornate interior I’d heard so much about. You enter into the main bar area which is bare boarded and has an L-shaped servery to the rear. Bench and sofa seating under the front windows are good for a bit of people-watching along the busy road outside, whilst high tables and stools provide alternative seating options to the left. The bar has a smart dark wood counter, a nice gantry that appears to have lost a significant part during various refits down the years, and an amazing bar back with highly decorative etched glasswork, especially in some of the fine upper sections. The room also has an elaborate decorative ceiling, although the walls have been painted a dull shade of gastro-pub grey and decorated with cheap paintings and further adorned with TV screens which were showing live rugby union on this visit. To the front left, there is a small side room with a couple more tables and chairs plus some upturned barrels to stand around. Stairs here lead up to the Boulogne Bar, which I briefly popped into and seemed to be a good sized overspill room, which came in very useful on this pre-gig visit, although the implication was that this might usually be expected to be used as a dining room. Beneath the staircase, there is a decent sized space with more tables and chairs around a nice fireplace with another TV screen squeezed into one corner and an amazing octagonal skylight surrounded by a decorative frieze. This area then links back with the main bar area via a large open-plan area at the end of the servery. The right front section of the pub is an extension of the main bar area with a limited amount of seating and a continuation of the servery and its elaborate features. At the very rear of the pub, there is a large ground floor dining room with a concrete floor which has been partly covered with a big rug. Walls are a mixture of plain stone and wood panel and there is a nice vaulted ceiling with a skylight feature. Tables run in three rows through the room, supported by well upholstered chairs. An open kitchen dominates the rear wall and the room has some very attractive doors in smart frames. Rock music was playing at a modest volume, perhaps to appeal to the pre-gig crowd, although this was a Saturday night, so it may well be the norm.
Sadly, the grandeur of the pub couldn’t be matched by the handpulls, which offered Youngs’ Ordinary and Special, but saw the two guest pumps unclipped, with a real cider on the remaining handle. The Ordinary was pretty ordinary to be honest, but I wasn’t all that fussed as I was happy enough exploring this interesting building. The presence of two guest pumps gives some encouragement that better beer might be available at times, although it was disappointing that they couldn’t get either of these up and running on a Saturday night.
I have no idea why I slept on this pub for so long and I’m really glad that I finally took the plunge, as it’s a great old building that’s well worth spending some time snooping around. The limited beer range is the obvious inhibiting factor from making this a regular port of call, but I think I’ll be popping my head in again in the future on the off-chance that a guest ale or two might be on.

On 15th June 2020 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


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Alan Winfield left this review about The Bull & Gate

The Bull Gate is a decent looking pub that is a very short walk from Kentish Town train station.
Once inside the bar faces in a single dog legged shaped room which runs roughly to the rear left.
The room is bare boarded and the seating is Pew seats and chairs and normal tables and chairs,there were menus on the tables but you could sit anywhere,there is a separate dining room to the rear left.
The pub is now a Youngs tied house,there were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Youngs Bitter,which went down well,the other real ales were Youngs Hummingbird and Trumans Two Halfs.
The pub was almost empty on my Friday dinner visit as i got in just after 11am.
I thought this was a decent pub to have a drink in.

Pub visited 2/6/2017

On 6th August 2017 - rating: 7
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Bull & Gate

Taken over by Young's and comprehensively refurbished since my last visit in 2013, this iconic pub is now very much in the Geronimo Inns mould now (particularly the Boulogne Bar upstairs with its sofas, chandeliers, grand piano and early jazz background music). The main bar is still more basically furnished, with limited decor, although things go upmarket again in the substantial rear dining room. Ordinary, Special, an IPA from Backyard Brewhouse and Aspall's Temple Moon cider available from four of five handpumps on each of two banks, with reversed Doom Bar clips also noted. Very different these days, but still worth a visit if heading to the O2 Forum or otherwise in the area.

On 14th May 2016 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve of N21 left this review about The Bull & Gate

First time to visit since the refurb and although the loss of the music venue will be mourned by those of us who enjoyed it back in the day, cannot argue that the resulting change is overall a better pub. And seems to be working as it was certainly one of the busier pubs in the area on this late Saturday afternoon.
Well described by Tris below and I too was well enamored by the Boulogne Bar with its velvet armchairs, crystal chandeliers and opulent fireplaces.
Four of the five pumps were dispensing Youngs Beers including Bitter, Special and London Gold and then the fifth had a very passable Trumans Swift as a guest.
Much smarter and more comfortable than before and a much improved ale choice than the lone pump that was available back in the day

On 4th January 2016 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


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Will Larter left this review about The Bull & Gate

The pub's new décor and makeover by Youngs has been well described by Tris below. It's now what this sort of London pub should be like: lively, vibrant atmosphere in a building redolent with tradition. It's slightly disappointing that the beers are only from Youngs fairly ordinary range, but that's what goes with the territory.

A warning to anyone allergic to dogs: there appears to be a habit of providing doggy treats, which are scattered on the floor in the vicinity of the slobbering hounds. Ugh!

Date of visit: 20th May 2015

On 21st July 2015 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about The Bull & Gate

This is an Aladdin's cave of High Victorian décor: curved windows, glazed polychromatic tilework, more tiling to the interior, arches, columns, a superb cut glass mirrored bar back, stained-glass, mirrors and more. What a scream!

It's a few years since my last visit to this CAMRA Heritage Pub and since then, it has been taken over and given a very expensive makeover by Young's.

The new internal and external colour schemes are an improvement though are a bit Farrow & Ball; smokey blue/grey hues. The pub seems to have been opened up quite a bit, probaby by absorbing the old music venue - it's huge, with a very large dining room to the rear. Furniture is throughly conventional though upstairs next to the new and rather swish lavatories, is the Boulogne Bar (the pub was originally called The Boulogne Gate) which resembles a gentlemen's club room in Piccadilly, complete with a grand piano!

Beer is the standard Young's array with premium lagers dispensed from large chrome taps which are a bit 'steam punk'. The bar top is now brushed metal which is a shame and what is a bit bizarre are the metal - unused - gantries. Welded from old bits of steel square-section tubing, they look like something from Scrapheap Challenge. Please...!

This is a very pleasant place to drink and is much improved for having lost its slight Irish theme. It's also clearly aimed at a more affluent client base. That said, I'll bet it's absolutely rammed when a gig is on at the Forum down the road.

N.B. The pub also features all-important sausage making classes.

On 11th July 2015 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1956 recommendations about 1923 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


hondo . left this review about The Bull & Gate

Young’s are taking over the venue

On 21st July 2014 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Will Larter left this review about Bull & Gate

The distinctive blue facade has gone, replaced by something that may be in better taste but is somewhat lacking in the individuality stakes. Inside everything is much as before, but the beer quality has taken a dive. Only one hand pump was available on my recent visit, so I didn't see an awful lot of point in complaining because there was nothing to replace the just-about-drinkable London Pride.

One of the very few other customers was obviously a Madness fan. If the hat wasn't a give-away, the fact that he selected all their greatest hits on the juke box would have provided a clue; or was it the same song over and over? Who can tell.

On 25th August 2011 - rating: 4
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]

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