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The Pineapple, NW5
NW5
NW5 2NX
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Pineapple
Backstreet boozer in a well-heeled area of Kentish Town. The room wraps itself around the central bar, with further seating in a conservatory at the rear. Beyond that is a garden area.
My only previous visit here was back in 2011 and little appears to have changed. Although I don't recall seeing the conservatory back then. I seem to recall my last visit being on a busy Saturday afternoon, when there was no seating to be had when I wandered in. This time, a Monday visit gave us an opportunity to grab a table. But it really doesn't take much to fill the pub.
The house beer is Marston's Pineapple. 4 guests were Dorking Five Claw, Gun Parebellum, Oakham Citra & Laine Breaker. Real cider is no longer stocked. Certainly a good Kentish Town pub, albeit not quite as good as Tapping The Admiral or the nearby Southampton Arms.
On 4th October 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Pineapple
Edited:
4th July 2020 - the Fuggle Has Landed! One of the first pubs to reopen in the area during the plague and with some of the most relaxed entrance requirements - hand squidge then a very friendly barmaid gestured me to take a table with every other table in the pub (at least the front part) all taken. What immediately struck me is just how much better is the pub when it's not playing loud music, isn't pandering to fizzed-up squealers and there isn't the awful pong of Thai food.
All five pumps in operation and thankfully not a drop of Gloom Bar in sight though I couldn't read three of the other pump clips. However, there was one of my favourites on: Ghost Ship and at a very reasonable £4.00 pint. So after 106 days' deprivation, it was One Small Sip For A Man, One Giant Swig For Mankind and it was on top form too!
Sadly, the pub closed at just 9.00pm, even though four customers arrived at this time, which is a shame as I suspect that I and the 14-odd other drinkers would no doubt have been happy to stay for a few more.
Nevertheless, this is a top notch pub and I'll return when next possible.
15th October 2016.
A return visit the other night and the music is just as loud, and the scantily clad shrieking girls were in. What was worse was the all-pervasive waft of Thai food. The only relatively high point of the visit was my pint of Mr. Swift's Pale Ale at £3.80 a pint. A good pint and decent value for the area. Otherwise, this pub has really gone to the dogs; marked down from 4 to 3.
16th July 2016.
A return visit since my last in March 2011 and it would appear that things have changed and not for the better. The pub seems largely unchanged with a pleasant interior with Bass mirrors, conventional furniture and beguiling etched mirror bar back. However, the pub was absolutely rammed, with music that was far too loud - not pleasant at all. Allied to which there were some very chavvy - possibly regular - young girls with of all things, their mother, who were doing Jägerbombs and were mouthy as hell. There's still Thai food which thankfully we couldn't smell and the original Ind Coope Double Diamond lettering remains.
Ales: Truman's Rio Gold, Ringwood's Old Thumper, Oakham Ales' Jeffrey Hudson Bitter, Sharp's Doom Bar and Blackjack's Double Bluff which was very good and amazingly cheap at £1.90 a half.
This pub isn't nearly as good as it once was, part of its appeal being that it was a quiet backstreet boozer. The other night was like drinking in a nightclub - we might give it another go sometime soon, but unless the other night was an aberration, we shan't be returning.
On 7th July 2020
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Pineapple
A bit different & unusual layout, central bar serving a number of well kept ales, front & side almost corridor bars with high ceiling & light décor, posters, mirrors, various seating points & coal effect gas fire.
Very peaceful during a day time visit & very pleasant.
On 8th November 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Pineapple
Very handsome back street pub - outside and especially inside, where the central bar is surrounded by a comfortable lounge and side alcoves. The lounge has some wonderful old Bass Mirrors.
There has obviously never been a wild west brawl in this pub.
A few real ales on and I went for a very decent Foundation Bitter.
Worth seeking out. Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2wM3nj2
On 11th August 2017
- rating: 9
[User has posted 277 recommendations about 276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Pineapple
Had a good visit here. The pub was not so busy on a late Saturday lunchtime and managed to get one of the tables in the front bar section. I didn’t think the available beers of Doombar, Jennings Cumberland, Ringwood Old Thumper, Twickenham Grandstand and the aforementioned Hammerton Baron H was too shabby, and the Twickenham and Hammerton brews were in good condition. Good service levels encountered and any pub where the bar staff offer the CAMRA discount before being asked scores with me.
Plenty of good period features as mentioned by others and the huge Bass Pale Ale mirrors are impressive. Very comfortable pub and a decent enough Ale range for the area which will certainly have me back in when close again.
On 4th January 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Pineapple
Nice traditional interior as previously described.Like John found below the beer choice was a little pedestrian with offerings from Sharps,Jennings and Windsor and Eton breweries,The exception being Hammerton Baron H,which may not be to everybody's taste and was a bit pokey at 5.8% being only the second pint of the day,it was good though. A nice pub,certainly one of the better in Kentish Town.
On 13th December 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Pineapple
Well described on previous reviews.Hate heavy curtains behind pub doors.Cosy warm and busy on my visit.Shame about the beer choice two from Cottage
,Doombar,hanlons -firefly and something drinkable from Darkstar -partridge best.
On 21st November 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Pineapple
I've always found this pub to be busy, though there's plenty of room and usually a table to be found somewhere, and I've only once had to stand nursing my glass while waiting for a space to develop. the Thai food, cooked upstairs, is popular, though sometimes the smell can clash with the beer. Five hand pumps featuring beers from Stod Fold, Redemption, Cottage and Dorset, plus the ubiquitous Sharps Doom Bar at the time of my latest visit.
The bar is immediately in front on entering the building, and the door has a heavy curtain behind it, presumably to prevent noise leaking out and annoying the neighbours in this quiet residential street. The serving staff are usually friendly and enthusiastic and the atmosphere is pleasant and not too noisy most of the time. On my latest visit the barman enquired whether I was a Camra member, and I got an unexpected discount, paying just £1.75 for my half of what my notes tell me was my best beer of the evening: Dorset Jurassic.
Date of visit: 20th May 2015
On 21st July 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Pineapple
Many of the pubs original features remain intact. This includes the bar counter and I especially liked the etched glass servery, which read Whiskies Brandies and Wines along the top. There was also an original Newgate clock in the middle of this. Two large Bass & Co Pale Ale mirrors were on display, one above the fireplace and the other on the left hand wall. Five ales on handpump, we went for the Two Cocks Brewery Leveller and Bristol Beer Factor 7. Both beers were nothing to rave about and were quite flat. A pity really, as it is a decent and comfortable pub to visit.
On 13th February 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Pineapple
Thankfully little has changed at the Pineapple in the intervening period since my last review. Absolutely rammed when I popped in here before Slowdive at the nearby Forum. A very nice pint of Twickenham went down the hatch. Still a top London pub, one of those hidden gems that reading sites like this allows you to find.
March 2012
Tucked away in the pretty posh back streets of Kentish Town (I'm rather reminded of Private Eye’s Grim Up North London cartoon strip at times on the walk), this is probably the most urbane ‘backstreet local’ I think I’ve ever come across. On entering, you’re confronted by light interior with a smallish bar which hosts a fabulous Victorian bar-back, complete with built in clock. Usually busy, so the locals are clearly keen. Four ales usually available, served by friendly staff. Redemption and Adnams are fairly regularly available alongside a couple of guests in good shape. The interior is a lot bigger than the bar initially suggests – if you proceed down the side corridor there are a couple of cosy seating areas, with a conservatory and pleasant beer garden at the rear (similar to that of the nearby Junction) and the conservatory contains an entire bound set of the 1932 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Pleasant background music. Thai dishes are the food of choice – I took a quick glance at the menu and the prices seemed rather reasonable for the area. Watch out for the pub cat(s) who meow to get in through the conservatory door if it’s shut. Quiz nights are advertised. Also, look out for the Ind Coope and Double Diamond windows at the bar’s front; retro-chic(?!). Overall, this a is a lovely cosy local and I’d give it a definite thumbs-up. I enjoy it more and more each time I visit. Rated 9
On 20th December 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]