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Image posted by Just a quick pint, then I'm off
Submitted on Sunday, 29th April 2018
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Detail Pages
The Racketeer, Kings Cross, WC1
WC1
WC1X 9LR
Served areas
the racketeer
Agave tasting & masterclass with Casa Agave Monday 24th February from 6.30pm in the back room of The Racketeer - ti… https://t.co/WAzEwRn3Se
7:59 PM Jan 13th 2020 from Twitter Web App
Reviews of The Racketeer (Average Rating: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Racketeer
There's still no real ale on in here, just four keg fonts with little discs affixed to the counter in front of them to let you know what beer it is. Fine if you can get yourself right in front of them when it's not busy, as was the case when I was in on Friday afternoon, but it might be more tricky when it's busy. The four were all "craft" beers which I didn't recognise, and I went for the Purity Helles Lager at £5.30 a pint. They obviously do food as I saw some menus on the bar counter, but I didn't scrutinise one.
This is now no longer the backstreet boozer that it once was. It's now an aspiring upmarket pub - there are no TVs, one-armed bandits or games machines in here. All furnishings are traditional in a way, with no tall tables/tall stools just bench seating and normal tables and chairs, although the table at which I sat was marble topped which is a bit unusual.
The latest refurbishment has revealed some more original Victorian features. The original signage for the Carpenters Arms is now revealed on the exterior. The floor tiling on the left of the interior - presumably for the Saloon Bar judging by the exterior signage - has been revealed by the removal of a carpet, and the woodwork and wall tiling at the back on the left is exposed to view by the removal of the kitchen that used to be there. The pewter topped bar counter is more modern work, but the bar back (which is probably now shorter than it originally was) is old. To the right of the servery are old mirrors to the right and left of the entranceway to the more modern extension at the back. In this room at the back is an old mirror, resited from the wall near the entrance on the right where the staircase down to the toilets has been added. Visiting the toilets is a bit like a journey to the crypts, with its narrow corridor and rattling of the tube passing underneath. There's another lounge-like room down here.
But the outstanding heritage feature in my opinion is the array of large and decorative mirrors on the left hand wall, with wood frames and surrounded by Victorian tiling decorated with foliage and vases.
I was the only person in at Friday lunchtime, but I expect that it's a very different place in the evenings judging by the reserved signs on the tables. This is quite a nice pub, but a decent real ale would be a massive plus.
On 8th January 2020
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Racketeer
Recently reopened, renamed and marketed as 'An independent, neighbourhood cocktail bar in King's Cross. Relaxed elegance in an intimate setting, outside seating and a tiny walled secret garden.' This part of King's Cross has yet to be - and perhaps never will be - gentrified. This was a down-at-heel locals' boozer but no longer. Most of the Taylor Walker regalia has been retained, but with plain glass panes to the TW lanterns. Inside, the bar is now central, metal-topped and minus the pot shelf. Gone too is the awful sticky-back brick skeuomorph plastic. The games machine has also been consigned to the skip, but happily the wonderful mirrors, glazed wall tiles and floor tiles, probably encaustic, are on display to fine effect; the remaining floor is bare boarded.
Furniture is conventional with green leather(ette) banquettes to the perimeter. Lighting is as muted as the music.
The old Taylor Walker panes are displayed by the stairs. Descending to the loos one is presented with some rather bizarre partly candlelit catacombs, like something out of an Edgar Allan Poe novel. All that was missing was the Pentagram of Baphomet, and a blonde haired young woman tied to an alter, with a cloaked, dagger-wielding Charles Gray looming over her.
Back to reality and ales - none. Four chrome, unlabelled founts dispensing Purity's Lawless Lager, Veltin's Pilsner, Siren's White Tips IPA and Purity's Long Horn IPA, all priced between £4.80 and £5.95 a pint! This is Kings Cross not Kensington.
The Racketeer has the potential to be a good pub; some real ales would get the mark up to at least a 5. That and a soupçon of human sacrifice.
On 8th September 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
peter ashworth left this review about Carpenters Arms
Although I could not see any signage I think The Carpenters Arms is now The Racketeer
On 7th September 2017
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2318 recommendations about 2274 pubs]
View more reviews of The Racketeer (11)
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London St Pancras International, 0.7 miles, 13 min walk (show)
London St Pancras International, 0.7 miles, 13 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 08 September 2017 by Tris C
- Car Park : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Function Room : No last updated 08 September 2017 by Tris C
- Hot Food : No - Cold charcuterie. - last updated 08 September 2017 by Tris C
- Jukebox : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Karaoke : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Live Music : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Micropub : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Pinball : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Pool Table : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Quiz Night : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Real Ale : No last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- Wheelchair Access : No - WCs downstairs. - last updated 11 August 2017 by Tris C
- WiFi : No last updated 03 March 2016 by Tris C
