Godet, Canonbury, N1

Corner pub featuring some noticeably-large windows, with a mix of furniture and decor that is part-way between alehouse and gastro-pub. Relaxed atmosphere in the early evening. Main focus is on craft keg, with nine of a possible 16 taps on use, but there were two real ales from Franklin's - English Garden (£3.50, but very cloudy, albeit not tasting too bad) and Citra IPA - plus Hogan's Hazy Dazy cider on handpump. Perhaps I was unlucky with the beer quality, but otherwise it is quite an agreeable place.

This is another pub in the Islington mould, being bare-boarded, having several leather armchairs and sofas, some solid wooden settles, a few normal tables and chairs and a couple of barrels doing service as tall tables. A small garden at the back caters for smokers. The wall behind the servery has (modern) red tiles, and the ceiling has a rather nice Lincrusta style surface. There’s not a lot of décor, but near where I was sitting there was a trio of antique sporting artifacts on the wall, comprising old leather football and rugby balls, and an aged cricket bat. I did see a sign that said “children, dogs and bicycles welcome”, which I don’t think I’ve seen in a pub before. There was a table with some books on it which looks nice although probably not used too often, but for me the negative thing was the ever present pop music. It seems the perception is that conversation is not sufficient and customers can’t live without music. But that’s just my personal opinion, and I guess I must be in the minority. Now on to the important stuff. There were three ales on – Purity Gold (£3.70), Galaxy Brewing Pale Ale (£4), and Windsor & Eton Maracana (£3.70). In a moment of ironic poignancy following England’s premature dismissal from events in Brazil, we went for the Maracana as it’s probably not a beer that we’ll ever see again. It was quite good in fact. A fourth handpump was unused. There wasn’t a lot of choice regarding food on Saturday afternoon. Some “smaller plates” plates were available (olives at £2.50, humous and olives £2.50, and “French fries” at £3). The couple of main courses were the hot dog at 8.5, and Hops & Glory Burger at 9 (or £9 in my language). Despite some of the pretentious aspects we quite liked this pub. It’s obviously been thoroughly made over as time has passed and no longer has any traditional pub character, but it was reasonably comfortable and friendly when we were in there. This is another one that I would be happy to visit again although I wouldn’t rate it as a destination pub.

Formerly known as the George Orwell, this simple, single room pub has, like so many other pubs in N1, reinvented itself as a Craft Beer bar. The pub’s décor shares some traits with the generic craft beer bar look, with bare floorboards and pastel shaded walls, but overall, I found this place more cosy and comfortable than many pubs in this genre manage to be. Despite large windows on two sides of the pub which no doubt make the place light and airy in the day, my evening time visit found the place lit by dimmed light fittings and candlelight, which created a nice ambiance alongside the dark wood fixtures and furniture. The servery is on the right hand wall and has a partly tiled bar back, somewhat reminiscent of the Southampton Arms or Jolly Butchers. There are some pews under the front windows, standard table and chair arrangements in the mid section of the room and a bank of comfy button backed armchairs and sofas to the rear, including some arranged around a nice fireplace. The walls are lined with a few old pictures and mirrors, plus some blackboards detailing various food and drink options, and in one corner a TV screen was tuned to a Europa League fixture whilst a retro soundtrack played in the background. When I arrived there was only one hand pump clipped, offering Moor Revival, which I enjoyed a very well kept pint of. However, during my stay, two more beers came on in the shape of Red Willow Feckless and Redemption Big Chief. In addition to this, there are around twelve or so keg taps offering beers from the likes of Meantime, Black Isle, Sierra Nevada and Chimay, plus a cider from Hogan’s. A well stocked set of fridges looked to hold all manner of bottled goodies, but I didn’t spot any bottle menu to help with the decision making process. The bar staff were very friendly and I noticed they were knowledgeable about their beers, helping other customers to make their selection. I quite enjoyed my stay here and although it’s focused more on craft keg beers, rather than cask ales, they did at least serve up an excellent pint from an interesting, if limited, selection. It’s a bit off the beaten track, although I was able to walk here in around ten minutes or so from the Canonbury over ground station. Perhaps not quite a destination pub, but well worth a look if you’re in the area or as part of a crawl around N1’s growing list of craft beer bars.

Another good reason to visit Islington.Craft beer bar rather than a pub.I was never in it before but it looks like a quick diy conversion..Still its got 4 handpumps about 10 keg beers and lots of bottles .Prices are reasonable for the area.Might be at the wrong end of Essex rd to get really busy.