The Prince Arthur, Old Street, N1

This pub is in a bit of a mess.It's a small street corner boozer in an unpromising location and looks uncared for.The small interior looks like someone has just moved in with tressel tables stacked against a wall,some very rough and worn large tables and bench seating dominating the two bow windows and cheap curtaining hanging from the tracks and around the draught excluding front door rail.The lights were off on the keg taps and the lower back section despite retaining a small Victorian fireplace had a jumble of oversized furniture which made it look cluttered.Seating is advertised up on the first floor but this also serves as a function room and was being hired by a hen party.I didn't investigate so as to avoid being mistaken for a striptease artist. The barmaid was friendly enough and the muzak was very good ,so maybe the vibe here is distressed chaos when I was expecting some pub charm.There is still a Shepherd Neame tie with Bishops Finger,Whitstable Bay and Spitfire Gold being served together with a guest in Kansas Avenue Brewing (Hydes) Zesty Jester which was decent enough. If you want to avoid the interior,over the road there are some exterior benches but the view of social housing may limit their appeal.This pub is IMHO a missed opportunity,unless you appreciate disorder.

Tucked away on a back street. Bare boarded interior with a central bar. 4 real ales.

It's clear from the reviews below that this pub has had a bit of a makeover to take advantage of the area's ongoing gentrification. Gone is the scarlet Neame livery, replaced with a dark Georgian shade of green - very nice it looks too. I had thought that this was going to be a rough locals', given the blocks in the immediate vicinity, but the clients were a very mixed bunch. Some American City types, a couple of elderly sauced-up Irish locals and a pub weirdo, who engages all in conversation and who can't get the hint that some people don't want to talk. The interior is split level and tiny. The pot shelf is shrouded in hops and furniture is very rustic modern and intentionally so. Above at least one table there are now some giant industrial lights and a pew seat which had cushions made from South American coffee bean sacks! My half of Spitfire Gold (£2.00) was very decent and sensibly priced; the barmaid was very nice too. I'd come here again, but perhaps the drunken locals should be given the heave-ho. Then I'll give it a higher mark.

I returned here after some three or so years to see if the place was still surviving, and got a bit of a shock to find the place busy with disco music blaring out and several people prancing about the floor,including one geezer looking like something out of ZZ Top. Amused and bemused at the same time I ordered a pint of Masterbrew (very nice) and found a vacant table in a corner.After a while ZZ came over and apologised for the scene unfolding before me and explained it was a birthday party and it's not always like this, we had a brief chat and I learnt long time landlord Dixie Dean left a couple of years ago but the pub is still ticking along nicely, good to hear as its a nice little boozer.

Not quite sure what (if anything) is happening here, since the Shepherd Neame branding has been taken off the façade and pub sign but it is still listed on the company's website and they still supply the beer. Anyway, it is quite a distinctive-looking old place amongst the anonymous newer blocks in the vicinity, with the front door and attractive windows either side protruding slightly from the façade. Compact 'L'-shaped bar, with a rear seating area (featuring a nice log fire) down a single step at the back. Semi-rustic furniture and decor. Master Brew, Spitfire, Bishops Finger and Whitstable Bay pale ale (3.70) available from the four handpumps. Also has the Whitstable Bay blonde lager on tap. Worth seeking out.

Prince arthur page at the Shepherd Neame site - www.shepherdneame.co.uk

Prince arthur page at the Shepherd Neame site - www.shepherdneame.co.uk

This is what I would call a proper no frills trad boozer. Shepherd Neame beers have always been top notch when Iv'e visited,a real locals pub although what I gather from the landlord all the regulars are not local people,a sad reality of modern community's and any pubs reliant on them. well worth a visit.