George IV, N1

My first time in here last Saturday and having passed it a million times, I knew it wasn't going to be my thing. The venue was chosen as an easily located meeting point for my friends. Contrary to reviews below, this isn't actually a gastro pub at all. It's a pub which sports much contemporary décor and happens to serve food from a contemporary menu - if you and your mates want to get off their faces here on Jägerbombs, then that's fine. As mentioned, this is a substantial single-roomed pub which was formerly The George IV. Indeed it does display some very fine polychromatic glazed tilework to the interior. Naturally, being a Saturday evening, the place was heaving - this is a destination pub for professional 20-somethings looking to blow off steam. The lavatories are truly weird, resembling some sort of dungeon/Soho peep show preceded by a stone dragon's head which doubles as a fountain at the bottom of a helical metal staircase; dark and black as hell, I didn't know whether to have a pee or hold a Black Mass - episodes of Black Adder Goes Forth played over the sound system. The staff were efficient. Premium lagers were many, ales served were Sharp's Atlantic, Sambrook's Junction and Truman' Somersault - all were fine and around the £4.00-mark which is what you'd expect here. However, despite the fact that music wasn't loud, the volume from ambient conversation coupled with the resonant acoustics meant that having a chat was impossible. The completely smashed customer, face down at his table, didn't appeal either so we left to find something more civilised that caters for adults; I can't see any compelling reason to return.

Housed in a substantial building, although the bar area - comprising a single room with a notably high ceiling - is not as large as one might expect. Largely stripped out and redecorated in typical gastro-pub style, but there are still a few original features of interest if you take a little time to look around. Four real ales on handpump - Doom Bar and Cornish Coaster from Sharps plus Pegigree and Theakston Best Bitter (£3.60).

Islington is just the place where trendy gastropubs thrive and the Angelic should therefore come as no surprise to the visitor despite numerous name and image changes over the years. The interior is one large room with high ceilings and large curtainless windows, stripped back furnishings and blackboards offering the likes of Forge Farm Organic Pumpkin Ravioli. The beers (apparently “tasted and rigourously tested before being put on the menu”) included 4 ales on my recent visit – Greene King London Glory, Sharps Cornish Coaster, Marstons Pedigree and Sharps Doom Bar with prices FROM £3.50. I would happily taste and rigourously test them for nothing if it meant they would be sold a reasonable price. There are a few remnants of its traditional pub past with some mosaic patterned floors in the entrance and the journey to the loos is an event in itself that involves descending a spiral staircase next to a plaster statue to a running water fountain at its foot. It’s OK, you don’t actually use the fountain for the deed at hand – the loos are further on although they have their own entertainment value. It is usually quite bustling with a younger but more professional type customer base, most of whom will invariably be tucking into Tapas or swirling around red wines. It really isn’t a beer drinker’s environment but its popularity suggests that it is good at what it does if you like that kind of thing. Anyone left in any doubt of the Angelic’s pretentiousness should look no further than their own labeling of their food and drink as elixir and ambrosia. I’ll stick to Pork Scratchings and a pint of Best in future.