The Pocket, N1

A great ale house from the people who brought you The Southampton Arms ,there are elements repeated here noteably the Ale Cider Meat pubsign strap line ...it all feels very familiar.The tap room is long and thin with good wood panelling,a dark wooden floor,fitted bench seating to the front with small tables and stools,a drinking shelf opposite the elegantly curved servery with more seating in an oblong back section under a glass roof light. Above the picture rail there is a good collection of brewery ash trays,while the upright piano has a listing of when a pianist will be on.The high ceiling helps the vibe and even the Courage signage at the frontage has been exposed. Ale and keg beers are priced by ABV with keg at a premium,the bar snacks are the same meat and veg treats. On my inaugural visit there were 6 real cider pulls,10 indie keg beers and an ale selection of Redemption Big Chief,Vocation West Coast IPA (NBSS 4),Two flints Day Dream,Castle Rock Harvest Pale and Rambling Rangers ,Left Handed Giant Dark Mild,Thornbridge Low Line milk stout and Newbarns Smoky Brown .Thats a line up of high quality with a mix of styles and ABV's and worth making the effort to get here. I know I will visit a lot over the next few years,it's an outstanding pub for beer lovers and I will sample liberally next time I'm in.A must visit and not to be missed,not far from Highbury & Islington tube and rail station.

A splendid Alehouse and sister pub to The Southampton Arms In Gospel Oak, as mentioned the similarities internally are quite noticeable, the dark wood contrasts with the white butchers style tiling behind the bar. the room is long and narrow but pushes on beyond the main bar area into an open but slightly separate area. There are eight handpumps for beer on the bar counter and reminiscent of the aforementioned Southampton Arms, six mounted at the back of the bar for Cider and Perry. Ten taps for craft beer on the counter and five in the back wall serving various wines. On my second visit to this pub yesterday there was also a wooden cask barrel mounted on the bar serving a barrel aged Imperial Stout from Howling Hops priced at £5 something a half, normal cask prices are a decent £4.97 for beers up to 4.6% , stronger beers rise quite steeply at a further £1.08 per 1% rise. Both my visits have been lunchtime/early afternoon without encountering any problems such as loud chatter or folded bikes, just the one dog, a Jack Russel that wasn't in anyone's way. This pub is top and I intend many more visits.