The Narrowboat, Islington, N1

This seems to be more of a gastro-bar than a pub. There should be a decent outlook over the canal when the noisy building work opposite has been completed. Didn't see anything interesting in the way of real ale but the Steigel Goldbrau was good. I didn't eat there but the food looked pretty expensive (e.g. £8-ish for some pretty ordinary looking chilli con carne). The service was OK-ish - I had to wait for my beer until it could be brought over to our table with my wife's coffee. OK for a stop if you are walking the towpath, but not really my type of place.

I was surprised to read that this place has been recently extended as it is still very small and one of the narrowest places I've been to - Hence the name I suppose. There are a couple of small balconies overlooking the canal, but one was out of bounds and the other was rammed so I didn't get to check out the vista. Wandle, Pride, Black Sheep and TEA were all available alongside a selection of premium and standard lagers. There is a plasma screen and Sky is shown, but I thought that there was a leaning towards food so I wouldn't plan to go here to watch a match. The barmaid was very friendly and the other patrons seemed decent enough making a nice atmosphere for a pub with a professional crowd. Based on my early evening visit I would return here again.