The Talbot, N1

A modernised single roomed pub/bar that also boasts an al fresco upper balcony. The service was poor and despite standing full centre of the servery was ignored until I made a comment about the possibility of being invisible, when I was finally attended to with a pint of Sambrooks Pumphouse Pale from the solitary handpull the measure was woefully short, though topped up without quibble but only after I requested it. The pub is a disaster and the room itself displays little in the way of any character, I can't see myself being drawn back here anytime soon.

Official site of The Talbot - www.thetalbotn1.com

Official site of The Talbot - www.thetalbotn1.com

This is a mid-sized back street pub that has been given quite a strong gastro-pub makeover which makes it feel a lot more upmarket than you’d expect for this area. The pub has been opened out into a single room layout, bare boarded throughout with very large windows down one side and a dark paint scheme throughout. The bar is on the front wall and has a pleasant dark wood counter with a marble top and a bare brick bar back partly covered with a large blackboard which lists the wine options. The main part of the room has been filled with tables and chairs plus a couple of sofas arranged in an L-shape directly opposite the servery. A large blackboard on the rear wall lists the full menu and a few standard lamps back here add some much-needed illumination to an otherwise very dimly lit room. A space to the right of the bar had been set aside for diners, with seven or eight pre-set tables served by hard chairs under a bare brick wall with a small fireplace beneath a nice decorative mirror. Despite there being no free seats anywhere else in the pub and only one couple eating in this dining area, I was asked to move by one of the waiting staff, who eventually related after I pointed out that there was hardly a rush for seats in this part of the pub. I later discovered that there is more seating available upstairs, although I didn’t get around to exploring this, and there are also additional seats out in a good-sized pavement seating area to one side of the building. Just the two cask ales available on this visit – Taylors Landlord and Three Sods Boho Bitter. I opted for a pint of the latter for which I was charged £4.80, only to attempt to pay on card and be told they have a £5.00 minimum for card payments. Thankfully, I still had some cash on me and after much dithering with the till, I was eventually presented with my pint which turned out to be nothing special. I quite liked this place despite it having lost much of its pub character through the opening out of the interior and the focus on food. There are some comfy spots to settle down and the atmosphere was nice and relaxed – a couple of more interesting beers might well have put this one on the revisit list, but for now I think I’ll just be keeping track on the place from afar.

The Talbot is a fairly posh looking corner pub. Once inside there is a decent sized single square shaped room with the bar on the left side,the room is bare boarded and the seating is normal tables and chairs,there is also a small area to the rear left. There were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Taylor Landlord which went down well,the other beer was Hackney american Pale Ale. The Background music was decent and the pub was quite busy on my Saturday afternoon visit. I was happy enough having a drink in this pub Not sure why some of the reviews are so critical of the pubs in this area,but then again i am happy in going in most pubs i visit. Pub visited 11/6/2016

This pub is really more of a style bar/restaurant than pub and certainly no boozer. The walls are all bare brick and what wood there is, is painted Farrow & Ball smokey blue. Basically there's no décor at all apart from a mirror on a wall. Furniture is largely old school stuff or leatherette sofas. A few lamp standards are dotted around, though lighting is very gloomy indeed. Muted music played and clients seemed mainly to be French. Ales: just Timothy Taylor's Landlord and Hackney Brewery's American Pale Ale which was a bit warm and cost £4.10 a pint which is about right for the area. The food here would have to be seriously good to get me to return because as a pub, it fails on all fronts. Fortunately The Scolt Head is a lot better and is just around the corner.

There were a couple of ales on here – Timothy Taylor Landlord and London Fields excellent Love Not War (£2 a half). This place is branded as a “pub & dining” venue, so there are no surprises inside. The walls are either exposed brickwork or painted battleship grey, and there’s no other decor apart from the large chalkboard menu. There is a cluster of leather sofas in the middle of the room, with other furnishings being assorted chairs (including those re-cycled school chairs we see so often now) and dining room style leafed tables. It’s a gastropub so obviously pub grub is thin on the ground, with main courses ranging from £13 to £16 or so. Other typical gastropub features were present on the bar counter, such as bags of crisps in a wooden box; lemons in a bowl; a jug of what looked like already mixed Bloody Mary; and celery sticks in a glass. This is obviously a child friendly pub judging the number of buggies coming and going, and kids running around. There is some bench seating at the front of the pub, and as I was leaving I saw a few people sitting on a first floor balcony, the access to which I had failed spot when in the pub. The Love Not War was in fine shape and was definitely the best thing about this pub in my opinion.

It wasn’t very busy in here when I visited on Thursday night last week, but I was thankful as it is one of those small gastro pubs that has the sofas and oversized table that are filled without much effort. There are some four seated tables around the large windowed exterior walls of this corner pub, but these seem to be the first to be taken. The red light bulbs aren’t much good at illuminating the pub and the candles on the tables don’t really help much, but I suppose the pub is going for an intimate atmosphere whilst people tuck into the gastro fayre that is cooked up in the kitchen that serves food from 18:30 until 22:30 daily. There are two hand pumps in amongst the limited draught range and these were drawing Summer Lightening and Landlord, but I opted for the Guinness that was very good and served by an amiable barman. There are some picnic tables at the rear of the pub that are overlooked by some balconies that close at 22:30 every night which was before my visit so I didn’t get to investigate. Although the welcome was friendly I’m not a big fan of these establishments so I do not plan a return visit.