The Duke of Wellington, N1

This pub has a bit of an unusual feel to it, mixing a much altered, traditional interior with a modern hipster vibe, landing somewhere awkwardly between the two rather than finding a harmonious blend. Entering into the main bar, you find an island servery in the centre of a room that was quite clearly previously divided into a number of small compartments, each with their own external entrance, some of which can still be seen. The upshot of this is that the servery has no bar back, although an arch through to the end of the bar (possibly an old bottle and jug hatch?) has some nice etched glass panels on either side. The room is bare boarded and boasts a number of etched glass windows, including the former doors to the 'Public Bar' and a space that was originally a porch, but has now rather ingeniously been converted into a tiny snug with the eponymous Duke's portrait inside. Low stools run down one side of the room, high tables and stools down the other and there are banquettes under the front windows, which seems like a good variety of seating options. The entrance leads you into a lobby type area which has a nice fireplace on the wall opposite the bar and a table with various bits of beer literature and flyers for local events on it. From here, the pub runs a considerable distance further back, firstly through a corridor area with a drinking ledge and high stools under the large windows to the side of the pub, and then on into a large room at the rear which was seemingly being used for a private function on this visit, so I was unable to explore properly. Music played quietly throughout my stay and food was being served, mainly in the form of Sunday roasts. I'd been led to believe that this was a bit of a destination pub for ale enthusiasts, but there were only five ales available on the bar - not a bad thing by any means, but not quite what I'd expected to find. Options this time were Redemption Trinity and Hopspur, Mighty Oak Bingle Jells and Good Cheer and Sambrooks Wandle. I had a pint of the Trinity which wasn't far from being completely flat. There was something about this place that I couldn't quite warm to, despite an interesting interior and decent ale range. I'd be keen to give the place another try as there are enough promising signs to encourage further visits and I would say it certainly merits inclusion on any crawl around the Dalston area.

There were five ales on here – Sambrook’s Wandle, Crouch Vale Yakima, London Fields Black Path Porter and Hackney Hopster, and Cronx Standard Bitter (£3.75 a pint). Old Rosie and Thatcher’s Heritage ciders were also on handpump. They seem to be doing an “American Street Food” menu at the moment, which is headlined “Capish”, which I guess is cod Italian or perhaps just Soprano-esque. Just like the last pub I was in the menu seemed to be in a foreign language, but luckily the friendly barmaid had the time to translate for me. I ended up with something called “braciole sandwiche”, which was basically a bap filled with shredded beef (I think), and topped with melted cheese and pickled cabbage (I think). It was much improved by the application of copious amounts of English mustard. It might be American street food but I suspect not at American street prices – my beef roll was £7.50. The infamous “sliders” also got a mention – whatever they are you could get three of them for £10. This is an old Victorian pub that still has a bit of the original screening and etched/cut glass in place. However, it’s now been almost completely opened up, leaving the servery as a central island bar in the main room. One doorway has the “Duke of Wellington” mosaic on the floor, and there’s an attractive tiled surround fireplace with the customary wax encrusted (spirit) bottles on the mantlepiece awaiting deployment as dusk approaches. There is a separate room at the back, which when I was in was furnished with seats all facing the large projection screen with a bunch of blokes all watching the rugby. I rather liked this pub. It felt a friendly sort of place. Five ales on, with four of them from London micro-breweries, is good going. I would certainly be happy to drop in here again.

This pub has a large island bar that is surrounded with various types of seating including high tables around the exterior walls where one can gaze out of the windows past the wax covered wine bottles to see people busying themselves outside. It was very busy in here with uber cool Islingtonites in their skinny jeans and berets when I visited last Wednesday evening, but I did manage to grab a seat to enjoy a well served Guinness. Along with the premium lagers there is a bank of four hand pumps at either end of the bar. Four of these were unused, but Sambrooks Wandle, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold, Brodies Kosher Rye and Wolf Brewery Grant Wouldn’t Like It were available on the other four. There was some sort of dinner club night in progress during my visit so the only food available was the homemade bar snacks including sausage rolls and pasties, but a full menu is usually available. I didn’t spot any TVs in the bar area, but there is a big screen that is used for sports and showing films in the function room and there was some music playing in the background that ranged from Peggy Sue to trumpet soloists. The function room mentioned is located at the rear of the pub and it was out of bounds whilst I was here, but there are plenty of events where it is used including an upcoming arts and crafts fair. Plenty of picnic tables run down the length of the pub on the outside path and most have umbrellas to shield from the elements. Even though the crowd in attendance weren’t really my sort of people and the toilet was backed up and spilling over the floor I would still return as a lot of effort is being put into this place and they deserve the custom.