The Night Owl, Finsbury Park, N4

Located just across the bus station apron outside Finsbury Park Station, this is a relatively new bar and live music venue. The bar has a simple, single room layout with a plain screed floor, large shop-style windows to the front, dark wood panels along the walls and a small stage at the far end. The servery is along the left-hand wall, opposite the entrance, and has a simple counter and modern bar back devoid of any notable features. During the daytime, comfy lounge seating fills the front space under the windows, with standard tables and chairs to the right as the room runs to the rear, and high tables and stools to the left, although much of this gets cleared away in the evenings if there is music on. The stage, with its chequerboard floor and large backdrop of the pub logo on a black wall, is quite low, making it tricky to see what's going on if you're stood near the bar, but the sound was pretty impressive on my visit. There's no cask ale, perhaps inevitably, but some mega-corp craft can be found in the form of Camden Pale and two Beavertown brews amongst the usual lager options. The Camden Pale weighed in at a hefty £6.80 a pint and was served by a generally friendly and efficient bar team. It's always good to see a new live music venue come onto the scene and I enjoyed the gig I saw here, but as a pub I didn't think the place really had all that much to offer. The beer is mainstream and over-priced and I can't imagine there's much atmosphere here outside of their live music nights, so I'll be back for more gigs I'm sure, but pre-show drinks will be taken elsewhere. Date of visit - 21st June 2024

Visited 17/04/2024 Small bar, as noted below, directly outside Finsbury Park station. Wasn't intending to visit on this occasion, but in passing noticed there was a live band on so popped in to check. Two-member female band belting out some of their own compositions, definitely punk end of spectrum so very much to my liking, one entitled the "Northern Line" was particularly catchy! Only what could be described as a "usual suspects" keg array, opted for a pint of Camden Pale Ale, actually my first for a while. Band aside, i couldn't stretch to a 5 for this venue and would opt for other venues when around FP station.

Official site of The Night Owl - finsburypark.thenightowl.club

Official site of The Night Owl - finsburypark.thenightowl.club

A modern looking bar directly opposite Finsbury Park Station but often obscured by buses waiting at their stands.There is a bracket for a pub sign,so I assume it must have been a proper pub at some time,but these days it has regular name changes and is faceless.The interior has a wooden floor throughout,very sticky close to the side bar,while the interior is L shaped with SKY flatscreens ,the one at the rear is above a small raised area with a sofa below.Elsewhere leather buttoned chairs and square tables make up the furniture.It's dark ,noisy and will be used by Gooners both before and after matches,so expect a boisterous atmosphere.The bar has two ranks of 6 keg taps with mainstream beers and lagers doubled up and £2.75 for my half of cold and fizzy Camden Pale was a total rip off.My excuse for entering ? Just missed my train ,but next time I will just hang around on platform 8.