The Betjeman Arms, N1

Idiot manager/supervisor person did his best, yesterday, to prove himself completely unsuited to a job in a service industry. My pal bought me a pint of something badged as Sharps Betjeman & mentioned to me, as an aside, that the price had changed in the 5 mins since he got his - £2.95 from £2.98. So, when I went back for two more, I knew that the requested £7.40(!) couldn't be correct. Turned out that the barman had given me a Pride & a Betjeman, this was corrected & the idiot supervisor took the correct money (now 2 @ £2.95) saying never mind it's sorted now. When he was light-heartedly asked how much that made the Pride (s/be £3.25 apparently), & that the charge would still have been way wrong, he took a very aggressive stance, snapping 'Well everyone makes mistakes!' Yes, IDIOT, I know that, but they should be rectified with some contrition, not confrontation, arsehole.

A station bar conversion currently operated by Geronimo Inns. There is no real structure to the floor plan, just a set of conjoined areas with assorted seating, tables and functions, including an outside seating area where the sights and sounds of King's Cross are obscured by an opaque fence. The overall impression is of an impersonal, busy business whose purpose is to make money rather than meet a culinary of libational need. The staff are mainly professional (in a bad way), certainly curt and in one case, supercilious. The barman who served me clearly came from a country where the concept of a full pint is alien. An air of pseudo-literary pretentiousness is introduced through free-standing blackboards sporting aphorisms from the eponymous poet. The food looks contrived, but to be fair it's all freshly cooked in full view of the clientele. They appear to buy their twee enamel tableware from the same wholesaler as The Parcel Yard in the station over the road. There were 3 ales on – I had a pint of London Fields's Hackney Hopster, which was a good pint marred by being served over-chilled. Devoid of all but architectural charm, this business represents poor value for money compared to its nearby rivals.

As described previously, this is something of a rabbit warren of a pub, especially the trek to the gents which is at the end of a corridor through the bar area, back room, and formal dining room. When I was in we stood and sat in the outside area – outside in that it’s outside the main bar but of course still inside the station. The seating out here was fairly comfortable, plus it had the advantage for fizz drinkers in that it had a small bar counter. Serious drinkers have to go inside for their drinks. They had four ales on – Betjeman Ale, Young’s Bitter, Truman’s Runner (£3.90), and Adnam’s/Camden South Town. As station bars go this one is one of the best. It doesn’t seem to suffer from the crowds of suitcase and trolley wielding travellers that others do, presumably because one can’t get to or from the trains from the concourse here. It (obviously) doesn’t have the traditional pub atmosphere that the best places have, but it’s definitely OK for a swift one.

Interior as described below. 5 real ales and food served. The terrace gives you views of the Eurostar trains.

The poet John Betjeman famously campaigned against the demolition of St Pancras station back in the 1960's, so following the high profile move of the Eurostar service to the station in 2007, his efforts were recognised by the unveiling of a stature depicting him seemingly admiring the redeveloped station. Almost as an afterthought, this pub, tucked away at the far end of the station, has been named in his honour. Unlike many bars in London's largest stations, this place isn't run by Fullers, but is instead a Geronimo Inn, so there is a slight sense of heading into the unknown as you enter. Arriving from the upper level, past the aforementioned statue and a nice drinking area giving views of the arriving and departing trains below, you find yourself in a bare boarded room with the servery partly visible towards the rear. Seating here is in the form of banquettes supplemented by standard chairs, with a few screens and walls breaking the space up nicely. The décor is a bit bland, with a few photos on the walls and some barrels and jugs dotted around the place, but there wasn't much connection between the pub and the station, with the usual railway memorabilia conspicuous by its absence, save for a pub sign for 'The Station Master' (a fictional pub?) opposite the bar . A TV screen was showing rolling news coverage with subdued music playing over the top, despite my Saturday evening visit. Turning left at the bar, you move through to a fairly compact dining room with nicely tiled walls and a fair bit of seating including a long butcher's block style table in the middle of the room. A TV screen was spotted in here as well, but it was turned off. Beyond this, you find another, even more formal dining room with long banquettes on the end wall, a nice fireplace to one side and waitresses standing around offering full table service. A corridor with grand window views down to the station below, leads down to the toilets, but it's a bit awkward having to traipse through the dining rooms to get here from the bar. On the bar, five ales were on the go - Sharp's Equinox IPA and their house beer Betjeman Ale, Youngs Ordinary, Adnams Gunhill and Redemption Trinity. I gave the latter a try and was pleased to find it kept in good condition. the fridges appeared to be stocked with a good bottled beer range including some Belgian classics, ideal for anyone doing a bit of last minute research before hopping on the train to Brussels. I didn't fancy anything to eat, but I did take a quick glance at the menu, which I seem to recall offered typical British pub classics at prices that were not quite as frightening as I'd expected. For me, this was a pretty good stab at a station bar and whilst not quite living up to those at the likes of nearby Kings Cross or Euston, is still worth a look for a decent pint of ale before jumping on a train. Just remember to give yourself enough time to walk the entire length of the station to the platforms.

Have to say, as Station concourse bars go I found this to be one of the better ones. Perhaps that was helped by the fact that it was a glorious sunny lunchtime and I was able to sit out front under one of the big Jumbrellas on the elevated section out the front above the Euston road. Yes, it is a bit gastro pub design internally and I certainly won’t be paying what they wanted for Fish, beer battered chips and mushy peas, but if you haven’t time to visit one of the superior proper pubs on the other side of the Euston road for a decent last pint of Real Ale before heading off to France then this place was perfectly acceptable. Beer choice was reasonable with Sambrooks Wandle, Adnams Broadside and two from Sharps including the Betjeman Ale and the Wandel was perfectly fine, although did have to ask the bar man to top it up..