Hat & Feathers, Clerkenwell, EC1

The Hat and Feathers is an impressive large building that dominates the junction of the Goswell Road with Old Street and Clerkenwell Road. It unfortunately has been a bit of a famous derelict monument in recent years with the grandeur of its exterior slowly fading away. However it got purchased by some pub chain or other a couple of years ago who brought back to life, albeit more as a restaurant as a pub with an upstairs restaurant and a downstairs bar area more aligned to eating than drinking. But that’s not a bad thing, as at least it kept the use instead of turning it into flats or office space. What wasn’t a good thing was that any hope that the interior would be looked after and cared for so that it matched the superb Victorian exterior evaporated as soon as you saw the All Bar One bland interior that was put in. The wonderful exterior woodwork and etched glass doors and windows remain as does some of the original interior original woodwork, but the characterless pine tables and chairs which fill the now very bland pastel decor space give you the feeling of eating and drinking in an Ikea showroom. The usual chrome tap stuff is on offer along with a solitary hand pump dispensing Spitfire. I did visit about a year ago to at least try the beer, but the service was so shockingly slow and disorganised, I turned round and left without achieving my goal. And when I walked past again the other evening it wasn’t open. So worryingly it may have succumbed again in these hard business times. But let’s hope not as, even with the now bland interior and crap service, this is a building worth preserving.