Arkstar, Holloway, N7

An Antic pub but purpose build in a long railway arch by Holloway Road tube station.There is bench seating in various velours along both wall,it extend for a good distance .The floor is concrete,the muzak is hip but not too loud and there is a music channel on the flatscreen.There is the occasional rumbling of passing trains. Two handpumps but just Volden Arsenal Session 3.8% on cask which I swerved.The barman told me there is a regular rotation of the craft keg,the choice was good across beer styles and strengths and my Goodness Brewery A Love Supreme was a very decent unfined IPA,although the carbonation did induce belching on exiting the bar.There are bench seats outside,and I dare say when The Arse are playing at home,this will be a popular watering hole.

Antic are best known for taking on old, failing pubs in areas with a depleted pub stock and for the most part, turning them into successful operations. This new venture, on the busy Holloway Road, is a notable departure, being housed in a long railway arch outside Holloway Road station, in a part of town not exactly starved of pubs. The entrance is in a small yard, just off the main road, passing through the arches huge glass fronted end into a typical rail arch venue with concrete floor, corrugated iron clad ceiling and muted lighting throughout. Seating is available down either side of the front part of the arch, with long banquettes with mirrors above their upholstered backs stretching down both walls, supplemented by the usual Antic jumble of old chairs, whilst a table football game occupies the front left corner, directly in front of the entrance. The servery appears midway down the left hand wall and has a nice counter with curved ends and a footrail made from an old pipe. The bar back has something of an industrial feel to it and a set of blackboards on the top which list various drink options. The room narrows a bit past the bar, into an even darker space where I was unable to read my paper, with banquettes and chairs down the left side and short, stool-less drinking ledges to the right. There’s a magnetic dartboard here and as the room opens out again to the rear, a pool table occupies the remaining space. The walls have been decorated with a rather funkily patterned wallpaper and the far end of the arch sees another full height glass wall. Elsewhere, I spotted a collection of board games on one end of the bar, a pizza van providing the pub’s sole food option outside and there was a loud indie music soundtrack playing throughout my stay. There were four beers on handpull – Volden Winter and Session, Watney’s Pale Ale and Marble Pint – plus a pretty handy craft keg selection. I tried the Pint (£4.60) and thought it was in very good condition, served to me by a friendly and efficient barman. Londoners seem to love drinking in railway arches for some unknown reason, so I suppose it makes sense that Antic have picked up on this trend and opened such a venue themselves. I hope this won’t mark a departure from their pub-saving policy, but it was quite interesting to see a different kind of venue from this company. I quite liked the place and thought it worked pretty well, making it a viable option when passing through this part of the city.

Tubular definitely but choc log cake shape.i liked the modern feel.Unusual.Like Rex I went for the Antic -session as I only had £4.30 left and that's all I could afford .Nice beer.Also Arbor -mosaic so probably visited the same week as Rex.

This is Antic's latest venture into the world of pub management. Whatever you say about Antic, no two of their pubs are the same; they're definitely not identikit like some pubcos' estates. This one is in a long railway arch by Holloway Road Station, and is like drinking in a tube. There are some upholstered benches along the side, along with new (that's a new one on Antic) cheap looking tables and chairs. Past the bar counter the tube gets narrower, and on the right are some old wooden pedestals attached to the wall as I guess that vertical drinking is being catered for. There was no decor of note, and some raucus pop music was being played. There were only two real ales on - Arbor Mosaic (£4.60 a pint) and Volden Session (effectively Antic's house beer) at £3.30 a pint. The Volden seemed to be better value for money, and was in fine shape. The restaurant's not up and running yet, but one is planned. My guess is that this is primarily intended to be an evening venue. It felt a bit claustrophobic, and not really the sort of place I normally choose to frequent.

Official site of Arkstar - arkstar.co.uk