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Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Tapping the Admiral
Lovely traditional pub, high ceilings, well laid out with L-shaped bar. Good choice of real ales.
On 19th June 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1542 recommendations about 1519 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Tapping the Admiral
Possibly my favourite of the night.
Great interior decoration. Interesting ales - I went for a Mister Chubbs from the West Berkshire Brewery.
Would come back again - worth seeking out.
Some photos at my walking blog - http://bit.ly/21Jz75P
On 4th March 2016
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1563 recommendations about 1543 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Tapping the Admiral
An excellent way to finish of a small crawl of Kentish Town and really isn’t that much of a detour from Kentish Town West overground station but far enough away from Chalk Farm Road and Kentish Town road to mean it has to be searched out by those in the know.
But well worth searching out it is with its seven ales and two ciders and very comfortable nautical themed decor and pleasant secluded outside drinking area. I managed to get a table on the far side of the bar and could have stayed here all evening. I was so comfortable I forgot to note the available beers except for the very respectable ELB Foundation Bitter I had.
Will definitely return
On 17th January 2016
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2236 recommendations about 2098 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Tapping the Admiral
Even better than my previous visit 18 months ago, a real boozer and a must visit, upgraded to 9/10.
Dec 2013
A very good little boozer,tucked away down a side street and not particularly pretty to look at from the outside,but this adds to its charm for me and once inside it has a lived in feel about it and a natural good atmosphere that cant be manufactured. From memory there were seven Ales on handpump and one cider, these included Darkstar Hophead,an Adnams, Ghostship I think, I didn't note down all the beers,a couple of less common beers from sharps and couple more non usual suspects I Fail to remember. My London Fields Black Frost Stout at 6% was a little strong for only the third pub in of the day but was excellent and well worth it .There were a few customers scattered around but on a Saturday lunchtime with live football on you would expect it to be a little busier.Hidden gem is a phrase that irritates me for some unknown reason, but if ever there was one this is it, more than worth a return visit.
On 31st May 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2151 recommendations about 2118 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Tapping the Admiral
Excellent pub! So allow a bit of time for your visit here. The pub is traditional in décor and has a good relaxed and friendly atmosphere. We went for the Windsor and Eton Knight of the Garter, which was in great shape. The barman asked us if we were Camra members for discount, when one of the regular ale drinkers replied, 'I'm in here every week and you don't ask me if I'm a Camra member', so the initial humour was well received. Another regular here is the pub's cat named Nelson, who lies on a shelf over the radiator near the front door. Eight ales and two ciders to choose from on this visit.
On 4th February 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3645 recommendations about 3645 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Tapping the Admiral
Quite close to Kentish Town West station, but hidden away in a side street and not the sort of place you would find by chance. Unremarkable façade, but the interior of the 'J'-shaped bar is comfortable with pleasingly traditional furniture and decor. Offers an excellent range of beers and ciders from ten handpumps, including a fine pint of Franklins Smoked Porter. Well worth seeking out.
On 22nd October 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Tapping The Admiral
This is an unspoilt back street boozer of the kind that has largely disappeared in London.
It's a small single bar corner pub with wooden floors right next to the North London Line viaduct. The surrounding area is a mix of gentrified terraces and newer council estates.
As has been said before, it was once the Trafalgar but I am unable to find which of the Big Six brewers originally owned it. The earliest reference I can find is of it selling GK IPA and Abbot, so it appears to have been a Greene King house for a time and was later part of the Firkin chain, both surprising as it IS off the beaten track.
On my visit seven of the eight pumps were in use with Dark Star Hophead, Adnam's Broadside, Redemption Felloship Porter, Twickenham Strange Brew, Windsor & Eton Canberra, London Fields Shoreditch Triangle and another London area brew that I failed to write down.
It was quiet on my early afternoon weekday visit but despite this the two beers I tried were in superb condition, the Fellowship and Shoreditch Triangle both at £3.50 (inclusive of the 30p discount). There were leaflets on the tables advertising a Thai lunch for a fiver, which seems very good value. This is a "must visit" pub in my book, especially given that most pubs of this ilk tend to open late on weekday afternoons. Be warned though, although it is geographically very close to Kentish Town West station, there does not seem to be a direct route between there and the pub.
On 10th October 2013
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Tapping The Admiral
This pub is hidden away down some backstreets near Kentish Town station, in the sort of location you’d never stumble across, so it’s nice to know that the people who frequent it have made a bit of effort to seek it out. The pub has a distorted U shape layout, wrapping itself around a servery, with a wedge shaped right hand side, which affords a good deal more room than your normal U shaped pub. The left hand side has some nice comfortable looking seating options, a few old pictures on the walls and a selection of board games stacked up at the far end. There are a few stools and a drinking ledge at the front of the pub before the room opens out to an area where bench and low stool seating has been arranged along one wall, with some small partitioning screens between the benches creating booth-like sections. Near the front door there was a lit fire and I was very lucky to find a table right next to it, which made me a little reluctant to explore the pub fully. I did however, notice some mightily impressive brewery adverts on the walls, including a huge one for Truman’s above the fireplace. Above the hop-lined servery, the canopy had some words from Blake’s Jerusalem (the poem, not the famous hymn) written on it which had a bit of local resonance:
Pancras and Kentish Town repose
Among her golden pillars high,
Among her golden arches which
Shine upon the starry sky.
Out the back, I noticed there was a decent sized strip of covered patio, with a fair bit of picnic bench seating. There was a mixed crowd in, ranging from a couple of rough blokes at the bar who got a bit lairy with me for no apparent reason, to an excessively posh group of young women who I ended up sat next to.
A fine row of hand pumps offered Adnams Ghost Ship, Southwold Bitter and Oyster Stout, Dark Star Hophead, London Fields Porter (£3.50) Clarence and Fredericks Smoked Red and Twickenham Entire Butts. A left of mainstream keg range included the likes of Meantime London Pale. I gave the Porter a try and it was in fine form and served to me by a very friendly and welcoming barman.
This place is easily walkable from Camden and makes an ideal pre-gig venue if you want to get away from the crowds and find somewhere to relax over a well kept pint or two. I was very impressed by this place and I don’t think it will be too long before I find myself back here again.
On 18th March 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Tapping The Admiral
After being closed for a number of years this backstreet pub was re-opened relatively recently under its new moniker by the people who run the lovely Pineapple in Kentish Town. It doesn’t actually sit that far from the mainline rail station and is a 10 minute stroll from Camden Town and Chalk Farm Tubes (which made for a handy stop before Deacon Blue at the nearby Roundhouse), though being off the main drag you have to know where you’re headed and if you go a certain way you skirt round the edge of a 60’s estate that looks a little iffy in the dark. The interior has been fairly well done with a number of fairly eccentric knick-knacks on the walls (and ceiling – fans and chandeliers) that stay on the right side of interesting rather than twee…and I’m always a sucker for retro metal advertising boards especially when they’re from old and defunct breweries. The ambience of the place was nice, even if it was a little quiet for a weekday evening. The staff were friendly and very helpful on my visit though they forgot to mention the 20p CAMRA discount; mind you at £3.30 a pint I hadn’t really seen much of a scope for having one anyway in Camden. Four of the seven pumps were in operation and I had a nice pint of Redemption Fellowship, with W&E, Dark Star and Adnams also on. I followed that with a home-brewed winter warmer ‘grog’ which was nice if a touch expensive at £4 though it did come, oddly, with some sort of Zorro mask on the glass fashioned out of a napkin by the barmaid; whether this was standard or just her little touch I don’t know but it was fun nonetheless. There were also some ‘proper’ ciders and a more interesting keg selection than the usual. Food was offered, solid Brit-centric pub grub at a reasonable rate for the area.
I was rather taken with this one and will try and make it the default destination when in the area, it’s certainly good for a calm pre-gig beer or five (especially seeing as the Roundhouse has a pretty poor bar). I shall be back…
On 25th October 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about Tapping The Admiral
The detailed descriptions below are accurate. Service is not only friendly but also very good, and although I was kept waiting, having arrived at the same time as a few other people, the person serving was quick to call for reinforcements and my presence was acknowledged, which is more than anyone had managed at the previous two pubs this evening. My beer choice was limited by the fact that I had to get back on my bike, otherwise I'd have been tempted to sample more than the Oldershaw Newton's Drop. I called again the next night, when two of the seven ales had changed, and on this occasion had the Dark Star Hophead. Both beers were in excellent condition. Having neglected to inform myself of the Camra members discount, I was happy paying £3.30 after the horrors of the ridiculously inflated prices that prevail down the road in Camden Town. I'll certainly be coming here again, if only for the opportunity to flash my Camra card.
On 27th July 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]