The Rocket, NW1

Official site of the Rocket with menu and event details - www.therocketeustonroad.co.uk

Official site of the Rocket with menu and event details - www.therocketeustonroad.co.uk

As mentioned below nice building , but bland pub designed to attract the transient travelling population between the stations in this area who are not aware of the far superior establishments available a short walk away. Poked my head in when in transit from the Euston Flyer to the Euston tap to see what I had been missing and the answer was nothing.

The Rocket is a vast pub on Euston Road that is designed to cater for the masses that pass between Kings Cross and Euston Railway Stations. The bar is stocked with a mix of standard and premium draught products and there is no real ale. The food is cheap for the area and there are various meal deals throughout the day. A plasma screen can be found either side of the bar and these were both showing muted rolling news. There is a jukebox which was playing some random background music and Sky Sports is advertised. England were playing cricket during my visit, but this wasn’t shown so maybe it’s only the football that gets an airing. There is a quiz advertised for every Monday night from 20:30, DJs are found here until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays and Sunday evening is open mic jam night. There are some awning covered picnic tables the length of the pub on the path outside. This place is a bit big to generate any sort of atmosphere and the transient crowd adds little to the mix. There are better pubs in the area.

This pub is no doubt named after George Stephenson’s famous steam engine, and was originally called “The Rising Sun” as well as at one time being an Ind Coope house. The external architecture is very impressive and an excellent example of the late Victorian art of extravagant pub design. I’m not sure which pubco owns it now, but they’ve turned it into, or perhaps allowed it to remain, one of the grottiest station pub/bars that I’ve encountered. It’s a shame that such an impressive exterior should be coupled with such a characterless interior. There’s no real ale on offer, but they clearly do food as it smelled of fast food and there were ketchup bottles on all the tables. It’s not one that I’ll return to, but I accept that it serves a purpose in providing food for rail travellers.