The Camden Head, N1

Not to be confused with the Camden Head in Camden Town, this is a grand late Victorian pub (1899) just away from the bustle of Upper Street and features a very fine interior with lots of partitions, mirrors and etched and cut glass, lino bar top, some columns with ornate capitals, some grand polished granite applications to the exterior and a coal effect fire. Surprisingly, for a Taylor Walker pub (for this is one), the floor is bare boarded rather than carpeted but thereafter there are the usual downmarket TW trademarks such as games machines, TVs showing dross with the sound off and awful laminated pictorial menus. Furniture is fairly conventional with some leatherette banquette seating below the windows. Music played at an acceptable level. Ales: the Keeper's Light went off on arrival, thereafter Greene King IPA and Sharp's Doom Bar Amber at £2.20 a half and ok; there may have been some other ales on the other side of the bar. This pub is certainly better than your average offering from TW and it's very pretty but the games machines, TVs and naff menus lower the score somewhat. Certainly worth a prolonged visit, especially if you can bag a seat in the patio in a warm day.

Not a pub for me - no real strength in the ales and I was glad to leave.

Just a run of the mill pub in Islington selling 4 real ales with the truman lazarus beeing ok but at £2.05 a half being a total rip off.