The George & Vulture, N1

A rather basic single roomed Fullers pub , seems to be unchanged from Rex's review of nearly three years ago, the robust furniture remains as do the horned skulls on the wall. On the bar are five pumps in total, a bank of three and a separate two, but Fullers Pride and Front Row were doubled up leaving a solitary guest of Butcombe Rare Breed which was rather non descript at £2.20 a half.I found the whole place rather lacklustre and I was the only punter in there at 12:30 on a Saturday afternoon,needless to say I am not likely to make a return visit.

This is a Fuller’s with London Pride (£3.85 a pint), Wild River and Summer Ale on. The pride was served too cold, but that seems to be a recurring feature of pubs these days. They clearly do food as the kitchen staff were taking advantage of a quiet time to have a meal, and I did glance at a menu which offered pizze for £7.50 - £10 and things like burgers for £7.50. I say a quiet time, however it was anything but, with some haunting and unrecognisable “music” (unrecognisable to me anyway) being played far too loudly. The furnishings consist of a few armchairs, but the majority of it was incredibly heavy and solid wooden tables, chairs and benches. A major piece of decor was the display of dozens of miniature animal skulls complete with horns. Most bizarre. There was a blackboard suspended over one of the armchairs with a load of management speak verbiage extolling the virtues of the pub (claimed to be the tallest in London) and the management – “and grandeur runs through our veins like beer through our taps”. Yuk. The best bit of decor by far was the display of brewery mirrors on one of the walls. The London Pride was OK, but I don’t think this is the sort of place to which I would plan a return visit.

Tucked away in the trendy Hoxton back streets, this Fullers pub has a bit of an up-market foody feel to it and whilst it does have the typically modern trendy approach that so many pubs have now taken on board, I did actually feel that it has been tastefully refurbished and has a decent bit of character. The dimly lit single room interior has all the stripped back furniture, bare floors and table candles that are generally associated with trendy makeovers but the G&V goes one step further by having a grand piano as a centerpiece. Modern artwork is mixed in with old black and white photos and be sure not to miss the gents cubicle which is papered with old comic strips. (I can’t speak for the ladies of course!). Another little rarity is the old fashioned table top arcade game, part and parcel of any decent pub in the days of Space Invaders. Not a very extensive range of Ales with just ESB, Pride and Discovery on my visit but well kept and reasonably priced. On the food front, they do excellent and inexpensive pizza and pasta. The ambient dance music is not loud but does get annoyingly repetitive after an hour of it but you can always hope someone will jump on the old Joanna and knock out a few East End choruses to drown it out. This kind of pub isn’t generally my cup of tea but I did quite enjoy my pizza and beer session here and would certainly return if the need arose.

I happened to swing past here and caught some of the acoustic night which was very good. The staff were polite and the Discovery was on good form. Pride and ESB were also available alongside some standard and premium lagers. There's a projector screen on the back wall and there were a few advertisements for the six nations dotted about on the walls, but I saw no mention of any other sports being shown. I would go beck here again if passing as I found it enjoyable and it made a change to have a bit of free entertainment.