The Marquis, N16

Reviewed as The Marquis of Lansdowne: A former Charrington’s pub built in 1851 and fairly typical of this type of slightly anodyne corner style with some pink granite pilasters with ornate capitals and egg and dart cornice by way of exterior decoration. Inside and it’s largely downhill from the above. The pub is a rather dull grunge colour with no discernible original décor apart from Charrington’s windows and possibly the long field panelled bar running down the righthand side, beneath which is a dented and slightly bent tarnished brass footrail. The floor is modern parquet herringbone and is very worn with dark patches where the varnish has worn away. Furniture is very mismatched with at least one table having graffiti scratched into the top; the overall effect is of a pub which is really a bit scruffy though I had yet to visit the loos. There’s a pool table to dominate the rear and Euro 2020 bunting was in abundance along with BT Sports footie flyers. On high, there’s an Anaglypta ceiling rubbing shoulders with ugly air handling ductwork. Music played at an acceptable level though there were a couple of flashing games machines and multiple TVs, off. The lavs weren’t quite the worst encountered, but I’ve never seen so much graffiti in my life; I could barely see the walls. Customers seem to be rather studenty types and single males. Ales: there was a sea of illuminated chrome founts then three ales, unchanged for four years, being Pride (off), Tribute (off) and Ghost Ship (an obscene £5.40) which was though very drinkable. This pub warrants a ‘3’ for serving me a decent pint – at a price – but otherwise this is really a bit of a sorry place so we won’t be returning. On 9th June 2021 - rating: 3 ---------------------------- A return visit the other night and with an abbreviation of name, comes a makeover. The walls are now deep sea green with a black ceiling. Furniture is trendy tubular steel stuff to the front of the pub but with the loss of the pool table comes some makeshift partitions to the rear to create a snug of sorts, with a fireplace, pot plants and more conventional furniture. There are now trendy white lamps above the bar which otherwise seems largely unchanged; I think the ugly games machine may have gone. What has certainly changed though is the loos which were some of the worst I’d ever seen, but even the new ones are starting to attract graffiti. Customers are an improvement over the Swampy lookalikes that formerly graced the place, though are young hipsters in the making, all studiously ignoring the massive projector screen showing the football, its blinding light ruining the atmosphere; even the mini snug had its own TV which the canoodling couple ignored. A real cider in the form of Duddas Tun, the ale choice is now an improvement, sensibly sourced locally with ELB’s Quadrant and Cowcatcher at a very reasonable £2.40 and well served. This pub is certainly a big improvement on the previous incarnation, but it’s really not very homely and the all-dominating sports’ TVs ruin the ambience, so I still don’t see a reason to return, so the score goes up only half a point. Rated 3.5.

Official site of The Marquis - www.themarquisn16.com

Official site of The Marquis - www.themarquisn16.com

This was a bit of a lucky dip visit, having arrived a little too early for a gig at the nearby Shacklewell Arms, but I’m not entirely convinced it was worth the detour. It’s an open plan pub on the main Stoke Newington Road with a very scuffed parquet floor and a long dark wood servery along the right hand wall. The bar is surprisingly characterless except for a fridge set in the centre of the bar back with the pub’s name above, topped off by a nice dark wood capital. A single row of small tables runs through the centre of the room whilst sofas have been arranged under the front windows and standard tables and chairs hug the left hand wall. Windows to the left are obscured by frosted panes with green Charrington’s-style banding. There is an old porch in the front left corner, now blocked up and looking a bit neglected – surely they can do something constructive with this space. Beyond the bar, the room is dominated by a pool table, but it’s worth a look back here for the nice tiled fireplace to the left and smart old dresser to the right. A high lincrusta ceiling painted in plain colours rounds out the decor and there were several TV screens around the room all turned off whilst a cheesy rock soundtrack, possibly courtesy of the pub jukebox, played away. You never really know what to expect on the beer-front with such lucky dip visits, but there were two beers on the go – Adnams Ghost Ship and St Austell Tribute – and a third recently gone off – Fullers London Pride. Ghost Ship is always a risky purchase, as so many places seem to keep it poorly, but I plumped for a pint regardless and wished I hadn’t, as it was lifeless and too warm (although the weather had been very hot in the run up to this visit). A pint set me back £4.60, so I wasn’t best pleased with the lack of conditioning. This seems like a very functional pub that serves a content bunch of locals and the occasional passing hipster, but didn’t really have a great deal to offer the casual visitor. It is certainly a lot better than many of the faux-trendy bars you can find in this part of town, but I can think of many other local pubs I would rather return to ahead of this one.

As described below. 2 real ales.

Long, rectangular bar with pool table and sports TVs. Basic furniture and decor. A few pavement tables out front. Now offers real ale from two handpumps: Deuchars IPA and Pride (£3.50). Dull.