Railway Tavern, N16

This pub dates from the mid-19th century and is situated in a tiny island of N16 that’s in Islington, rather than Hackney. The interior has seemingly been done up since the previous review, along with the name being truncated to just the Railway Tavern. The floor is boarded, thereafter white walls and white Anaglypta ceiling; there are also two columns with Corinthian capitals, painted the obligatory gold. The bar structure is dark field panelled wood, provenance unknown. There’s a fine coal effect gas fire, with a polychromatic tiled surround and reclining cat at front. Furniture is eclectic though traditional, lighting comes from filament bulbs, there are trendy prints to the walls (many railway themed) and good sounds on the stereo. The staff are friendly, though with the removal of the term ‘Ale House’ from the pub’s name comes a diminution in the number of ales now available, with just three: Adnams Mosaic and two from Five Points, XPA and Railway Porter on my visit at £4.30 a pint and fine, with deterrent pricing applied to halves at £3.00. This is a good place to hang out, certainly worth a visit if in the area.

Official site of Railway Tavern - www.railwaytavernn16.co.uk

Official site of Railway Tavern - www.railwaytavernn16.co.uk

A corner pub not actually that close to the station. Smaller inside than the exterior suggests, it's an opened-out room, the end of which tapers in line with the building's footprint. Inevitable shabby chic inside with half a dozen spots of missing mortar, chipped mint green paint, white overpainted embossed wallpaper and over-loud ‘eclectic’ music - yeah, great. There's a fair amount of railway memorabilia and a load of old suitcases above the bar gathering dust, though a companion noted that many of the seat covers are covered in Undergraduate moquette which is an original touch. Cold and damp inside, as staff insisted on having the door wedged open on a grey and rainy day (I closed it anyway when they weren’t looking). The main draw was the pub’s GBG status and we found six pumps with four ales on - Adnams Mosaic, Dark Star Partridge, ELB Nightwatchman and Four Points Railway Porter, plus Lilleys Wild Summer cider. Kernel and Five Points also noted on keg. My pint of Porter was in good shape as and a subsequent pint of the Mosaic was even better. My round of two pints and a bottle of Fentimans clocked in at under a tenner which was a pleasant surprise as well. There’s some basics to improve here but the beer was good and that’s half the battle. I’d be tempted to pop back.