PinUps, N1

Facebook page of PinUps - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of PinUps - www.facebook.com

Official site of PinUps - pinupslondon.com

Official site of PinUps - pinupslondon.com

I’d never heard of this pub that’s tucked away a little from the main thoroughfares of Islington, but had a ticket for a gig here so arrived early to check the place out. It’s a pretty pretentious pub with a simple, no nonsense performance space in the right hand of three ground floor rooms. You enter into a central bar area with grim parquet flooring, a plain bar counter along the rear wall and a bare brick bar back behind. The bar area is a surprisingly dimly lit space with Chesterfields to the front and a single table with low stools to the side of the bar. Walls have been decorated with obscure framed record sleeves and posters plus a few pretty awful elaborately framed mirrors. A door to the left leads into a much brighter seating area with folding doors that open out to the street along two walls, giving splendid views of the busy road and supermarket opposite. The seating here comprises long canteen-style benches whilst the decor is almost exclusively in the form of framed portraits. The right hand room is used for gigs and is screened by full length drapes, with a ticket collector’s lectern to one side – it’s unclear if the space is open and furnished during the day, but my guess would be that it’s not. A big disappointment upon arrival was that the pub did not serve any cask ale, although there was a rather forlorn looking lone pump stood, unadorned at one end of the bar. The most interesting draught beer I could find was the three brews from Five Points on keg – Pale, XPA and Pils. I ordered a pint of the XPA which the barman poured, only to realise that there was a chip in the pint glass as he was handing it over. He then unceremoniously dumped my pint into a new glass, gave it a small top-up and charged me £5.95 for the pleasure! An absolute rip-off for a readily available beer brewed a short distance away – suffice to say I remained sober throughout the gig. This place struck me as a bit of a poser’s pub full of pretentious people with decor to match. The extortion racket being run at the bar is enough to ensure I never trouble this place in the future and should I find myself with gig tickets for their venue again, I’ll be doing my pre-gig drinking elsewhere.

A pretty soulless bar with scrubbed floor, white walls and no creature comforts, including toilets that were sopping wet and reeking of urine. A singular redundant handpump at the bar meant it was either bottled beers at the bar or 2x keg Redchurch beers - IPA at a ludicrous £5.50 a pint and the Big Beast at a monstrous £7.50pp. The venue hosts live music and that was the reason I was here – I certainly wouldn’t make any effort to reappear otherwise and it's the only reason it scores above a 2.

By all historic accounts, this isn't actually a purpose built pub, albeit one re(built) in the 1930s but a modern bar conversion that has undergone a multitude of name changes over its short life. This is a small place with an older Islingtonite (thankfully not Corbynite) clientele that was quiet on our late Tuesday evening visit, though I imagine it may get more full and with younger people come Fridays and Saturdays. This is certainly more of a style bar than pub with a bare boarded floor, conventional furniture and some gingham tablecloths and filament bulbs. It comes across as being quite continental, let down by the multi-coloured lights which resemble a 1970s' school disco. Muted Bowie played over the stereo and the place has not just a disabled WC but also three gent's cubicles - result! The L-shaped frontage opens out with some tables and chairs spilling out onto the pavement. This affords a wonderful and expansive view of wildebeest crossing the Serengeti - I mean the Sainsbury's car park, opposite. Ales: some craft stuff from the Brooklyn Brewery and Big Hug Brewing's Hibernation White IPA at a mighty £3.00 for a half. Still, it was much appreciated, chilled and refreshing on a warm and balmy night. We really quite liked this place. Not as much as proprietor(?) Elliot Mart (below), but this place is certainly better than the Joker of Penton Street around the corner. If only they introduced a couple of real ales and ditched the kiddie lighting...