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Disappointment of the week with Bucking Fastard
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Detail Pages
The Camden Road Arms, NW1
NW1
NW1 9EA
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Moby Duck left this review about The Camden Road Arms
Ex Draft House, so BrewDog owned and the style carrys over into what is a quite large and spacious pub. Despite boasting six handpumps only one Ale was on, Siren Memento with another handle dispensing Seacider.There was a more extensive keg selection as you might imagine featuring the likes of Siren, BrewDog and Beavertown along with some trendy lagers and a couple of ciders from Hawkes. All in all not one for traditionalists but not a bad place.
On 3rd September 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Camden Road Arms
1/3/22 update
There are now a couple of real ales on. These were Siren Yulu & Memento on my Sunday evening visit. It was very quiet, with just a couple of other customers present. The barman tried to sell me pint, as opposed to the pint I had ordered, claiming that a pint was cheaper. Maybe it is proportionately. But I didn't think £2.50 for a half was too bad by Camden standards.
Craft beers were BrewDog Jet Black Heart, Hazy Jane & Punk IPA, Beavertown Neck Oil & Gamma Ray, Brick Berry Sour, Hammerton Penton Stout, Brixton Reliance Pale Ale & Siren Suspended in Mosaic. Fizzy ciders were Hawkes Pineapple Punch & Brew By Numbers #67 Cider Citra & Honey.
11/7/21 update
This pub is now called the Camden Road Arms. Although after visiting earlier this week, little else has changed.
14/8/20
Just the single real ale was available on my visit today too, namely Hammerton N1. As I'd just had that at my previous stop, I opted for the BrewDog Draft House Oatmeal Stout, which was a very enjoyable craft beer. Just 3 other customers were present, with the same number of staff. 2 of them were about to dine. Another, similar to me, was just there for a pint.
A spacious pub. Toilets are downstairs at the rear.
On 1st March 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Camden Road Arms
No longer part of the Draft House chain, this place has reopened with a new name but not much else in the way of change. Layout, decor, furniture and the like are all much the same as described below. There were two cask ales on this time though - Hammerton N1 and Siren Lumina - the latter pouring terribly but tasting fine. Not much else to report, this is still a decent place for craft beer in this part of Camden and remains very popular with a younger crowd.
Original review of Draft House Camden Road. Rated 7 on 2nd Dec 2019.
This is another example of the Draft House chain taking on and reviving a failing pub, in this case the Eagle, which in recent years traded as a trendy bar and burger joint called The Grand Union. It's a fairly large premises with front, rear and side rooms and a very large C-shaped servery down the right hand side of the building. You enter to the main front bar area which has exposed floorboards and the servery along the back wall. The bar has a traditional dark wood counter and contemporary white tiled bar back with raised banquette seating around the perimeter of the room supported by high stools and a drinking ledge to the left. The walls have been painted in dark shades, as has the lincrusta ceiling, although it doesn't feel especially gloomy in here, and the open space for vertical drinking opposite the bar gives the room an airy feel. The right hand wall has a large mural painted on it which is titled 'Camden Rock Map' and charts the venues, artists and genres of music to have originated in or played a part of the neighbourhood's history. A partitioning wall to the left screens a smaller, wedge-shaped dining area full of standard tables and chairs under large windows with minimal decor. The bar runs towards the rear down the left side of the main room, eventually emerging in a good sized, smart rear room where a lot more standard seating can be found alongside some nice bench booths, an open kitchen and a disproportionately large amount of neon lighting. A couple of TV screens could be seen dotted around the pub, but these were switched off in favour of a pretty good rock music soundtrack.
Despite having a number of handpulls around the servery, only one was in action, dispensing Siren Yulu for £3.85 a pint. A fairly mainstream craft keg selection focused on breweries like Brewdog and Meantime, doesn't reflect this chain's usual commitment to providing interesting small batch beers, so may have been a temporary aberration. The Yulu was in pretty good nick and was eventually served to me by one of the particularly slow and unfriendly bar staff.
I'd visited this place previously and found no cask ale available, and with just the one handpull in action on my most recent visit, I have to wonder how committed they are to real ale. that remains my main reservation about this place which otherwise offers a couple of nice rooms in which to settle down and enjoy the beer on offer. It's still not the great pub that Camden is crying out for, but it's a good addition to the area's pub scene and worth checking out to see what they have on.
On 1st February 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Draft House Camden Road
Another Good Beer Guide 2020 Tick.
An indentikit Brewdog - offering long bench seating, with some tables outside.
A beer menu available but it was all craft lagers.
Nothing to make it a memorable visit.
On 24th August 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1337 recommendations about 1323 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Draft House Camden Road
Large corner pub opposite station. Central bar with seating around, has some American diner style areas. 3 real ales of dubious quality. A bit hit & miss.
On 27th January 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Draft House Camden Road
A large corner pub with a bit of a cafe/diner feel about it, there were six handpumps at the bar, somewhat surprisingly and disappointingly none were on. I had a half of Camden Pale on tap which was good but very expensive at £2.55. My visit here did not Impress.
On 18th November 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Draft House Camden Road
Now owned by the Draft House chain,I enjoyed my visit here.There are large plate glass windows on the section opposite the Overground station,with three internal areas running around the three sided bar.The main serving area has a few tables and metal chairs,a front section by the curved window has more closely packed small dining tables ,while the back room is altogether calmer with a long bench,seating booths and a small servery.It was popular afterwork on my Friday visit,a young professional client base and a young serving crew.The muzak was well judged and not too loud.The food menu included a lot of bar snacks,mains £10-14 while there is a very long bottled beer list from around the world.
There are 17 craft keg taps from some leading brewers and again foreign names amongst them ,while the real ale options are just from three handpumps.From what I could gather Five Points Pale and Siren Undercurrent (£4.05 ,very good nick) are regulars while the daily special was Sambrooks Pale ,and at £ 2.90 you cant argue that this chain isn't wallet friendly ,although I'm not a fan of Sambrooks.
Camden was and probably still is a real ale desert,so it's good this pub is now in safe hands.It's buzzy and fun ,I will pop in again when in the area.
On 22nd September 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Grand Union
Ordinarily I wouldn't touch a place like this (this is the first, dated to 2006), but we only popped in as this was once an original pub, The Eagle, not to be confused with The Old Eagle further up the road.
Suffice to say, no obvious sign of the original pub remains with the possible exception of some columns with ornate capitals. Thereafter it's bare boarded with some kilims and a blue/grey colour scheme. Music is muted and sauce bottles adorn the tables: classy.
My half of Three Hop craft ale (£2.30) was actually ok.
This is a style bar for the young, so no chance of a return visit.
On 14th October 2016
- rating: 2
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Grand Union
Very grand looking interior with lots of leather seating,mirrors and lamps etc.Only mega brewery keg products to drink so had a half In/bev-tastless bland beer.
On 17th September 2016
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Grand Union
No real ale.
On 24th November 2010
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3733 recommendations about 3470 pubs]