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Disappointment of the week with Tris39
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Hawley Arms, Camden Town, NW1
NW1
NW1 8QU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Hawley Arms
Battleship grey frontage ,the interior is L shaped with a very high and imposing ceiling.There is a huge mirror to the left,a flatscreen off at the end of the other leg and a mix of furniture ,mainly small tables and chairs ,with a few bar stools .It was popular with a young,hip crowd but has maintained a friendly atmosphere this close to the tourist trap of Camden Market.The bar staff were great ,although they dont have the most exciting selection from the three handpumps in GK brewed house beer Hawley Grail 3.8%,London Pride (However well kept I cant give more than NBSS 3.5,£5,served in an attractive pub branded jug) and Seacider.
The soundtrack was classic rock at a sensible volume and the food looked decent and not at rip off prices with a median main around £12.There is free wifi,it's dog friendly and there is patio and roof terrace.
I liked it,just a shame the ale range was pedestrian,better options would have lead to a higher rating.
On 8th January 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Hawley Arms
A fairly famous pub with a great looking interior still adequately described by Tris a few years ago. Only a couple of Cask Ales on perhaps due to the current uncertain pandemic climate, London Pride and Hawley Grail (brewed in Bury St Edmunds) so I gave those a swerve, also omn handpump was Seacider, I opted for a Camden Pale on keg which does pretty much what it says on the can, for a price. Nice Pub , dull beer.
On 20th December 2021
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Hawley Arms
A noted celebrity hangout with an esoteric interior, somewhere between a drawing room and an French bistro. Numerous pictures of visiting personalities adorn the walls. Despite this, it is actually a fairly comfortable pub and we quickly felt at home, always a good sign. Draught ales were London Pride, Harvey's Best and the Greene King House Ale.
On 29th October 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Hawley Arms
I came here once before around 1988 so a revisit was in the offing, and despite my aversion to live music pubs, this is terribly famous and is to Camden Town what Emu is to Rod Hull - you can't have one without the other. In recent years, the pub has been made more famous as the boozer where on frequent occasions one could see the bar propping up Amy Winehouse whilst she sang along to the famous jukebox.
From memory, little appears to have changed, right down to the deep red colour scheme, dim lighting and music that's just a bit too loud for comfort. Furniture is mixed though comfortable and the mainly young clients are tourists or members of the Camden Weird Brigade. There's a real fire, beer garden, two bars and a roof terrace. There's also a bit of taxidermy, some chandeliers and low wattage filament lamps; photos of famous music celebrities are in abundance.
Ales: Redemption's Hopspur, Greene King's Olde Trip and Timothy Taylor's Landlord at £2.25 a half and fine.
This pub warrants a 6 for the curiosity value, but the experience as a whole along with the limited choice of ales means that it's not one to which I'd wish to expose myself on a frequent basis.
On 4th October 2016
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Hawley Arms
Back for a repeat visit. Very quiet at 11pm on a Tuesday.
Which was pleasant - actually managed to get a seat downstairs.
Worth checking out for its musical pedigree - loads of interest on the walls and great music.
Some photos at my walking blog - http://bit.ly/21Jz75P
On 4th March 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1337 recommendations about 1323 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Hawley Arms
If you didn't know it was famous, and supposedly frequented by people mentioned in the tabloids, you would never guess its notoriety. The staff and customers alike all look relatively normal (for Camden), and the furniture and decor in the 'J'-shaped bar are part way along the spectrum between traditional and gastro-pub makeover. Three real ales on handpump, usually one or two Greene King offerings (currently the seasonal Fireside) and a guest or two (this time White Horse War Horse and Titanic Red Ensign - £3.55). In my experience, the beer is kept in good condition and served closer to full measure than you usually get in these parts. The atmosphere usually seems cheerful, and - in my experience - the staff are mostly attentive enough. Anyway, all in all, and despite its reputation which would normally keep me away, I rather like it here.
On 1st December 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Hawley Arms
I called in here after a quick visit to three pretty awful pubs in Camden High Street and on my way to the Admiral in Kentish Town West, hoping for something a little better than the awful dross that I'd had so far. I stifled a yawn at the sleb photos on the walls, and another on seeing the beer selection: Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Hopback Summer Lightning. I'd have gone for the latter, except that a 5% ale would have made remounting my bike slightly more dangerous, so I had the GK, which the pump clip assured me had been "hand crafted".
Service in here is on the uninterested/sloppy borderline, and the fact that my IPA was poured into a warm glass was possibly typical. It certainly didn't improve the quality of the beer. My half was £2, seemingly almost a standard price in Camden Town, where the pubs are seemingly happy to fleece the passing trade, who evidently know no better: they were certainly flocking into this place. To be fair, the décor is OK and the music was all right, but that's all that keeps me from using the word "avoid" - I'll content myself with "not recommended". Better still, go to Tapping the Admiral instead.
On 27th July 2012
- rating: 3
[User has posted 3733 recommendations about 3470 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Hawley Arms
This pub gained a fair bit of notoriety over recent years for being the drinking venue of choice for the so called Camden-set (Noel Fielding, Peaches Geldof, Kelly Osborne et al), before getting global coverage in early 2008 when a fire led to a temporary closure and a passionate tribute from their most famous regular - Amy Winehouse.
My recent visit for a quick pre-gig pint failed to turn up any ‘famous’ faces and to be honest, I was a bit surprised to find a very normal looking gastro style pub. The interior is comprised of a fairly large, if somewhat narrow, L-shaped room with wooden floors and wood panelled walls along the longest side. There is a large fireplace with an exposed brick chimney on the left hand wall, next to an enormous mirror. Standard seating is in plentiful supply throughout and I'm sure I spotted a couple of comfy sofas as well. The left hand area stretches right to the very back of the pub where there is access to a garden. The pub has very high ceilings which has allowed for a grand bar back to be installed, which has a great many shelves, most of which are cluttered with drinks, bits of old memorabilia and bar snacks in large glass jars that make it look a bit like an old sweet shop. An old juke box, with a big stack of board games balanced precariously on top, was blaring out a selection of music throughout the evening and as you might expect, there are various music themed pictures on the walls, including some caricatures of the more prominent Camden-set members. The music theme continues as you move to the right of the room, where there are stairs lined with old LP covers leading up to another bar and roof terrace.
This is a Greene King house which had three of their beers on offer, namely Abbot Ale, Old Trip and the seasonal Ghastly Ghoul. My pint of Old Trip was fine and served by one of the many barmaids, all of whom seemed efficient enough but not very welcoming. In fact I found the clientele in general were quite rude and I felt a bit out of place after a while.
This was better than I had expected it to be, although I'm still not sure what it is that attracts so many of these celebrities to it. Camden is a difficult place to get a decent drink in decent surroundings and this pub might well be as good a bet as anywhere else, but I won't exactly be rushing back.
On 29th October 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Hawley Arms
Having never set foot in place before the cleansing power of flame, I can't draw historical comparisons. I dropped in for one last beer before the Manics at the Roundhouse and was quite impressed (though admittedly expectations weren't huge). There were a couple of ales on (a Greene King trio of Abbot, IPA and Olde Trip if I recall accurately). My half of Olde Trip was pretty good, in fairness. The main drinking area appears to be one long narrow strip opposing the bar which makes for uncomfortable jostling during busy times and the bar staff were a bit naff and stupidly overdressed, but I guess old habits die hard round here.
Maybe worth a swift one before the Roundhouse – if you can see the bar and there is more than one person working it.
On 5th June 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Hawley Arms
When I first started going into the Hawley it was a decent and fairly quiet place where people would go for the pub itself rather than the people who hang around in it. Once it became celebrity obsessed I stopped using the place but decided to pay my first post fire visit yesterday, more out of curiosity than necessity, and to be honest very little seems to have changed as far as the renovation is concerned. Most of the damage appears to have been done to the upper floors and rear of the building whilst the main bar has been hardly affected (I note the old concert ticket stubs are still on display and I would have thought something like that would have the first thing to perish). A slightly different colour scheme to what it was but apart from that, all the old characteristiocs and furnishings are as you were. 3 Ales all from the Green King range (IPA, Abbot, Old Trip) at prices comparable to the area and unusually for a pub that gears itself towards a younger crowd, the Ales are served up in old pint mugs. Service can be slow when busy and fighting your way through the hanger ons at the bar is a bit of a pain. Naturally it is going to be busy on most evenings with Borrell / Winehouse spotters and it can be quite uncomfortable being forever jostled and barged into by people roaming around the narrow bar area but find a quiet spot during the day and the Hawley can still be a fairly pleasant place for a pint. Some sanctuary during busy periods can be found in the small triangular rear courtyard (which I'm sure wasn't there before) if you don't mind sacrificing your lungs for somewhere to sit. I do long for the day when the pub loses popularity and maybe I would use it a bit more but I think it will be a long way off.
On 21st November 2008
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]