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Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
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Detail Pages
The Albion, Barnsbury, N1
N1
N1 1HW
Pub Type
Punch TavernsReviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Albion
Another gastro pub with a disappointing brace of beers available, Doom Bar plus their House Beer, not an enjoyable experience.
On 12th June 2022
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Albion
2016-09-29:
We used to come here in the early 1990s when this was one of our local office pubs. It was a better and more fun place with its untidy beer garden. This pub may be a Grade II Listed former Georgian coaching inn set in the heart of beautiful Barnsbury but there's something a little sterile about the place; perhaps it's because it's so resolutely 'gastro' that any genuine pub soul has been effectively exorcised though it's better than it was when I last visited almost ten years ago. Part of the problem is that it's so gloomy in here - I felt tempted to switch on my iPhone's torch to read my paper. Unattractive too are the multiple extractor fans to the ground floor windows which have served no purpose since the smoking ban; why can't the pub get rid of them?
Just two ales: Sharp's Doom Bar and Marsden's New World at £4.20 a pint which is very good value for the area.
Worth a visit if in the area.
Updated:
Another visit last night and the place seems a little more relaxed and less formal; a very noisy party was going on to the rear. No improvement on the ale front sadly, with Marsden's New World being replaced by Sharp's Sea Fury and service was poor.
On 17th November 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Albion
This old pub has been thoroughly modernised in its journey down the gastropub route. There’s a deceptively large, but stylish and well appointed, dining room at the back on the right, and a room behind the bar counter area on the left contains armchairs and the like, which I guess is just the job for your post dinner coffee. However, the front room as you enter is the main bar area, furnished with some solid wood settles and normal tables and chairs.
There were a couple of ales on handpump – Ringwood Bitter and Deuchars IPA. There weren’t any menus on the tables in the bar area where I sat, and I didn’t venture into the dining room, but there was a chalkboard on the wall advertising the steak specials, which gives a good clue as to the pricing policy. All the steaks were for two people, with the cheapest being the 700g rib of beef at £40, and the most expensive being the chateaubriand at £65. On moving outside to sit in sun at the front of the pub I did see that there some cheaper items on the menu posted on the wall, but I wouldn’t exactly call it pub grub.
But this is an enticing pub as you walk up to it, set in an elegant and very quiet part of Islington. The front of the building is covered in wisteria which must look absolutely stunning when it is in flower, as well as well-tended hanging baskets. There are a few picnic benches in an enclosed area at the front of the pub, and a surprisingly large garden at the rear past the restaurant.
As gastropubs go this is one of the better examples that I have encountered. I felt very relaxed sitting out in the front in the early Autumn sunshine, and I really wouldn’t mind dropping in for a pint if I was in this area again.
On 17th September 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Albion
Attractive-looking building, with a vegetated exterior and some benches out front. However, the sign states "Public House with Garden", and it is the latter feature that is the main point of interest - the neat rear beer garden (with a patch of home-grown vegetables alongside) really is quite a nice spot. The interior is all gastro-pub, with annoying tea lights and separate upmarket seating and dining areas behind the main bar. There is also an second (disused) small bar counter with unusual glazed screens in the dining area. Two real ales on handpump - Deuchars IPA and Ringwood Best Bitter (steeply priced at £3.80).
On 15th May 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Albion
It was very busy in here late on Saturday evening as there was some sort of function going on and the front right hand side of the pub was reserved with the tables pushed together to create two long tables for the large group that were drinking in the back room which was also out of bounds. The rear right hand side is a restaurant area which wasn’t as busy, but obviously not a great space to sit in and have a pint. Thankfully I was able to sit in the large beer garden at the rear to drink my well poured pint of Guinness in relative peace.
I found the staff to be friendly enough and they seemed to be dealing with the rush reasonably well. The two hand pumps on the bar were drawing Black Sheep and Greene King IPA and there was also a selection of premium and standard draught products
This is a food led pub aimed at an affluent older crowd and private parties that are drawn in by the food and upstairs function room so I cannot see myself returning.
On 14th October 2010
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5233 recommendations about 5201 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Albion
Set in a villagey type area, the Albion is very appealing from the outside with its pillored entrance and ivy clad walls. The interior is decidedly upmarket and geared more towards winers and diners than boozers and losers. The front bar area is quite plain with a few settles, an expanse of polished wooden floor and an abundance of candles. The music is low and the atmosphere a bit too sedate for my liking. To the rear on the right is the designated dining room whilst behind the main bar to the left is a lounge area that almost begs you to put on a smoking jacket and slippers. There are plenty of al fresco options with a patio and benches at the front or a spacious partly covered beer garden to the rear. Just the 2 Ales available, Greene King IPA and Black Sheep Best on my last trip, but very pricey. The only time I am likely to be in the area is for a visit to the Emirates (a brisk 20 minute walk away) but even on a match day I have yet to encounter more than half a dozen people in the pub although to be fair this isn’t really the place that is likely to attract a football crowd which is either good or bad whatever way you want to look at it. It is more suited to trying to impress a first date but, as pleasant as it is, it is not really a place I would spend an evening, especially with the high bar prices and tame ambience.
On 29th December 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]