The Finsbury, N4

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Tris C left this review about The Finsbury

A first in here for anyone it would seem, this was originally an Ind Coope house called the Finsbury Park Hotel, dating from 1871.
There's a fairly large beer patio out front with a central entrance leading you into a largish room with bar at centre. You certainly notice the gloom but it's not dark enough to hide the fact that every wall surface is bare brick with a rough bare boarded floor and eclectic mismatched furniture; lighting is rather industrial - I couldn't discern any original pub fabric.
Next up is a large central room with black walls, stage lighting and a raised performance area with a drum kit and the like; this is obviously a live music venue and aside from the black walls, matches the front room in terms of flooring and furniture. It also featured some sort of large monochromatic mural of a woman with three eyes, possibly a depiction of Lady Shiva? I didn't venture into the rear room as I suspected it could only get worse, though not in terms of behaviour as the young crowd were well behaved and in any event, a bouncer was patrolling the floor which is always a negative point in my book.
Staff were friendly but a little confused and surprisingly there was real ale in the form of Gloom and GK IPA, so obviously I plumped for a pint of Neck Oil at an obscene £5.95 a pint.
This place isn't a complete disaster but I really can't see myself coming here again. I only really popped in as it's en route to the majestic Salisbury...

On 22^nd October 2020 - rating: 3
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]