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The Jolly Butchers, Stoke Newington, N16
N16
N16 7HU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Jolly Butchers
The Jolly Butchers seems to have gone downhill. Last time I came, there were 6 real ales. Nowadays there is only 1. This was Five Points XPA. The real cider range has also been reduced to two - Ascension Hide In The Sky & SeaCider Mango. At least the Ascension cider was a new one for me.
The emphasis these days appears to be on craft beer and Indian food with a modern twist. Craft beers were 360° Sussex Haze & Dare To Dream, Deviant & Dandy Perky Blenders, Wheat Child of Mine & Precious Stones, By The Horns Hop Tour USA, 3AM Peach & Mango IPA & American Pale, Brick Peckham Session, Siren Soundwave, Electric Bear Bloom Landing, One Mile End Liquid & Salvation American Pale & Twisted Wheel Technicolour.
The interior is still a large square room, with toilets down a set of stairs in one corner. The open kitchen is in the opposite corner. Entrance is through a set of curtains! The pub was busy as usual, but we did secure a table. There's not much standing room, as tables are packed in.
This is still probably the best pub in Stoke Newington, but is no longer the destination for beer it once was, unless you prefer expensive craft beer to real ale.
On 17th October 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Jolly Butchers
This pub's fabric is largely unchanged since previous reviews, but it's clear that the focus here is now firmly on keg over cask as the seven pumps have been reduced to five, two unused and two flavours of Seacider and just the one ale, the ubiquitous - for Hackney - Five Points XPA at just £4.40, which is cheap for the 'new normal' and on great form.
The other USP here is that the pub is now geared towards Indian food with a menu above the bar with 'beer pairings'. There were 18 taps, denoted as 'rotating beers', 'permanent beers' and 'pairing beers', six each. The selection included Guinness and some Belgian offerings, perhaps trying to compete with the Axe up the road. Thereafter offerings came from Twisted Wheel, Partisan, Siren, Three Sods, Brick, Northern Monk, Solar, London Beer Factory, Anspach & Hobday and Kernal.
I like Indian food - I cook enough of the stuff - but I like the smell of my masala in a restaurant, not in a pub and given that this is no longer Stoke Newington's premier real ale destination, a title which now goes to the 'spoons down the road, I don't envisage a return visit.
On 27th August 2021
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Jolly Butchers
A first in here the other late afternoon with my group of seven, which far outnumbered the customers inside, though a few were having a fag at the outside tables. Little seems to have changed since the reviews below, but what I can say is that this pub is not associated with the Southampton Arms, though it does have a Meat, Ale & Cider sign which is uncannily similar to that at the Southampton.
Indeed, this is a very opened-out pub with a modern bare boarded floor, old school furniture and conventional wooden chairs, some of which have been painted in primary colours. Further seating comes in the form of opposing pews. Lighting in part comes from large steel cylindrical hanging lamps. The only real nod to its past are the six columns with their ornate capitals. The end result is that this isn’t at all pubby or cosy – a bit sterile, and certainly more gastropub than boozer, as agreed below.
Ales: one unused pump, Windsor & Eaton’s Conqueror, New River’s Blind Poet, Signature Brew’s Nightliner, Acorn’s Black Oak, Driver’s Twist and Oakham’s Citra at £2.00 a half and good.
This place may offer a great ale selection and perhaps the food is good too, but it doesn’t really pamper and with the poor acoustics, wouldn’t divert my attention long enough to warrant a prolonged stay but is certainly worthy of any crawl of the area.
On 6th May 2018
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thuck Phat left this review about The Jolly Butchers
A swift visit as the last pub of the evening means that my memories of The Jolly Butchers aren't as clear as they might be.
It's an open plan, square interior with mismatched furniture featuring a fair bit of scrubbed pine.
Food was popular on our Thursday evening visit but there certainly weren't any problems with just having a drink and it feels more pubby than restaurant.
The beer selection was very good featuring Cloudwater Spring and Summer, which was excellent, Salvation Pale Ale, Burning Sky Aurora, Dockers Delight One Mile End, West Berkshire Brewery Screaming Eagle and Arbor & Mezzo Passo Basta Rosse.
I'd happily return for a longer visit to try the ale range.
On 22nd September 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Jolly Butchers
Sister pub to both the Southampton Arms and Cock Tavern,it retains elements of both these fine pubs but is also different .There is a mix of both real ale and real cider but not in the same volume,and reflecting the upmarket nature of the area,food features large from an open kitchen in one corner.The building itself is street corner Victorian,and the interior just a square open plan space with traditional square wooden tables,benches and chairs and less basic than the other pubs.The supporting columns are a main feature as is an unusual rear wallpaper design on the way to the downstairs loo.
However top quality brewers will be featured on the handpumps,the selection was eclectic and my Arbor and Mezzo Passo collaboration brew called Basta Rosse was an interesting red ale.
I would be quite happy to return,it was popular on my Thursday evening visit .
On 20th August 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2728 recommendations about 2728 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Jolly Butchers
A nice exterior, retaining the original arched stained glass window uppers. The inside is just a large, high-ceilinged single room with half a dozen iron support pillars and feels rather shabby. A point of interest is the unusual (and slightly creepy) theatre box wallpaper on the far wall. Usual urban London stylings - candles on tables, hipster filament lightbulbs. Quite a young clientèle a mix of the trust funded teens and professional trying-to-look-affluent-but-semi-broke brigade. The sparse furnishing and high ceiling made for a godawful cacophony of noise. It was also bloody cold. Nine pumps, all operational, with a good mix of micros in the selection plus the inevitable selection of overpriced keg. Tried a couple of cask – the Bedlam Porter and Marble Bitter were both tepid in temperature with the latter being decent quality, the former being a slog to finish. Noted from elsewhere that this appears to be a regular shortcoming. Overall it’s decent enough but I can’t see myself returning outside of the convenience when visiting friends nearby.
On 3rd July 2016
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Jolly Butchers
Definitely more Gastro than Pub, the entire room being laid out for dining and very nice the food looked too, however I wasn't here to eat and with nine cask beers and even more Craft keg options I was spoiled for choice,I stuck to cask and tried Signature Pale at a reasonable (for a London Gastropub) £3.90 a pint and Hardknott Brownian Motion,intriguingly described as smoked,salted Porter,it was very good.I was expecting a little more of this place as a pub but you can't knock the beer range.
On 2nd May 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Jolly Butchers
I would echo (and that's an appropriate word to use) previous reviewers' comments about the lack of carpet, rugs, or soft furnishings of any kind. I was in here on a Saturday evening when it was very busy, and it really was very noisy. The furnishings seem to be unchanged - hard wooden recycled church chairs and pews, and solid wooden recycled dining room tables. The open to view kitchen is still there at the back, but the wall at the back now has wallpaper depicting people in theatre boxes. The heritage features are still present, including the capitaled cast iron columns, and semi-circular windows, a couple with stained glass glazing, surrounded by what looked like cast iron pierced spandrels. But it remains a stripped out single room with basic furnishings crammed into it.
Food seems to be a major player here, with table service apparently being available judging by the length of time we had to wait to get served (we were the only people at the bar) while the bar staff produced drinks for the waiting staff to deliver to their tables. But the beer was worth waiting for - they had on Arbor Some Kind of Nice Guy; King's Red River; Common Grounds 5.4% Triple Coffee Porter; Burning Sky Porter; and Bedlam Golden Ale. I had pints of the latter two and they were both in excellent condition. They also had three ciders on handpump, as well as an extensive bottled beer range, detailed on menus on the tables. Some of the food on offer seemed less gastro than I expected with, for example, the Jolly Butcher's Burger at £9.95, and the Beef Pie at £10.95.
While this is not the most comfortable pub I've ever been in, they are redeemed considerably by the excellent beer range. I would certainly visit again, but I would try to get there at a quiter time Unfortunately they don't open weekday lunchtimes.
On 17th February 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Jolly Butchers
Cant help but notice often pubs that have a reputation for good beer tend to forget about the interior.Large high ceilinged unimpressive pub Good selection of beer on 7 handpumps.My Firebrand -running stout was lukewarm rather than cool.Also had a keg beer which was fine.
On 18th April 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Jolly Butchers
Cannot really add to the previous reviews except to confirm that the Jolly Butchers is doing a very good job combining an excellent range of Cask and Craft ales with what looked like good food. I didn’t try it but nearly everyone else who was in on the late Sunday afternoon were and it was their primary reason to be there. And for this reason, suffice to say it did have more of the ambience of a restaurant than a pub for my late Sunday afternoon visit. But I did try the impressive beer offering from several small breweries, and had an excellent pint of Otley O6 Porter. And for this reason I will not hesitate to return for an evening session when the kitchen is closed
On 15th April 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]