Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Random news of the day with Bucking Fastard
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
Railway Tavern, N16
N16
N16 8JT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Railway Tavern
One of two Railway Taverns in the immediate vicinity of Dalston Kingsland station, this place briefly traded as Old Henry's Freehouse in order to distinguish itself, but soon reverted to its traditional name. The pub is run by the same people behind the excellent Pineapple in Kentish Town and Tapping the Admiral in Camden, so there are some pretty high standards to live up to. I'm a little surprised to see the pub referred to as 'scruffy' by the previous reviewer, as I thought it was quite a smartly presented traditional pub, although my interpretation of 'scruffy' may have been seriously skewed by an earlier visit to Farr's School of Dancing! You enter into a bare boarded room with the servery on the back wall to the left of the entrance. The bar is a pretty classic set up in dark wood and with a canopy that boasts some nice support pillars whilst a row of suitcases, a few old cameras and a walking stick are perched on the top of the canopy. Opposite, a few padded benches and standard chairs offer basic seating options next to the day's papers. Over to the right there are some upholstered benches and low stools, filling up an awkward shaped area which tapers to a point at the far end. A lovely tiled fireplace acts as a focal point here with its decorative mantle and surrounding collection of pictures of station platforms. The train theme is rounded off with a luggage rack high up on the wall with a couple more suitcases on it. To the left, a small seating area in a space with red walls, serves two or three tables and has been decorated with more train themed pictures and a tube map. The room extends to the rear past the left hand end of the bar, into a small lounge with comfortable seating options and another nice fireplace. Classical music was playing throughout my stay and a few customers were enjoying decent looking Sunday roasts.
There are six handpulls on the bar, but two were off on this visit, leaving a selection of Kissingate Black Cherry Mild, Westgate Gold, Redemption Big Chief and Acorn Gorlovka Stout. A board next to the bar lists all the beers on offer (be they cask, keg or bottled) that were brewed in London, which seems like a nice way to encourage people to buy local, although two Pressure Drop beers on keg cost £6.00 a pint each, which seems like a good way to put people off buying local. I tried the Black Cherry Mild, which I was a bit dubious about but I have to say it was sublime.
This was a bit of a wildcard on my recent crawl around Dalston (I was unaware of the pub's links to other fine establishments at the time of my visit), but it turned out to be one of the best of the day. I ended up spending much longer here than intended and would be keen to make a return visit sooner rather than later.
On 20th January 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about Railway Tavern
Basic quite scruffy locals pub.One long rectangular bar. Few tatty railway pictures is the décor.Nowt wrong with the beer.4 handpumps with Redemption -trinity-big chief and hopspur.Also Adnams -American ipa.2 keg beers on from Pressure Drop.
On 16th January 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Old Henry's Freehouse
This is a basic pub that was a lot quieter than its peers during my weekday evening visit. The guy behind the bar was very friendly and the Guinness was very good and the £2.50 a pint price tag made it taste even better. There were three unused hand pumps on the bar so all that was available was an unimaginative standard draught range and I didn’t spot any food advertised.
Some depressing music was playing in the background and the two locals sitting at the bar looked half asleep, but thankfully some kind soul had left some darts in the board so I could have a throw whilst knocking my drink back. There is also a pool table and quiz machine and although I didn’t spot any Sky Sports advertisements there are two flat screen TVs so I would imagine this pub does show the football.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to drink here again.
On 17th September 2010
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5228 recommendations about 5196 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about Railway Tavern
A nice local serving a range of Fuller's ales also Batemans. a very friendly and helpful landlord
On 3rd February 2007
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]