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Detail Pages
Pig & Butcher, N1
N1
N1 0QD
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Pig & Butcher
Yet another gastro pub perhaps with ideas above its station, the way in semi blocked by a wait here to be seated sign, I didn't bother.
On 12th June 2022
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Pig & Butcher
Originally The White Horse so quite why it has the current name since 2012, three years before my first visit.
Inside it's a fairly standard layout with the bar to the rear and a contemporary, tasteful refit with chunky bare wood furniture and gloomy lighting; as mentioned, it's overly warm too.
The place is big on food with most customers eating and typically professional local types.
Three ales on offer with Siren Craft Brew's Undercurrent at a price just north of £4.50 a pint and in very good nick, served by a friendly and efficient barman.
Overall, worth a visit and makes for a good crawl of the local area.
On 19th March 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about Pig & Butcher
Decent enough pub but could not get a seat, which puts me off somewhat. Adnams Ghost Ship on draught.
On 19th January 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about Pig & Butcher
Very busy food led pub.Roast dinners looked very nice. Overly warm with large ceiling fans.Great bottled beer selection and 3 real ales. Bath -Gem,Sambrookes -Wandle and a superb Elb-Cowcatcher ipa.
On 10th May 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Pig & Butcher
This is an old mid-Victorian pub originally named the White Horse Hotel. Inside the only original feature is a bit of coving around some of the walls. The furnishings are the preferred gastro pub fittings of scrubbed solid tables and standard chairs. This pub is definitely food led with most, but not all, tables laid for diners. The building has been extended into the right hand building at some stage, separated from the main bar area by some shelving bearing assorted artfully arranged bric a brac.
There were three ales on - Adnam's Southwold, ELB Pale Ale, and Sambrook Wandle. The latter was £3.80 a pint, which is not too outrageous by gastropub standards in this part of the world. Pints were served in dimple jugs, with no choice offered. I didn't see a menu, but I don't suppose it offers many surprises.
This is a gastropub, so you wouldn't expect a traditional pub experience here. Nevertheless, the ale selection was OK and it was perfectly enjoyable sitting outside on a warm and sunny afternoon sinking a decent pint of Wandle watching the world go by.
On 5th June 2013
- rating: 5
[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 Pig & Butcher
The former Islington Tap has been re-named the Pig & Butcher, but is perhaps now more of a gastropub than previously. Gloomy semi-retro furniture in the smallish bar, but the side dining room has much brighter lighting and decor. Background music at a sensible volume. Three handpumps, offering Bath Gem, Hopback GFB and Arbor Ales Riwaka (£3.60) plus a good selection of bottles. Overall, if one ignores the annoyingly overattentive staff, I would say that it is a modest improvement.
On 25th November 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Islington Tap
Dating from the early Victorian period, the Islington Tap was originally called the White Horse Hotel. It is situated a few minutes walk from the central Angel area where most of the shops and nightlife are found.
The Bar & Kitchen subheading in the signage is perhaps a pointer of what to expect although I got the impression the former takes pereference over the latter and, along with the majority of pubs in the area, this comes over as just another wannabe trendy pub that deosn’t real;ly meet the potential in either the food or drink departments.
The interior seems to have been knocked through 2 buildings with the left hand side housing the bar and the right hand section containing an open kitchen. Some of the paneled windows appearv to be fairly original and the semi-barrel roof in the kitchen kitchen section is quite unusual. The décor is quite plain and similar throughout with sturdy furnishings, bare floors, long benches, pew seating, modern pictures and stripped tables bearing chunky candles and small flower vases. A TV is housed at the kitchen end and a big screen at the bar end with sky Sports being shown on my visit.
Despite the pub having less than a dozen punters at the time of my early evening visit, music was pumping out at a disproportionate level which I found quite offputting and encouraged those that were there to raise voices to cope.
The beers were a bit disappointing with just 2 hand pumps, London Pride (£3.40) and Landlord (clip showing but wasn’t available). Despite its pseudo gastro approach, the food menu was quite basic with main courses priced around £7-£11.
Whilst there is nothing particularly unpleasant about the place, it doesn’t seem to attract the same numbers as its competitors which does at least make it easy to get a table. On the whole though, I wasn’t impressed enough to want to stroll away from the other more central pubs in the future.
On 4th November 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Islington Tap
This is an open plan pub with a long bar on the left that faces some conventional tables and chairs and there are some long wooden tables at the rear by the open kitchen. It was fairly busy in here late on Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago and the Ryder Cup was being shown on a plasma screen via Sky Sports, but this was muted to give way to some commercial pop music that was being piped out of the speakers. The staff were nice enough, but there was more of a wait than I would expect for the staff/customer ratio. There was a range of standard and premium draught products and although the Landlord was off Pride was available.
There are four picnic tables on the path outside and there is a function room available for hire that will take up to fifty people. There is also a quiz that starts at 20:00 every Sunday.
The pub advertises itself as attracting the typical Islington set so not really my cup of tea, but I’ve been in far worse.
On 12th October 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5251 recommendations about 5219 pubs]