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The Rose & Crown, Kentish Town, NW5
NW5
NW5 2SG
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Rose & Crown
Another Kentish Town backwater, another first to an NW5 pub - the history of which has been mentioned by Rex of this Victorian pub - rebuilt in 1937. As mentioned, this was briefly renamed The Torriano after the Torriano Arms, a few yards away at the junction with Leighton Road and now flats.
This isn’t a big pub; there’s a small island bar with bare wood panelling, some of which is painted in distressed pastel hues. The floor is polished concrete. The walls display much bare brick, some painted grey. They are adorned with abstract artworks - a few potted palms add to a desert island theme, or so I assume. Furniture is conventional with some green buckskin banquettes to the periphery, Britannia tables as well as some taller tables and chairs; candles adorn the tables; muted music completed the scene. The lavatories probably date from the 1930s, as evinced by the cracked tiles, the graffiti is modern – overall the lavs could do with some work because they really aren’t a selling point. The barman was cheery and welcoming though the locals seemed a little mixed, ranging from normal to unorthodox.
There are comedy nights here and food, which seems to revolve around toasted sandwiches and mac ‘n’ cheese, or macaroni cheese as non-American intellectuals would say. However, the ‘musturd [sic] sauce’ doesn't appeal.
Ales: Weird Beard Brew Co’s Mariana Trench, a 5.3% ABV ‘transpacific pale ale’ at £4.90 a pint and good. An ale of this ilk may appeal to the hardened drinker but this is way too strong for a session ale, unless the pub’s core market are tramps – this stripling would be under the table after three pints.
We thought that this pub was a bit odd. One ale at 5.3% doesn’t constitute an incentive to stay, though better this than Doom Bar - it’s too strong and therefore too expensive. Maybe the Rose & Crown would appeal more after repeated visits, but it’s too far from where I live so I guess I’ll never find out.
On 3rd March 2018
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Rose & Crown
This was originally a Watney, Combe Reid pub of the same name. It was rebuilt before the war; spent a while as The Torriano (perhaps in remembrance of the original Torriano around the corner that is now flats), but has now creditably reverted to its original name.
There were two handpumps on the counter, one clipped with Tiny Rebel Hank (£2.10 a half), and the other with a cider (Orchard Pig Hog Father). I tend to like Tiny Rebel beers, and this one was no exception, being a light and hoppy, yet full flavoured, summer ale. There were no menus when I dropped in on Wednesday lunchtime, and as far as I could see food was limited to cakes and/or tarts under a plastic container on the bar.
They seem to major on “craft” beers here, with loads of them available from an array of keg fonts. I had an enjoyable chat with the barman about breweries and beer styles, and he kindly gave me a taster for something from Wiper and True Brewery. It was quite good as it happens.
This pub – or perhaps more accurately a bar – is quite small and minimalist, occupying its original location in a row of terraced accommodation. There’s a bit of banquette seating, and a couple of tall tables/tall stools, and that’s about it, although there is a small “garden” area at the back as well as a bit of seating on the pavement at the front.
I really enjoyed my short visit to this pub. I guess the chat with the friendly barman will have helped, but I would recommend this pub.
On 5th June 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Torriano
A scruffy but characterful local. A blackboard lists a number of not unreasonably priced wines, there is a collection of obscure spirit and liqueur bottles and, as previously noted, there is a hot plate for cooking meals at the bar. Only two hand pumps, and though both pump clips were facing out, only one was on - of course, I asked for the one that was off. The "on" beer was Marstons Pedigree, of which I am not a big fan, so I only had a half. At £1.80 for a half, I'm glad I didn't ask for a pint! Most people seemed to be drinking lager or Guinness, but my beer was in good nick, despite the doubts of the previous reviewer.
There are a couple of leather (or leatherette) chairs and sofas that have seen better days, some tubular steel stools at the bar. Smokers occasionally pop out to sit at the tables in front. The customers seemed to be enjoying themselves, and they were a mixed bunch. There was a friendly atmosphere and I got the impression that a few visits would establish a new customer as a regular.
There were "Save the Torriano" t-shirts on display, but on later checking up on the internet I couldn't find a recent threat to the pub - about 18 months ago there was an application to convert the building into flats, but I couldn't find any reporting of the appeal that the pub owners were intending to make. It seems to be a going concern at this time.
On 8th February 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Torriano
After leaving a very busy pub up the road I was surprised at how quiet this place was for early on a Saturday evening. There was a family sitting behind the island bar tucking into some crepes and a lone gentleman was sitting at the bar staring into space. There was also a couple sitting in the small courtyard down the stairs at the rear of the building. The hot plate that the crepes are cooked on is located on the bar and the barman was doubling up as the chef. They looked and smelt nice, but I didn't like drinking in what in effect had become a kitchen and I thought that the condiments and sauces lined along the bar made an already unkempt looking pub look more untidy.
Pedigree was the ale option, but the surroundings gave me the impression that it wouldn't be very good so I decided to give it a miss, although my judgement may have been totally misplaced as my pint of Guinness was very nice. Standard lagers and Hoegarden were also available and the barman was a pleasant enough chap who seemed very happy in his work which, along with the chill-out music, gave a relaxed atmosphere.
Unfortunately I had to use the toilet and have to report that there is no lock on the gent's door and there hasn't been for some time as the old lock holes are painted over. They could also do with a clean as there are so many spiders I thought that I was having a dump in the woods.
I spotted some paraphernalia laying around the pub mentioning the proposed flat development on the site and although this place isn't my cup of tea and I can't see myself returning I would like to wish them all the best against the money grabbing developers.
On 27th April 2009
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5254 recommendations about 5222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Torriano
When I first came here, it was a rather gloomy and tatty place full of mothers, dogs and unsupervised kids chasing ballons. The beers were all off and I left after 1 expensive pint. Before I had a chance to place a comment someone had mentioned that it had been done up so I held back to give it a second chance. Whilst the interior is now a bit brighter with the black walls now painted in paler colours, it still looks shabby and little has changed from my initial impressions. Situated well off the beaten track the Torriano (or just the T according to the designer pub sign) comes over as an old local's boozer that tried to jump on the good ship Trendy but forgot to put some sails on the mast. It all looks a bit of a mess and a clash of styles and eras with furnishings that look like they have come from second hand shops and car boot sales. A selection of worn sofas and battered tables is complemented by lights and vases that your granny used to take down the charity shop. The fireplace looks rather forlorn and the bar seems to be a DIY half-a-job. To some it may have a certain charm but to me it all looks as uncomfortable and univiting as the bare concrete floor. Both Ales (Pride and Marstens Pedigree) were off (again) and which really sealed its fate in my “Don't Bother Again” book.
On 23rd November 2007
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]