User name:

Password:

Login


Sign in with Facebook


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 Tris39 on the Pub Forum

Holborn Whippet, Holborn, WC1

Pub added by hondo .
25-29 Sicilian Avenue
WC1
WC1A 2QH

Return to pub summary

Page: 1 2

Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


john gray left this review about Holborn Whippet

Very busy bar after 5.00 pm.Part owned by Adnams so you will always find their seasonal beers on here.Find the beers on the board around the column quite confusing.Good bar but something missing to make it must visit when in the area.Very reasonable prices for the area.

On 13th February 2013 - 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 Holborn Whippet

The Holborn Whippet is a modernised pub with a large range of cask ale and cider available ‘from the brick’ which is a large column behind the bar. I found the barman to be very friendly, but the atmosphere generated from the transient late Saturday afternoon crowd wasn’t the best. To the right of the pub is a door with ‘public bar’ written on it, but it is more for effect as this place feels quite open plan. The left hand side has a couple of thick pillars that split it in half and there are high tables either side of these pillars. Food is served from a downstairs kitchen and the dishes I saw emerging from the stairs were mainly burger and chips.
There are no televisions that I could see. But some music was playing very quietly in the background.
Out the front there is some seating which was taken up by passers-by and people nursing halves.

I had a Thornbridge brew that was ok, but I wouldn’t rush back here as I felt it lacked character.

On 20th December 2012 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Moby Duck left this review about Holborn Whippet

A modern bar with an interesting range of cask and craft beers,dispensed through taps set into a central brick pier,the blackboard above the taps displaying the legend "Beers From The Brick" lists all the beers available along with strengths and rather helpfully in the case of the cask beers, tasting notes. Six cask beers available from one side of the pier, these not being dispensed via handpump but from the taps powered by I think compressed air,on the downside from my point of view all were poured through sparklers and all were far to cold,all beers I would imagine coming through the same cooling system, the suiting many of the keg beers available but not so for the cask.However on the upside my choice of Moor Beer's Nor Hop was excellent despite
the temperature, the other cask beers available were,Hardknott Katalyst,Adnams Ghost Ship,Darkstar Hophead,Redemption Urban Dusk and Bristol Beer West Coast Red,prices ranged from £3.40 to £3.60.Not the sort of place I would spend too long in but well worth calling in for a couple of decent beers.

On 25th October 2012 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1868 recommendations about 1841 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Holborn Whippet

Quite hard to locate initially, since there is little in the way of exterior signage. Two rooms around a 'U'-shaped bar; one small, the other sub-divided by pillars but much larger. Modern furniture with very plain white paint and dark wood decor. Tiny open kitchen area and table football downstairs. Six cask ales (e.g. Allgates All Black, £3.40) and a good number of interesting-looking craft beers on keg. Only a flying visit, but there's certainly enough here for me to return before long.

On 16th September 2012 - rating: 8
[User has posted 8061 recommendations about 8061 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about Holborn Whippet

The Holborn Whippet is a new venture brought to us by some of the people involved with the Euston Tap, although it’s not clear if it is part of that particular chain or not – even the bar staff seemed unsure when I asked. This place has more of a pub feel to it than the likes of the Euston Tap, although there are still similarities between the two. The entrance takes you into the main bar with a smaller room to the right where the ale taps can be found. This room has wooden flooring and part panelled walls with the top half painted white. Large windows look out to the pedestrianised street outside which a few drinkers had spilled out onto. The main room is partitioned in two with some tiling in evidence although most of the walls are decorated with sketches of folk either down the pub or out walking their whippets. Seating comes in the form of a lot of high stools and drinking ledges and the odd banquette. The servery is fairly compact and has blackboards listing the ale choices above the bar back and mirrors bearing the pub’s name and logo above. An undressed staircase led down through a storage area full of beer barrels and kitchen equipment to the toilets, suggesting that the place opened prior to actually being ready. A sample food menu was being promoted, so perhaps the kitchen, which will eventually provide food in the ‘pizza and charcoal grill’ style, is not yet ready for action.
As mentioned below, the blackboards listing the available beers are a little confusing, perhaps because it’s not possible to list everything that’s on offer on the same board. All cask ales are listed in the room to the right and on my visit the offerings were Bristol Beer Factory Seven and Sunrise (£3.40), Dark Star Sussex Extra Stout, Gadds No 3, Adnams Ghost Ship and Thornbridge Brother Rabbit. The Sunrise was another enjoyable pint from BBF and had been kept in good condition. There’s an extensive, unusual keg range similar to those found in the ‘Tap’ pubs and with prices to match.
I can only agree with the previous reviewers that this is still clearly a work in progress and that the true picture will be revealed over time. I enjoyed my pint here and would most certainly give it another look the next time I’m in the area, by which time I hope things will be fully up to speed.

On 20th June 2012 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


hondo . left this review about Holborn Whippet

A bit of a rough diamond at the moment it looked like a rush job to get opened. Quite a plain interior with dark wooden flooring a wooden horseshoe shaped bar and a mixture of tiling and wood on the lower levels of the walls. A large selection of keg + cask beers, ciders and lagers dispensed from taps set in the wall. Once the opening snagging has been sorted this diamond should polish up nicely. If visiting this pub double it up with the nearby Princess Louise a sam smith's pub with a stunning old style interior.

On 4th June 2012 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


train man left this review about Holborn Whippet

Still in infancy, no external pub signage yet except a pavement A-board suggesting Whippet ‘trial’. Inside smells of paint from plain whitewashed walls. Small square ‘horseshoe’ central bar with bricked column supported 18 ale & lager dispensers, blackboard above dispensers shows a muddled jumble of what’s available- you need to take a circuit of the bar to see the lists in full. Space for staff is very limited behind bar, and will prove problematic to pass each other when busy.

The biggest disappointment, for me, and where I think this fledgling operation has made a bad start, was the extremely poor beer mix. Whilst it was 27deg outside, the only golden or ‘pale’ ales I noticed were Thornbridge Jaipur (5.9%, £4.00) and Adnams Ghost Ship (£3.40), whilst they had several milds (ok, I know it’s May!) plus maybe 5 or 6 Stouts! Comments of “we’ve run out… we’ve only just opened…” didn’t leave an impression that they were at all ready to be trading; one would have expected shortcomings to have been ironed out from experience of previously opening several other outlets.

The bar space is decent, a much better aspect than, say, Euston Tap, with dark new wood floor, large glass windows all round to watch the world go by, under which drinking shelves with bar stools/chairs should attract customers away from the (stool-less) bar, leaving more space for those waiting to be served. The left hand side is slightly separated from the bar and provides an area for small groups to sit on bar-chairs around ‘tongue’ tables.

The plain walls seemed a little stark but I very much liked the 7 or 8 pictures that are present, whippets, flat caps, pub life, drawn in pleasing style.

The Tap usually has something ~£3.20 and I didn’t see anything that ‘cheap’ here, although William Bros Profanity Stout (7%) at £4.00 could be deemed decent value.

The Whippet has some way to go but, with a better balance of available beer styles, and a much clearer and organised beer-list, maybe with large boards by abv & style in each room, this could become a very good location indeed.

On 25th May 2012 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 412 recommendations about 411 pubs]

Page: 1 2