The Horatia, N7

Pub SignMan left this review about The Horatia

A five minute or so walk from Highbury & Islington station, this is a large, opened out and modernised pub typical of the area, with a single room layout across two notional parts - the light, front seating and bar area and the darker, lounge and games space to the rear. The pub is bare boarded throughout, with walls painted in the uninspiring range of grey shades that so many North London pubs are done out in these days. The servery is to the left and has a grey tongue and groove counter and a mirrored bar back with grey panels above, lined with old paintings and photos. Loads of tables and chairs fill the space opposite, many of which are on a raised platform in the front right quarter of the room, with a few high tables and stools further back, alongside a U-shaped banquette. Potted plants stand in the window above this banquette, a shelving unit near the entrance is stacked with board games and most impressively, an original feature in the shape of a tile painting of Lord Nelson can be found next to the front door, with some decorative glazed tiling beneath. The rear part of the room has hard bench booths to either side and some Chesterfield sofas in the centre. A fireplace in the middle of the rear wall has a TV screen above, which was showing some random BBC show with hip-hop tunes playing over the sound system. An upright piano stands against the back wall with an old radio set on top, whilst there is a table football game in the middle of the room and two youngsters were playing Streetfighter II on a games console to the rear left. A large pull-down screen in the centre of the pub looked like it would screen live football, but it was unused during this particular visit.
Sadly there was only one operational handpull when I arrived, dispensing Verdant Penpol at £5.60 a pint. One other handle was unclipped, but they had a pretty good keg selection including beers from Beavertown, Werewolf, Stone, Arbor and most of the Camden range. The Penpol was a bit tired but the barman was very welcoming and his colleague gave me a hearty farewell as I left.
I quite liked this pub, despite the large, drinking barn-style interior, and thought they'd put some effort in to make the place stand out from the crowd a bit. The limited ale range, and seeming struggle to keep even that in good shape, is a concern and would probably deter me from coming back any time soon, but overall it still felt like a decent spot to while away a bit of time in.

Date of visit - 23rd June 2024

On 31^st October 2024 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3361 recommendations about 3361 pubs]