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Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 17th March 2024) with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Tris C
Submitted on Saturday, 5th February 2011
With picture contributions to 2286 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (26 more images)
Detail Pages
The Smokehouse, Canonbury, N1
N1
N1 2DG
Served areas
Reviews of The Smokehouse (Average Rating: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Smokehouse
An undistinguished inter war building looking out of place compared with the villas close by,I walked into what appeared to be a restaurant but with a bar directly infront.Either side of the servery tables were set mainly for dining and on ordering a beer ,I was asked if I was going to dine ,and then slightly hassled to consider a bar snack or a ludicrously priced side when I said I wasn't looking for a large meal.I could have sat inside at an unlaid table,but the beer garden appeared more receptive on a sunny day ,have faced the Spanish Inquisition !
Two unused handpumps but lots of keg taps set in the wall offering schooners of a sparkling cider,a stout,three lagers,4 pale ales and one NEIPA in the form of Deya Glue at £6.70.I didn't want to like this place but as the NEIPA sank down I have to admit it was very good,not cold at all and lightly carbonated.So you may get lucky here on the craft keg front,otherwise I can't really recommend a visit.
On 4th June 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about The Smokehouse
Looked shut when we approached it, but it wasn't. Decent sized room with bar to left and middle. Big selection of craft type ale but it came in schooners, not halves, which was a bit disappointing cost wise.
On 24th June 2018
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Smokehouse
This pub, once the Castle and later the Belinda Castle, dates back to at least the early 19th century but was clearly rebuilt in the 1930s. It's quite an attractive junction pub situated in leafy and generally lovely (less so this part) Canonbury.
The interior is unbelievably spartan. Tables - topped with tea lights - and chairs are of the conventional old school type and all the more attractive for that, but there's virtually no décor at all, save for a few sets of small antlers mounted to the walls. There are overhead ceiling fans and the walls are part t 'n' g-clad to around waist height and painted pale grey, thereon up the walls are white with a white ceiling; the floor is bare boarded. The bar is central and fronted with more t 'n' g. To one end, there's a wood burning stove in the fireplace and at the other side, is the kitchen servery.
An overly loud reggae soundtrack played, which contributed to the disorientation as there's virtually no light in here. I've been in some gloomy pubs in my time but this takes the biscuit and by quite some way. I've never been in a pub where most of the artificial light comes from candles; I could barely see a thing.
Ales? I was proffered an all-singing, all-dancing drinks menu at the bar which I couldn't be bothered to read and probably couldn't have done anyway given the impenetrable gloom so asked for a half of lager. There were just two pump founts, but what they were serving is anyone's guess as they weren't clipped. Whatever lager it was, was fine and probably very expensive though I didn't clock the price.
The place has an attractive semi-circular beer garden which is a plus, but otherwise I simply can't bring myself to describe this venue as a pub. A restaurant in which you can buy an anonymous beer perhaps, but a pub? Not really.
On 21st June 2017
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1943 recommendations about 1910 pubs]
View more reviews of The Smokehouse (6)
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- Official site of The Smokehouse - www.smokehouseislington.co.uk
- Facebook - Smokehouse
- Twitter - SMOKEHOUSE
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Smokehouse - whatpub.com
Highbury & Islington, 0.4 miles, 7 min walk (show)
Highbury & Islington, 0.4 miles, 7 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Car Park : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Jukebox : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Karaoke : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Live Music : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Micropub : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Pinball : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Pool Table : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Quiz Night : No last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 26 November 2019 by Graham Coombs
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C
- WiFi : Yes last updated 21 June 2017 by Tris C