Gemma R.

Review of The Landseer

14 Apr 08, 14:22

Make this place your new local (but go elsewhere for food)

This is a great pub to have on your doorstep. Lovely-looking and somehow combining airiness and cosiness in equal measure, The Landseer is the ideal place to meet friends for a convivial evening spent lounging on big squashy sofas with a bottle (or three) of good wine and a game of Trivial Pursuit. The food can be a bit hit-and-miss at times, though, to such an extent that I've stopped going there to eat (preferring the cheaper and far superior fare served up round the corner at North Nineteen). That said, as a place to hang out on a sunny summer evening The Landseer is hard to beat.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of North Nineteen

03 Apr 08, 11:00

Lovely new local

Tucked away on a quiet street off the Holloway Road, North Nineteen is a real find. The landlord is a very friendly chap who obviously cares about his pub, and this is reflected in every aspect of the place. There are some excellent ales on tap (including a lovely Timothy Taylor last time I went) and a well-chosen wine list. The food is great as well - a ribeye steak came bloody as hell, as per my request (finally, somewhere that knows rare should mean rare!), accompanied by fat chips and some delicious fried red onion rings. A pumpkin risotto was also terrific, creamy and oozing with flavour.

This is not just another gastropub, though. This is a place that bends over backwards to ensure that you have a good time. There is a real ale festival in April, and the promise of regular wine tasting sessions. There's a quiz on Monday nights, open mic sessions, poker nights, live music... oh, and free wifi too. With so much to offer, North Nineteen is definitely a welcome addition to Holloway's pub scene.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of James Selby

27 Mar 08, 14:28

Small is beautiful

This is a nice little department store to have on your doorstep if you just can't face going shopping Up West. Concessions include Topshop, Warehouse, Dorothy Perkins and Faith, and there's a smattering of French Connection stuff as well if you can be bothered searching through the rails. Ideal for a Saturday morning browse before you pop off to do your weekly grocery shop in Morrisons (or Waitrose, if you're posh/loaded). But James Selby really comes into its own at sale time. You can pick up some cracking bargains in the homeware section upstairs where you can make some serious savings on cutlery, glassware, bedding, cookware and so on. Definitely worth a look.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of The Quays

27 Mar 08, 13:38

Strange place, good grub

The Quays seems to suffer from multiple-personality disorder. Once you've got past the electric blue facade you find yourself in a traditional Irish boozer, complete with old men supping Guinness and Gaelic football on the telly. Then turn the corner and you're in a strange Gothic dungeon with chains everywhere. Go upstairs and there's a sleek, modern bar-cum-restaurant. Basically, the decor is what I imagine the inside of Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen's head looks like. Still, despite the hodge-podge interior, this is a nice pub (though it looks like it might get rowdy on Saturday nights). They do good comfort food too - the bacon and cabbage is a particularly good hangover cure.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.