North Pole N1*

The North Pole, London N1

Contemporary pub (Butcher & Barrel)
188 New North Road N1 7BJ
T 020 7354 5400 w www.thenorthpolepub.co.uk f thenorthpolepub tw thenorthpolepub
Open 1100-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until 1900.
Cask beer 7 (changing usually local and unusual guests), Other beer 12 keg, 30 bottles, Also 3 real ciders/perries, 30+ wines, gourmet soft drinks.
Food Pizzas and meat-focused enhanced pub grub, Outdoor Rear terrace/beer garden, Wifi. No disabled toilet but all on one level.
Tue beer and meat promotion, occasional beer-themed events, pinball, bar billiards, retro video games, board games.

Butcher & Barrel pubs usually offer a few good beers, and the company is also linked to the owners of the marvellous Sussex Arms in Twickenham, but the North Pole is the first in the chain deliberately designed and marketed as a craft beer venue. In a slightly out of the way but now relatively prosperous corner of Islington near the Regent’s Canal, the former North Star was reopened as the North Pole in July 2012 following a lavish and very successful refurbishment – the oddly shaped bar area is now clean, bright and cheerful with light wood and pot plants, and there’s a very attractive wood decked terrace at the back.

Regularly rotating cask beers carefully chosen by cellar manager Shaun come both from local brewers like By the Horns, East London, Redemption and Windsor & Eton and well respected craft suppliers like Buxton, Magic Rock, Oakham, Redwillow and Titanic. Keg offerings also rotate although Innis & Gunn, Harbour, London Fields and Meantime are regulars alongside imports from Anchor (their gorgeous benchmark porter when I called), Flying Dog and Schneider. Ask for samples if you’re unsure. Bottle drinkers will likely find beers from Bristol, Nils Oscar, Nøgne-Ø and Struise, or even Pabst Blue Ribbon if you must. With good if very meat heavy food from the open kitchen, this is a friendly, civilised place that feels a bit more grown up than some venues with similar lists.

National Rail Essex Road Underground Angel, Old Street Bus Baring Street (271 Essex Road, numerous Old Street) Cycling LCN+ 8 16, Regents Canal towpath Walking Links to Jubilee Greenway, New River Path