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Island Queen, City Road  fancyapint.com rated pub, rated4 pints - click for an explanation of our ratingsreviewers award 2005 - most improved - click for an explanation of our awardsCask Marque pub - click for an explanation of the Cask Marque scheme

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location:

City Road

address:

87 Noel Road, N1 8HD

phone:

0871 258 6155*
* calls cost 10p/minute, click here for more about 0871 numbers.

nearest stations:

Angel London Underground station
(540m) - zone 1

Essex Road railway station
(830m) - zone 2

Old Street railway stationLondon Underground station
(1.1Km) - zone 1

Barbican railway stationLondon Underground station
(1.4Km) - zone 1

Highbury and Islington London Overground stationLondon Underground station
(1.4Km) - zone 2

how to find it:

Turn left out of the tube then left again down City Road. Take the 3rd left up Nelson Terrace then 2nd right into Noel Road. The pub is on the left about 300 metres down.

click here for a larger map

nearby attraction(s):

Business Design Centre (620m)

Sadler's Wells Theatre (700m)

picture of Island Queen
After a long period in the wilderness, the Island Queen's decline was reversed a few years back when Mitchells and Butlers took the time, care and patience to make this a pub to be proud of. The beer line-up is up to the good usual M&B standard: Pride, Landlord and Deuchars on the hand pumps, with Kolsch, Fruli, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Staropramen etc. all on draft. The wine list is small but perfectly formed, whilst the food is good, standard upmarket pub fare. Architecturally, it's fantastic here - high ceilings, etched glass, and dark, worn wood are the hallmarks of this quality establishment. The pub's popularity makes it tricky to find a seat at the usual times - Friday after work is particularly bad - but upstairs hosts extra seating to take the strain. Certainly this is a grand pub we at Fancyapint? can heartily recommend.

reviewed:
16/04/2009
reviewed by redcat

Eating at The Island Queen ... we last ate here on 26/01/2008

Burger and chips appeared hand-made and while the veggie burger was surprisingly tasty. Prices ranged between £6 - £10 for the various vaguely upmarket British pub fare dishes. Overall: above average, but not astonishing - you can eat here with confidence.
food rating 2 - quality
price rating 2 - price

second opinion:

Have your say! - 4 comments on this pub - click to add your own comment
posted by quicklook77 - Saturday 20th June, 2009, 9:42pm
Crap pub. Crap food. Crap staff. This used to be a quiet pub where you could have a drink with friends and have leisurely chats, now it is trying hard to be trendy and most of the patrons scream and shout at each other to be heard over the shite music. The food is very poor and I wouldnt eat there again. The staff are surely and everything is a "big deal" if you happen to ask a question. Avoid like ... swine flu or the plague..
posted by fashionista - Tuesday 9th June, 2009, 6:07pm
how wonderful - great food, great beers, and a witty landlady who really cares about this place. By far my favourite place to rendezvous - mojito in hand preferrably made by the resident cuban! Pop down for Sunday lunch if you can after a walk along the canal - most likely to get a table every sunday as the pub is just off of the beaten track (the narrowboat is the obvious choice from the canal but take the same turning ad=nd its literally 50 yards away).
posted by CaptainJack - Monday 28th July, 2008, 3:19pm
ow times change. Was in the Island Queen the other night and the service has become to say the least a little angsty. You can't you not play your own music if you rent the room upstairs (which is lovely decor wise and a bit of a find), as the venue doesn't have a PRS license for anything but library music (!). (so if you having a party there you better like your music generic!) Not only this but a member of staff helping out when off duty (and drunk) who then got abusive with a lady in our party and tried to start a fight with two different people and called a customer "a b**ch". Hardly inspiring customer service! I hear it's become a chain pub now so don't be fooled by the (admittedly lovely) Edwardian interior. Same jobsworth attitude you get in chain pubs too often. Avoid.
posted by presh - Wednesday 13th February, 2008, 12:02am
Love this place, quirky, friendly, wanna be Camden staff. The beers on tap are divine ... upstairs is available for free hire - the only down side is that it surrounded by houses, so you can sit out the front, and there's no beer garden to enjoy.
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click to visit the randomness guidesRandomness - for an alternative point of view, see The Island Queen's review on the Randomness guide to London.