First thoughts? It’s so like the Highgate Road original that it’s almost discombobulating. With its dark mahogany panelled walls, green lacquered ceiling, battered counter and dark wooden boards, this place could have been here for years.
And yet it only opened the other day. The Canonbury Lane venue has, of course, enjoyed various incarnations over the years (you might remember it as Four Sisters or 25 Canonbury Lane). But sipping my pint, I wondered why it had taken the visionary Southampton team so long to repeat the formula, despite the Cock Tavern, their Hackney sister pub, having a similar – yet distinct – vibe of its own.
One difference is the slightly greater width of space here in Islington, and the addition of a rear lounge. But otherwise, the low lighting pendants are the same, as are the handful of tables in the windows (the outlook swanky Compton Terrace). There’s even an upright piano, a Bechstein Model 4, bought from Harrod’s in 1874, whose previous custodian apparently “had her in the family for 75 years”, I learnt.
Donate just £2 to Kentishtowner
Pints, which include Leyton breweries Queer Brewing and Gravity Well, as well as Pressure Drop and The Kernel, are priced fairly: anything up to 4.62% ABV is a very reasonable £5.57 – which included my Howling Hops Helles – while if you’re a cask ale and cider person, it’s just £4.97 a pint (up to 4.62% ABV).
Stronger drinks than these are priced at £1.08 per % per pint. This is the first time I’ve seen this pricing. And it feels achingly sensible.
Food-wise, the offer is similar to its parent: there are hot Cornish pasties (“proper ones from Cornwall!” reads the chalkboard), and sausage rolls, both hovering around the fiver mark. Then there are pork pies – with stuffing, pickle or chicken – along with vegan mushroom rolls, pickled eggs and pickled onions.
Everything is so well-priced it harks back to when I first drank at the Southampton in 2009, thrilled at such a lovely boozer opening around the corner from where I lived at the time.
One contrast? The toilets: here, they’re located in a rather Dickensian subterranean warren – it’s an atmospheric walk downstairs to find them. And the urinals are even located in a low-ceilinged cave that must have once been a dimly-lit Victorian storage cellar.
Overall verdict? It’s a cracker: like all cover versions, The Pocket somehow has its own energy, and will no doubt gain its own army of fans.
Along with the nearby Compton Arms – which hosts excellent kitchen residencies – this pair of tiny N1 boozers is reason alone to hop on the Mildmay line to Highbury & Islington for at least a jar or two. Follow @thepocketn1
