The best pubs in Islington, London

George Orwell was often found drinking at The Compton Arms in Islington, and if there’s one thing we know about Orwell, it’s that he knew a good pub when he saw one. Traditional ales remain on cask, London craft beers are poured or you can choose from a small but thoughtful wine list. There's also excellent food to be found here too, courtesy of Tiella – a rustic Italian kitchen cooking here most nights. 

Sneak off down Holloway Road when you come out of Highbury & Islington tube station and you'll find one of north London's best boozers, complete with wood panelling, skylights, and original tiling. This ultra-cosy Irish-ish pub serves craft beer and real ale, but the real appeal here comes in the shape of weekly folk music sessions. They don't have a kitchen, but are perfectly happy for you to bring in your own food or have it delivered. On match days, it's an Arsenal home pub (Emirates is just around the corner) and fittingly rowdy. 

The Shakespeare's Head may look a little daunting from the outside. Don’t be shy: this salt-of-the-earth local extends a warm welcome to all. It’s hard to imagine a pub with fewer pretensions than this place, done out in gloss-painted wood, standard-issue pub carpets and plump seating. The 1970s feel extends to the beer and the sandwich counter, and the walls are lined with 1980s headshots of local actors. 

This icon of Essex Road goes large on 'proper drinks', fine food and lots of leather sofas to kick back in. The food is on supply from Lucky Chip, one of the best burger makers in town, and there's a great Sunday roast too. With this young, fun crowd, espresso martinis are as popular as craft lagers. Come for live music, entertaining quizzes and wild nights on weekend nights, where everyone spills outside.

Well-to-do Islingtonians favour this upmarket backstreet boozer for its pricey wines, varied beers (Harveys Sussex Best, Sambrook’s Wandle, Truman’s Runner), neutral decor and thoughtfully seasonal cooking. There’s an upstairs restaurant for more focused dining, but downstairs feels homely, with visitors bringing pooches and leafing through the papers.

This backstreet pub has a vast hymn-type board advertising that day’s beers on offer. Staff are constantly hopping up on to chairs to change the names as kegs run out – it’s that sort of place. There are 11 on keg, five or six on cask, plus a couple of quality ciders. The range covers Britain from Devon to Cromarty via Ilkley, before jetting off to the Continent, Scandinavia and the USA. Staff are happy to offer tastings and know their stuff. And there’s a patio at the back that acts as a sun trap in summer months.

Given that it's hidden among some of N1's most covetable residential streets and the barbed-wire-decked back of Pentonville Prison, the Hemingford Arms has to cater for a wide range of locals. It does so beautifully in its own kooky way via an out-of-tune piano, Thai food and scrappy pub dogs. The building is made extra beautiful on the outside by leafy swathes of ivy and pretty hanging baskets.

This Islington gin palace is a notch above most of its N1 competitors, thanks to the wide selection of beers and wine. Inside, high ceilings tower over etched mirrors and abundant greenery; there are a couple of outdoor tables too. Even when it’s busy, the height of the rooms means acoustics that allow easy conversation. But the Island Queen’s main asset is that it has personality in spades: it’s a proper pub for people who want a proper drink.

This cheery, capacious and altogether likeable corner pub is a go-to in De Beauvoir town. The kitchen proves popular, but it’s more than likely that the garden at the foot of this pub is what draws in most punters. On Sundays, bloody marys made with peppery vodka join an otherwise straightforward drinks list.

On an unremarkable backstreet in the Hackney/Islington borders is an old pub with a story. An all-too-familiar story in the world of the urban boozer: developers submit planning application to demolish and replace with residential units. Luckily, the neighbourhood stepped in to save this local legend. Find brilliant beers, toasties and those locals who cherish it most. 

Dark furnishings, tall ceilings and lots of floor space set this pub apart from more traditional watering holes, and the huge beer list is similarly contemporary. Although it doesn’t feel chainy at all, it’s part of a small group that also includes The Earl of Essex and the Exmouth Arms, and they all guarantee a strong beer offer. Given that it’s metres from the dispiriting, traffic-clogged, chain-bar hell of Angel, it’s a great place to drink.

The Old Red Lion is most famous for the matchbox-sized fringe theatre that sits above it, staging no-budget productions of plays both old and (mostly) new. But the pub itself shouldn’t be overlooked: it’s not quite a world away from the boisterous boozers on Upper Street, but it’s certainly a welcome relief.

The Railway Tavern, on a residential street in the fringes of Islington, is essentially a local – but it’s to its credit that drinkers from locales further afield will travel to visit. The owners of the Pineapple in Kentish Town returned this pub to its original name and gave it a thoughtful, mid-century-style makeover, with a few bits of artful railway ephemera here and there. There's pizza and a quiz, but it’s the beer selection that’s most famous, though.

The Pig & Butcher is a handsome Barnsbury pub with muted greys, assorted bits of paraphernalia on shelves and huge windows. In honour of the pub’s intense name, meat is used in dishes such as home-cured bacon and black pudding salad with endive and orange; lamb shoulder with borlotti beans; or venison haunch with beetroot. And very good they are too. Craft beer is a speciality too – here it’s mainly in bottle, many from small producers, and including a notably good range of pale ales.

The Canonbury Tavern is a Young’s pub that as preened as you’d expect. It’s huge, a series of elegant rectilinear rooms, and the rear garden is equally enormous. It serves pub grub and, in the dining room, more ambitious dishes. If you’re used to Kernel and Weird Beard, you may find Young’s beer timid by comparison. But the scotch eggs served here are nothing short of a revelation.

A pub named after the gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson is kind of quirky – and the quirks continue indoors, with taxidermy climbing along the walls and some of London’s most batshit toilet facilities. This bar’s not a fiery tomb of magic, mystery, and myth, but a pleasant, comfortably furnished, dimly-lit neighbourhood drinking and dining spot in a restrained art deco style.