The Island Queen

Great pub! Good prices, local crowd, and good selection. Pretty much hidden within a residential area, but pretty busy and a good crowd.

A really lovely Victorian pub right on the canal in Angel. I came here with my group of housemates for our Christmas dinner and it was absolutely wonderful. We had to pay a deposit and preorder our food beforehand which actually worked really well. We were sat next to the Christmas tree which was lovely and the staff were very attentive. I wasn’t wild about the fact we still had to go up to the bar to get drinks though they were nice enough to offer table service for the drinks on two occasions. The food was delicious — I had a carrot soup which was really nice, and then the turkey, which was ever so slightly dry but still tasted great. I followed that with the lemon and coconut cheesecake which was very sweet but really nice. We had a great time and the staff were brilliant. The pub is reasonably small but very comfortable and would be a perfect place for a Sunday lunch!

Lovely, lovely local pub. Based in Islington, just by one of London’s prime waterways, Island Queen is a great starting or finishing point if you fancy a stroll along Regents Canal.
The pub credits itself with having some of the world’s best beers on tap, accredited real ales and a mixture of upstairs, downstairs and alfresco spaces to enjoy your tipple. All that said, one thing it excels at is its cosyness and local feel. Islington is not the biggest commercial centre, but many of the pubs on the high street can be filled with after work noisy drinkers. As this is a bit off the beaten track, it’s clientele was a small group of locals and those in the know.
The staff are also a selling point, good with the banter, smiley and relaxed in service style. This is the perfect place to enjoy your ale or opt for a glass from the decent wine selection.
On our visit, we decided to have some food as well. This is where the compliments end. At £14.50 for sirloin steak in a pub, you would have expected it to be less tough and fatty. The dish was served with fries, no greens or salad anywhere to be seen as a side, although on the menu it did reference watercress. It was a Monday when we visited and maybe food is not where their passion is with the great wet offering, but for a what is a fair amount of cashola, you do expect a little bit more. Even at restaurants which pride themselves firstly and foremost on selling steak as a feature item, you get similarly priced sirloin which tastes epic and is money well spent.
My advice is that it’s great for drinks and hanging with friends. However, be careful with the main food. Perhaps the small pates are a better options to soak up the booze. Looking at some of the tripadvisor reviews, it seems to be the general consensus that food is not the way to go :(.

Beautful, old victorian pub off the main drag of Islington. Dark woodwork, ornate mirrors and huge windows letting in lots of light.
This place has a very contented, easy-​going, relaxed vibe. It’s definitely somewhere you could lose track of time having a lazy catch-​up.
Bar staff are friendly. Will definitely visit again.

Been here many times for a pint, great staff great atmosphere. Decided to try out the Sunday roast. Had the beef which was a small overlooked and dry portion and not enough gravy to cover up it shortcomings. Veg was average and yorkie bland. On top of it waited for over 45 mins for food to be served. All in all great place for a drink but would never eat here again given all the options in islington area.

A love this pub for a quiet drink in the evening or afternoon with friends. It’s tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Upper street. I love it’s old worldly interior with high ceilings, mirrors, statues and vintage décor. It has a comfy local feel to it. A good range of draft beers and extremely helpful and friendly staff. Definitely somewhere I need to start frequenting more.

Stumbled upon this place during a Saturday afternoon pub trek with Hazel N… what a lovely oasis. Tucked far enough away from Angel to avoid pan handlers and wanna be hipsters, it looks like a great local spot. Totally chilled during the day, everyone seemed to be simply soaking in the comfort of a lazy afternoon. Excellent choice of beer and ales, complimented by friendly staff. Love the high ceilings and olde Victorian décor create an airy, lofty ambience.
I didn’t order any food but scanning the joint, the plates from other patrons looked mighty tasty. Looking forward to checking it out again.

Awesome Pims here and have a wonderful set of staff, so friendly. Sunday Roast was massive and very filling. A quieter pub because of its location but still recommended.

Local watering hole, really nice pub with friendly staff — beer and a burger deal for £9 on a Wednesday is excellent!

All I seem to do is review pubs recently… Huh.
Well, The Island Queen is right by my place, I think I’ve gone past it while out on a run but it’s never occurred to me to go in for a drink. My friend wanted a quiet bottle of wine somewhere late on a Wednesday night so we popped in. I really liked the ‘local’ vibe. Lots of comfy tables and places to just hang out with no wanky Islington types to bother you. I guess that’s the appeal of it being tucked away down these side streets.
It wasn’t busy but it was buzzing enough to be lively and quiet enough that we easily grabbed a table. The downside is that the bartender knew nothing about the wines on offer, argued a bit with us over that and then suggested a bottle that was actually terrible. The wine isn’t cheap either, so maybe just order by the glass.
The pub food on offer here seems pretty decent so I’m looking forward to trying it out as my future local! We ended up so late here that they had to boot us out!

A very nice pub tucked away in Angel. A had a few drinks here and I loved the décor… felt as if I was in someone’s old mahogany house. It’s clean and not very rowdy as most pubs tend to get. Would definitely come again!

Not sure if a 5 star or 4 star, but what the heck. I’m not eating here but I like the place as a pub and will be coming back. Cool lighting, decent beers on tap. On a pretty islington back street. What’s not to like? They have O2 wifi btw.

Visited here on a Bank Holiday Monday a few weeks ago when the nearby Narrow Boat was too full to offer us a table. A happy accident because this is a lovely pub for a spot of lunch. Great beer selection, high ceilings, comfy sofas and tasty good value food. Not sure what the punters are normally like but everybody was cool apart from one balding thirty something City type who pathetically tutted at my little Godson’s presence!

The Island Queen is a bit of a mixed bag.
Supposedly it’s the only pub in the UK with this name… which is fair enough because it’s a silly name for a pub.
They have a nice selection of beers and when I went (at least) it was easy to get served and the bar staff were very friendly.
It does have a curious layout though, it’s a big place but there isn’t really anywhere to sit. We ended up sitting on the kerb outside.
Anyway my main gripe is the clientele jeez it’s pretentious. There are Porches queued up along the road and everybody just seems to be that slightly too well off kind of trendy person. A bit Made in Chelsea.

A lovely pub in a quieter area of Angel. I’ve been a few times, the most recent being
for a quick drink on a Monday evening (no dry January for me!). I was expecting it to be pretty quiet at the beginning of the week, but actually its a really cool cosy pub with a great chilled atmosphere and declicious mulled cider…

This pub is hidden in a small street, few minutes away from the tube station, after a nice walk in the park and canal.
We loved the high ceiling with cosy atmosphere.
The choice of drinks is very good, and their Sunday roast is excellent!
It’s quite busy on the Sunday, so I’d advise booking.
Service is ok, some are friendly, some are a little bit less, but still efficient.

Great place, great deco, great drinks (OMG, the Belgian beer selection, is rarely seen in London pubs !), great crowd, great pub !
And the hilarious comedy nights make it a place you wanna come back to ;)

It is a pretty «vintage» looking pub in a quite street off the hub bub of Islington. Serves lots of non– standard beer on draft (yay!).
I nearly tore my ear off when my earring got stuck in my scarf. That was the highlight of that pub visit.
But I’m sure it would make a perfectly acceptable local.

Nice! Very historic building and beautiful glasswork. Nice selection of beer — comfy place to talk.

I remember this pub from years back when I was a student (ie a long time ago). It was quirky and had slighty macabre giant old marionettes hanging from the ceiling and I think there was some red paint involved in the décor… It was quirky and good and just weird enough.
Things have moved on, of course. The marionettes have been done away with, maybe a victim of health and safety rules or gastrofication, or an attempt to attract a different clientele perhaps.
The pub is a bit plainer now but still a bit funky with the central semi circular bar and quite small inside and does food (others have reviewed). There’s a room upstairs too since it gets crowded but the room wasn’t an inviting pub space to hang out in.
Overall nice enough but didn’t have anything special to want me to make it a regular of mine.