This is without doubt the worst pub in London! It has all the makings of a great pub - it's a nice looking building, beautifully decorated with lovely outside space but beware for this is a wolf in sheep's clothing! The staff are miserable and rude and tried to charge us a 12% service charge on a bowl of chips which we went to the bar to order - the bar man was so rude when we refused to pay it he called the manager out! If you're looking for an exceedingly mediocre experience - this is the place for you!

The steak costs £18 (sic), and is comparable to a small Sainsbury's rump steak chucked in a frying pan. I know there's a recesssion coming, but they might want to consider cutting their prices as well as their costs...The staff are very unwelcoming as well.

I booked The Albion for my partner's 30th birthday and it turned out to be a brilliant night. I left it until the last minute, calling them a week before the big event, and was surprised when they agreed to squeeze in 12 people for an early evening dinner.
It was bustling with people by 6pm when we turned up, but they'd come up trumps and reserved us a big table right in the midst of the atmosphere. I booked the meal for 6.30pm, and was originally told we had to get our orders in by 6.45pm, from a limited menu. So i was a bit anxious by the time the whole gang arrived around half an hour late! But the staff were really relaxed about the whole thing, happy to take several rounds of drink orders until everyone turned up.
Turned out we were able to choose from the whole menu, and the food was gorgeous. Especially the choc pudding! The staff were all really friendly and on-hand for drinks orders (of which there were many).
I was also under the impression other people had booked our table and we had a set time to eat, but this wasn't the case. We were having such a laugh we stayed in the pub until closing time and our grand plans for a pub crawl were thwarted.
Really good night and would def go back.

An absolute must for anyone looking for a down-to-earth traditional pub. Great to go to for an after work drink, or evening catch-up, and equally as accommodating for a family meal out. The food is exquisite, and most definitely sizeable, i'm yet to make it through a whole three courses! Despite all this, it doesn't break the bank, meals are about £12-£15 for mains and drinks are very decently priced considering the area. All in all, excellent service, very friendly and accommodating staff and food value, ticks all the boxes!

Nice interior but overpriced and, if you don't look like the the usual, upper class, Islington crowd, expect to be served last and the service to be minimal. They even had the nerve to charge gratuity on my bill! Never again!!!

The food is okay if overpriced, and the location guarantees almost a captive clientele but goodness me, they are easily pleased.
I can't call the staff rude as they aren't interested enough to be rude.



We gave it over an hour after order-taking before raising a query. Only the intervention of the maitre d' led to the arrival of part of our meal minus vegatables and trimmings, and minus the coffee we ordered.



I am always reluctant to blame the lower level staff but in this case, having had so much time to look around at most of the waiters and waitresses, this place would benefit from getting rid of most of them.

what a fantastic transformation!
All I'd say is go and have a look for yourself although a part of me would like to keep The Albion as a special secret. We went this weekend and had the best time. It was incredibly busy and all the staff were still so friendly (a rarity in london pubs!). The management we saw were obviously doing something right and where nothing but positive - like I said a fantastic pub!

The Albion has been crying out for a good makeover for years. I've been coming here on and off for 9 years and it's got to have one of the nicest positions in the area, but was always let down by bad food and very average decor.



The new interior revamp is an improvement although it hasn't left much of a pub atmosphere. However, there's a big improvement in the garden and at last what looks like good food - if I'd got to try any!



Our problem was that we turned up to find our reservation had been lost, and even if they had remembered to reserve us a table they had already sold out of food! Not great, as we were hungry and had dragged two friends across London for lunch. This was one of The Albion's first weekends and mistakes happen, that's understandable, but what wasn't acceptable was the lousy response I received from one of the managers on duty, especially for somewhere that's trying to pitch itself as up market.



When I approached the manager in question to explain our frustration he came across with a generally uninterested attitude, giving no apology and questioning whether we had really made the reservation. This left me feeling far angrier than finding out we weren't having any food for lunch!



A simple apology, followed by the offer of a drink or some bread to tide us over would have worked wonders. The other manager we approached later did do this and the rest of the staff seemed very nice.



All in all, a big improvement was let down by one unprofessional manager and a couple of teething problems.

The Albion was a great find for us this weekend. Apparently it's been refurbushed which might be why I can't understand some of the previous reviews. I found it to be delightful.


The food was excellent, the beer great, the staff friendly and above all else it was so comfortable to be in or out - the garden looks amazing. I will be back soon and I'm sure many others will be too - The Albion is fantastic.

The Albion is fantastic and refurbished. Ignore all reviews posted pre Jan 2007, this place has been taken over by great new owners and is being managed by a couple, who really know how to run a pub. The food and atmosphere are superb now the renovation is complete. Get in The Albion soon before everyone finds this gem.

The smell of paint always makes me nervous when entering a place. But I had no need to worry. It seems like finally The Albion has people running it who can see it's potential, as a great looking refit is matched by great food.


We went for the rib of beef to share, which was a Desperate Dan size piece of meat. The Albion is highly recommended.

To say The Albion sucks is an understatement. Eight of us went for a special Christmas lunch. There was no turkey on the menu for starters, and six of us had to send our lunches back as they were stone cold. Then they were miffed that we asked them to reheat them. The food was so overpriced I could cry. £16.00 for one potato, one pice of brocolli, a bit of beef and a Yorkshire pudding.


It was truly awful. Let's hope the Albion management changes quickly. It was utterly terrible. Don't go here - it really was the worst food I have ever had the displeasure of tasting. They finally offered us a free drink - I wish it had been arsenic.

The Albion is smelly, big time. I think it smells of cats piss. Don't waste your time in The Albion.

The Albion's garden is gorgeous - if the weather is less than sunny, better to go somewhere else.