The Southampton Arms up in Gospel Oak is easily one of the best pubs in the city. Possibly even top 10 territory.
Big claim, we know, especially in a city of roughly 3.5k pubs, but the fact is that it’s a strictly independent pub that serves beer & cider from strictly independent breweries, which makes it strictly better than most. So it’s very good news that it’s about to get a sibling, The Pocket.
This new space will be up in Islington, on Canonbury Lane, where it will sit a very literal stone’s throw away from The Compton Arms, AKA the competition. What will set it apart? Well, it’s going to have the same ethos of militant independence, and a devotion to finding interesting and delicious new beers & ciders to run through the taps, without going into weird-for-the-sake-of-it territory.
One of the great things about the Southampton Arms is that it’s a pub run like all pubs were not too long ago. It’s got an open fire, no wifi, no bookings, a small piano in the corner (from where they have live music a couple of times a week), plenty of meat & cheese, and even a pub cat. Classic in every sense of the word.
In the Pocket, we can expect much of the same, including a confirmed ivories, and some scattered decks of cards and boxes of dominoes for those who fancy it. And importantly, there’s going to be a hot pie counter slinging pub classic for beer-ballast.
No word on the cat, though.
NOTE: The Pocket is set to open sometime in March or early April. We’ll be back then with the full scoop. In the meantime, you can keep an eye on their Insta page.
The Pocket | 25 Canonbury Lane, Islington, N1 2AS
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