The Archway Tavern — Restaurant in London

What a disappointment. This isn't at all the pub I came to love less than a year ago. For context, before I lived in Archway I used to visit this place once a month for over a year. It was the closest pub to the Premier Inn where I would stay. I loved that it was always the same faces behind the bar and I even became friendly with some of the regulars. It was a warm, welcoming environment. Great beer, poured professionally. The atmosphere was also great. I loved their Monday night live music. I can't lie. Apart from the fact they didn't do food, this was genuinely my favourite pub in London and one of the reasons I was so happy to move to Archway. But in the months since living here, I've been to the tavern a handful of times and every experience has been awful. For two weeks I came and there was no beer on tap, and one time there was not even any wine. I was told by the stressed staff to come back on Wednesday or Thursday if I wanted the full selection. So I did, but we came on the night of the quiz. It was aggressively invasive for those of us not competing and too miserable outside to escape the noise. We finished our poorly poured beers and left. A week later I returned to be served by the same man who was hosting the quiz. He poured me another bad beer. Absolutely no idea. Where did all the staff who knew how to pour beer go? I don't recognise any of these faces. The last time I came I waited almost 10 minutes at an empty bar to be served. Finally, another staff member who I had never seen before came out. No apology. No character of warmth. Again, a terrible pour. This place has become miserable. I can't think of any reason to come back now. Thank God there are other pubs...

I’ve just visited the Archway Tavern and left quite disappointed due to the lack of pricing clarity.

My first round was £13.30 for a pint of Estrella and a pint of Camden Hells – not unusual for London prices, so I didn’t question it. However, my friend went up for the second round and ordered a pint of Estrella and a half pint of Camden Hells – yet the price stayed exactly the same: £13.30.

That doesn’t add up. A half pint should obviously cost less, and yet we were charged the same as for two full pints. It really felt like we were being overcharged, or at least that something wasn’t right.

To make matters worse, there was no visible drinks menu or price list at the bar, so we couldn’t check prices in advance. That’s not acceptable – especially with prices this high, customers should be able to see what they’re paying for.

Very disappointed overall – this experience felt misleading and unfair.

Update: Following my review, the management responded and invited me back. Just to clarify – there wasn’t a misunderstanding at the bar. When my friend queried why a half pint was charged the same as a full pint, the staff confirmed that was the price.

I did return, and as promised, I was reimbursed for what I’d overpaid. They also kindly offered me extra drinks, but since my concern was only about fairness, I accepted just the reimbursement (in the form of one half pint). To underline that I wasn’t looking for freebies, I actually gave that drink away to the person next to me.

I appreciate that the management honoured their word, and while this experience left me cautious, I may consider visiting again...

I reached out to lea from events to book the function room for my sons christening after party, I informed them of the numbers of guests and time of event. I was also asked how many children would be attending because i had mentioned that children would ofcorse be there since its a family event. I was previously told by one of the bar staff that it is a family friendly venue and they have a licence for children. I was then told by lea we could go ahead with the booking and sent me bank details for taking the deposit (100% of the minimum spend). When I arrived at the pub to see the space and discuss logisitics I received an email saying that they now have a over 25s policy which is an absurd "policy" when i read the email outloud the general manager looked confused and told me we have had childrens christenings in the past. I was told I'd be contacted as soon as possible once they had discussed it to see if they could make an exception. This didn't happen so I went back to the pub to query about it, I was told that the children were and issue and they didn't want to deal with it so they would no longer be willing to accommodate my booking. If your looking to book a family friendly event I...