The Island Queen — Restaurant in London

This is an attractive pub and the staff were very nice BUT the food ... woeful. Three of us had a meal there last night. The fish and chips were fine but the 'peas' that came with looked like they'd come out of someone's nose, terrible. My son's burger had patties that neither looked nor tasted of any recognisable meat. Whatever they were was the cheapest of low quality ingredients. My wife ordered the chicken schnitzel and it was a limp inedible lump. She sent it back and it was replaced by a similarly inedible chicken burger with half the ingredients missing - I'm guessing the 'chef' was annoyed at having to try again. What are you supposed to do when you're hungry, send two dishes back ?? £53 down and very annoyed, I told a member of staff the food was rubbish and he apologised but it's too late then isn't it ? You know you aren't getting your money back and you just want to go home and eat something you trust will be decent. Eating out is supposed to be a treat, not an irritating rip off. Sack your cook and buy better ingredients.

Thanks for getting back to me. It's nice to know that one is being observed at all times on CCTV. The other two people in our party were happy with their meals, they were fortunate in their choices and paid separately. My son ate approximately half of his burger because he was brought up not to be a picky eater and didn't want to complain, I notice you don't address the quality of the ingredients. I understand you were quite disbelieving when my wife said her meal was not good. Saying the food 'wasn't to her taste' is a good way of taking no responsibility for any failings on your part. The peas would have not been to the taste of anyone with taste buds. I notice also in your response to others' less than favourable reviews little in the way of apology or wishing to improve anything. I suggest that after serving food you check in with your diners to see if it is OK, as many pubs and restaurants do as a matter of course. You may wish to portray us as difficult complainers, you are wrong. If we didn't kick up more of a stink at the time it's because we didn't want to spoil our evening more than you...

Sometimes the best things are right under your nose or rather a short walk from the tube and a couple of right turns. When mentioning The Island Queen we’re greeted with either an overwhelming pub-gushing or a complete blank face. For those who haven’t visited, there’s a treat in store. Nestled on a residential street, not far from Angel tube and just up from the Islington tunnel canal turn off, The Island Queen is here to serve her country.

This local boozer, run by Antonia and her dedicated staff, is oozing an old empire, cosy shipwrecked style. The high ceiling, glass frontage and beautiful large wall mirrors, hand painted with tropical foliage scenes, create a welcoming and eclectic atmosphere with an old gin palace feel. Add to that the bookshelves, bird cages, open fire and statue of the queen herself – this establishment is doing its unique pub name status proud.

They’ve recently relaunched their food menu, with a focus on seasonal fresh ingredients, (we can confirm the homemade burger is a treat) with plenty of options for meat eaters and veggies alike. There’s a range of beers and ales with gusto including Sierra Nevada, Fruli, Leffe, Doom Bar and a huge wine list that steers their Monday night Wine Club event (quiz on Tuesdays if you fancy stretching the grey matter). They have a little something for everyone, with a room upstairs for hire and outside drinking for warmer times, however the mulled wine maybe a better option during these nippy months.

A pub brimming with this much character you’ll be expected to share your drinking space with a mix of locals, destinational East Londoners and post-work drinkers during the week, with larger crowds at weekends – all looking for a decent drink with a hearty atmosphere. If you want an Islington boozer at its best, head down The Island Queen, after all it’s only a short walk and couple of...

From beginning to end, it was a shambles. Making the booking was difficult - I waited a week after requesting the booking for Christmas set menu, but no one responded to confirm my booking. Once chased up, I was then sent a deposit request for £100 when it should have been £20. The set menu was pre-ordered, though upon our arrival it seemed as though they had no idea we were even there for food. After an hour I queried the status of our meal and after some fumbling about they then confirmed it would be with us asap. It seemed as though the staff offered crackers to other tables with Xmas meal bookings; this wasn't the case for us. The member of staff serving us made awkward and inappropriate jokes which made us feel uncomfortable (not the best person to be waiting tables - probably best to just stay behind the bar?). The food was alright, nothing special. Items such as the camembert and profiteroles weren't as nice as they sounded on the menu. The crumble dessert that came out was raw with the lumpiest custard, but was rectified when flagged. We then proceeded to pay and found that the bill was too high. When checking the itemised bill we found that there was an extra meal on there we hadn't ordered (apparently a staff member's meal). When flagging this was incorrect, they lost our order completely and had to run through everything again. We couldn't wait to leave. Huge shame as it's a very nice looking pub, but the staff made us feel like we were in a scene from...