Best Islington Bars

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Havana good time: Islington's lively Cuba Libre is a firm favourite

New to the street: Albert & Pearl

In the heart of it: Elk In the Woods

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• Islington Academy clubbing
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Do you remember Upper Street a decade ago? Buzzing with cool bars and awash with hip young things, it was a pulsating party vein running the length of Islington, one of the capital's best spots for a night of drinking and dancing. Then, as is often the way, the little funky dens were replaced by faceless chain bars filled with hen parties and lager louts.

Happily, after a few years on its uppers, Upper Street is fighting back. A rash of glamorous, independent new joints such as Albert & Pearl and the Grand Union have brought cocktails and cool back to N1. Best of all, Martha Lane Fox has given it her seal of approval by bequeathing it a north London outpost of her slick karaoke venue Lucky Box, which opened a few weeks ago. This is the new Upper Street and we're singing its praises.

1. ALBERT & PEARL
One of of Upper Street's newest and most glamorous drinking dens. A suave little bolthole that took over from the ailing Medicine Bar in June, it's done its bit for N1 drinking by tarting up this venue with antique furniture, an excellent food menu and a crowd of good-looking types. It's from the clever lot behind The Paradise, The Old Queen's Head and The Westbury - and they know their onions.
181 Upper Street, N1 (020 7354 9993, albertandpearl.com), Sun-Wed noonmidnight, Thu noon-1am, Fri & Sat noon-3am. Beer £3.20 a pint, glass of wine £5

2. LUCKY VOICE
It's so new, the paintwork has barely dried in Martha Lane Fox's latest karaoke joint. You book a private room for up to 15 people (£20 to £155) and then murder Abba or Kylie classics in front of your friends. A box of wigs and props is provided for added shame.
173-174 Upper Street, N1 (020 7354 6280, luckyvoice.com), Sun-Thu 3pm-midnight, Fri & Sat 3pm-2am. Beer £3.80 a bottle, glass of wine £4.80

3.GRAND UNION
GU IS a great bar with equally great burgers. It's an ultra-trendy drinking palace where people come just to chat, dance and hang out - but where you can also get some top scran to fuel you for the night ahead. The benches are clad in leather (and so are the punters sometimes), while the ceilings are high in this Listed building where the vintage feel is nicely helped along by having the original bar still in place. The 3.30am licence at weekends means the drinking and dancing keeps going as long as you can.
153 Upper Street, N1 (020 7226 1375, grandunioncamden.co.uk), Mon-Wed 4.30pm-midnight, Thu noon-1am, Fri & Sat 12.30pm-3.30am, Sun noon-10.30pm. Beer £3.20 a bottle, glass of wine £4.75

4. CUBA LIBRE
Other bars have fallen by the wayside, but the mighty Cuban cocktail joint lives on. Its got a Latin atmosphere - ie, it gets a bit lively - helped along by seemingly endless happy hours (the offical ones are 5-8pm Monday to Friday, and noon to 8pm Saturdays and Sundays) when two cocktails are yours for just £8.50. The Cuban cuisine is delicious (making it a bit inauthentic - it's inedible in Cuba itself) and the papier-m‚ché models of Che Guevara, Khrushchev and Castro playing cards lend the ever-popular venue a very novel tone.
72 Upper Street (020 7354 9998, cubalibrelondon.co.uk) Mon-Thu 11am-11pm, Fri, Sat 11am-2am, Sun 11am-10.30pm. Beer £3.25 a bottle, glass of wine £3.75

5. OLD QUEEN'S HEAD
The Old Queen's Head was the bar that got Islington back on the road to being cool again. Essex Road, and the wannabe bars that have sprung up along it, should watch and learn. With a music policy that would be the envy of many a superclub (James Lavelle DJs here tomorrow night and CSS, Freestylers and others too numerous to mention have graced the decks), it mixes great roasts and comfy leather sofas with live bands and a proper party crowd any night of the week.
44 Essex Road, N1 (020 7354 9993, theoldqueenshead.com), Sun-Wed noon-midnight, Thu noon-1am, Fri & Sat noon-2am. Beer £3.10 a bottle, glass of wine £4.60

6. THE ELK IN THE WOODS
The elk's head on the wall presides over a bar rather like the beast himself - sturdy, masculine, proud and let's admit it, somewhat superior. The venue is not in any way pretentious or exclusive though and the wooden tables and mouthwatering menu make for a crowd of very satisfied customers. Plus, the glittering collection of mirrors all over the walls lend The Elk In The Woods a place in the heart of N1's most notorious narcissists.
39 Camden Passage, N1 (020 7226 3535, the-elk-in-the-woods.co.uk) Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 10.30am-11pm. Beer £3.80 a pint, glass of wine £4.60

 

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