The Faltering Fullback

Probably the best pub I've been in London. The multilevel garden is amazing, feels like you are far out from the noisy, stressful London. It is definitely worth it to take the tube to (the relatively ugly) Finsbury Park!!

good

Since the awful smoking ban came in, "enjoying a pub" has completely changed for me. If I am indoors, I spend most of my time thinking about my next trip outside and if I am with companions, either I see very little of them or, if we go outside together, we risk losing our seat. If we are both smokers and take turns going outside, we never see one another.

The Faltering Fulback is the best pub in London, in my opinion, for smokers and their companions. The garden is built on five levels, like a huge Escher building, with mad steps going up and down interlinking the various levels. The outside seating area, much of which is covered in case of poor weather, is charming, and because of added items of furniture such as bookcases, paintings and mirrors, those non-smokers who resent it when smokers insist on getting a table outside will not feel that they are missing out on the pub atmosphere, as the outdoors atmosphere in this pub is second to none. Comfortable, and at night-time buzzing with people.

Sports fans can enjoy a good atmosphere also -- a great place to watch major sporting events such as the World or European cup is guaranteed to bring in large crowds from the surrounding multicultural population. I couldn't recommend this amazing pub highly enough.

 

Amazing pub. Amazing house red wine (great measures!) and amazing beer garden. Does get busy but only adds to the atmosphere. Oh, and again, the beer garden is AMAZING!

Good pub, definitely worth a visit for the beer garden. Only minuses are the dingyness of the pub itself and a limited selection of ales (though they did have london pride)

The Fullback in Finsbury Park is a great pub, which is great for a casual drink.

The place is split into three areas:

Main Bar: This feels like a fairly normal pub, just a bit darker and has loads of random stuff hanging on the ceiling. A selection of tables, chairs and booths.

'Sin Bin:' This is a large-ish open room/hall with outdoor furniture inside and a TV screen which shows sport and a jukebox.

Outside: This is the hidden gem of this place, which has made what was a small beer garden into one of the best beer gardens in North London, which has been built up with the use of some very well designed decking.

The only bad thing about this place is that the toliets are not very nice and could do with a refresh and a clean.

A real North London gem. The perfect summer pub, loads of outdoor space, hidden nooks and crannies - perfect for romantic rendezvouses (is that even a word?) or for meeting up with the girls/boys. On the down side when it's cold and wet outside the Fullback is often heaving inside... And the Thai food is a bit blah.

Graet pub with awesome external beer garden multilevel

A nice pub! In Finsbury Park!

Ashamed that it's taken me two years' living in Haringey to encounter it, but the outside area is great on a sunny evening/afternoon.

Wooden decking and stairs make it look a little higgledy-piggledy, but it's got a unique charm compared to other pubs in the area. Secluded tables and larger areas for groups abound.

Fabulous gardening here! A bit out of the way, but pub quiz is good here, and there's a big beer garden / hall in the back where you can get Thai food. Nothing extraordinary about the beers and ales on tap, but then again, you don't always need your pub to be extraordinary. Just plain nice is ok by me.

Very good pub - it has three rooms that are like stepping into different worlds.

At the front is the main bar and old man type pub bit.

Walk out the back to a tall large room housing a pool table, Sky Sports and benches. Feels like a common room.

Walk outside and its like being in Thailand - decking, wood benches and heaters; perfect for the summer, and comfortable enough to use in the winter as an overspill...

Oh yes, and there is a kitchen serving Thai food - pretty good service, not bad food, pretty well priced

Best pub I know of in North London by a stretch

Not sure if this is the best pub in North London, but it is certainly the best pub by a country mile in Finsbury Park (or Crouch End / Holloway). Really friendly place with a nice bar, decent selection of drinks, and a large airy function room out the back. Looks a bit shabby from the outside, but don't let that put you off!

Best pub in North London by a long mile, you just can't beat the atmosphere, the mix of people, the regular music quizzes hosted by the Moshi Moshi boys and the curiosities hanging for every wall.

It looks a little overgrown from the outside but this merely adds to the charm.

There serve Leffe on tap which is a winner if not slightly lethal beer and twiglets, what more do you need on a cold winter or summer's night.

Super friendly pub with the most imaginative use of space you could probably see. The Fullback apparently used to just have a couple of tables in a small courtyard at the back, but come the smoking ban decided to look after the nicotine addicts and build them their own wooden refuge. The garden is on about five tiers with tables and benches all built into the walls and floors.

Inside the pub isn’t without its charm too - the main bar is cosy and happy, the canteen area outside the kitchen is loud and fun (particularly good when the Arsenal are playing). Staff are awesome - you can get served within seconds of walking in, even when the air is thick with people. They serve a load of lagers (didn’t notice the other beer options I’m afraid - update to come) and what appear to be local wines - didn’t get to try as I only caught sight on the way out - a couple named “Seven Sisters” drew my eye to the blackboard. Another thing to check back on.

Full marks for friendliness - everyone there up for a chat and good banter. Well done, Finsbury Park, I think you’ve ensnared me.

This is a warren of different areas, but by far the best bit is their solution to the smoking ban. Out the back there are high levels of decking, hard to describe, has to be seen really.

Possibly the friendliest pub in London. I went in there for the first time a week after arriving back in London and ended up meeting random people who are still my freinds 18 months later.
Its a real local but in a rambling wander about and chat to different people kind of way.
The Thai food is good and really cheap too.
I love the Fullback!

Cor wow you gotta love London. So many hidden gems. I don’t agree with the general opinion that Finsbury Park is a hole, not no longer anyway- I’ve developed something of a soft spot for it over the last year. Walk West from Finsbury Park up Stroud Green road passed all the hair product shops and take a right. Enjoy looking through the windows of all the Victorian terraced houses and just like that, out of the middle of nowhere, up pops the Fullback. Weekend nights is jammed packed, I was following instructions to go find my girl who was there playing pool. First step through the door took me into a tiny horse shoe shaped bar and I assumed I must be in the wrong place… where on earth would they fit a pool table?? Tardis, that’s what the Fullback is. One room peels off another off another until you come out into a hall dedicated to the art of beer swilling. Garden picnic tables furnish the room with pool table to the left. Outside there is the most charming series of little terraces- they have made something out of nothing here, clearly thinking if we can’t go outwards, we shall go skywards. It’s just so cool. Probably my favourite pub in all on North London at the moment… and what a cool name right?

One of those great local pubs that you wouldn’t find unless you were looking for it. But it’s worth seeking out. The front room is small and cosy, the back room big and studenty (think picnic tables and you won’t go far wrong).

But it has a fine selection of good booze, Thai food practically on tap, and a great pub quiz on a Monday night. If you’re a smoker then the Ewok treehouse is for you. A gem.

The 'Fullback' as it's known locally is a great traditional english pub. It has a really friendly atmosphere and is separated into 2 very differently decorated rooms. The front room is dimly lit, and really cosy, this too has been split into 2 areas and has a really warm ambience.

The back room has more of a 'younger vibe', brightly lit with a funkier feel to it. Complete with quiz machine, jukebox and a pool table. The music is at the right volume and if you fancy a bit of quiet you can pop out into the beautiful hidden roof terrace.

The rear of the pub is the beer garden/roof terrace which has it's own bar. there is the floor level and around it is a rooftop terrace, dimly lit and really chilled. It is in a square shape so you can walk up one side of the stairs and do a full circuit and come back down the other side and back into the back room of the pub. It also has split levels at the top and some hidden areas.