your comments review Sir Richard Steele and win a bottle of champagne
Love it! Yes it's weird, strange and colourful people; some of them do strange things… But this is a real pub with real people. The food is great and cheap. The Live music is excellent
You love it or hate it.
Fabrice - Friday, July 06, 2007
Bizarre place - sort of trendy, kind of cool, amazing stuff on the walls and a late licence - all good. However seeing someone snort coke off their hand on the table next to us was slightly worrying. Not sure i'll be rushing back...
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Been here a few times and always had a great time. Food is fab. However on our last visit the hostility of some of the bar staff was unbelievable; rude and arrogant to put it mildly. I wont be returning.
Friday, February 09, 2007
The scummiest pub I have been into more than once. Frequented by 'colourful' locals full of racism and bigotry and with a not-so-subtle undertone of violence.
Shame, because the upstairs is pleasant and tranquil, the Thai food is great and the quiz is fun - if a little tricky, and invariably won by the aforementioned locals.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
this is a brilliant pub, to chill in big groups, listen to good music and celebrity spot
Sarah - Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Several things need to be done to make this pub great again. 1) Bar the drug dealers (I've heard this has happened but I've not been back since). 2) Clean it. 3) Serve some better beer (I think Castlemaine XXXX was on tap last time!!!). 4) Get the live music back.
Then it would be great again.
Report this for removal bunglebear - 1 Jun 2007 14:57
Great pun TS77 - "a sea of urine" being "somewhat passe". Or did you just misspell the last word?
Report this for removal anonymous - 22 May 2007 10:18
Interesting interior and clientele though the sea of urine in the Gentlemen's toilets is somewhat passe. Anybody who enjoys this kind of faux-jollity is highly advised to investigate any public house on the island of Ireland for the real thing.
Report this for removal TS77 - 22 May 2007 09:25
Very gorgeous interiors and interesting drinkers, some gorgeous and some thug elements. Beers only so-so. Dirty.
Report this for removal seasiderMM - 8 May 2007 22:30
I had used the Steeles garden quite a few times before, but had not actually sat inside the pub for a drink until Saturday evening. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that if you move away from the toilet side of the pub the clientele turn into normal pub going people.
I was always served promptly with nice pints of Stella by one of the hoardes of staff members behind the jump.
There was a queue for the one trap in the men’s every time I went to the toilet and there were a few tits flexing there wallets and talking at each other as sound doesn’t travel through the vacuum between their ears!
I would go back if I was in the area.
Report this for removal Strongers - 1 May 2007 07:52
The comments about the cokeheads may have had something to them, never noticed much thuggery in there - but a bit. Anyway, the pub has now been bought and is apparently shortly due to go gastro, which will be a loss to an area which now has a lack of old fashioned boozers.
Report this for removal anonymous - 12 Feb 2007 13:43
1st time vistor lastnight. Good music, nice atmosphere and reasonable drinks. Not to full of arseholes either - although we could have just been lucky. Maybe they all go in the Hill over the road?
Report this for removal jobytc - 4 Feb 2007 14:14
Made only one visit, but very impressed. Superb place with great atmosphere (early evening). The ale is mediocre, but no worse than normal for London. No experience of thuggery or coke-heads. HBC's experiences are interesting, but the pub was here before she was. Maybe a flat above a Brittany bakery would be just right for those not-fancying-London moments.
Report this for removal northernsky - 26 Jan 2007 22:53
Not as good as it used to be. Too many thugs and Coke sniffing. They're not allowed to show the world cup because of past football related fights. Go to Camden and party with the kids!
Report this for removal DrunkGeorge - 16 Jun 2006 13:38
HELENA BONHAM CARTER has made inquiries about buying her local boozer - to stop any latenight noise.
The 40-year-old actress is one of 27 North London residents who have objected about the Sir Richard Steele pub applying to open until midnight.
A pal said: "She and her husband are desperate for peace and quiet and buying the pub would be one way to make sure they get it."
Report this for removal anonymous - 4 Jun 2006 09:30
Its pretty hard to find a better atmosphere than the Steeles: one thing that it really needs though, is a massive improvement in its beer !
I know i cant expect all my regular haunts to have exceptional standards of Ale, though the SRS lacks big time, catering mainly for the "Stella" crowd . The IPA is often off, albeit dirt cheap. The Pride is not much better, as is the Abbots. What the manager should do (apart from cleaning the pipes) is to take a look up at the Washington, get a couple of guests on and then SRS will be pretty hard to beat. Scenery, service and punters alike, combine to make this a good evening out. Not for camra purists though.
Report this for removal darloexile - 19 Feb 2006 13:04
I used to love this place, unique character with all the littel alcoves, fires and books. Closing time was a loose concept, and they even let you eat Chinese takeways brought in from the place next door. So was disapointed with it somehow when I returned recently, terrible terrible pint, and seemed to have lost something. But still worth a visit.
Report this for removal OldRogue - 5 Jan 2006 12:15
A really quirky pub. Well worth a visit just to see the incredible interior. Plenty has already been said about the tiolets. Alwasys good fun - especially when the regulars are on a bender.
Report this for removal gjs34 - 31 Oct 2005 10:28
A great pub. One of the few remaining that hasn't suffered insipid modernisation.
Great atmosphere, live music, superb food (Thai - try the thin egg noodle soup with chicken)), decent selection of drinks (Magners!!), genuinely friendly and interesting people, plenty of room, beer garden, open late, etc.
The only downside is the toilets which are certainly basic.
However, overall it's a belter of a pub and anyone who doesn't like this sort of pub undoubtedly likes the All Bar One chain and probably reads the Daily Mail.
Report this for removal Dylarolla - 14 Oct 2005 11:53
live music, thai food, great beers, fantastic athmosphere, friendly staff. The gents is crap, apart from that is the best pub in London.
Report this for removal anonymous - 30 Sep 2005 12:01
A great pub. Unless you end up drinking at close proximity to the toilets which, quite frankly, stink.
ron_devous - 14 May 2005 14:18
Ten years ago this had a bohemian, shabby-genteel atmosphere - now it just seems shabby. Last time I went it was full of Hogarthian 'characters' pestering the young lady I was with, when I protested I was threatened with violence which fortunately didn't happen because the intended protagonist was too drunk to stay upright. If you want something a bit grittier than the generic trendy trainers 'n' DJ type pub, this is for you...
Report this for removal Hugh1971 - 25 Apr 2005 09:55
This place is indeed legendary...I went there on New Year's Eve and there was a man dressed as a chicken, a man dressed as the grim reaper, and a catfight between a 16 and a 60 year old. I defy you to come away without an anecdote!
Report this for removal anonymous - 18 Apr 2005 17:22
There's a bar manager for the upstairs now. It's open from 6 in the evening.
Report this for removal Yeldnih - 13 Apr 2005 13:51
If loud music, z-list celebs, iffy beer, toilets from the dark age are your thing - then try out the Old Steeles. One of the few pubs in the area that tries to maintain a proper drinkers pub feel in area of excessive up ones arsieness, and the decor is second to none. Recently they did out the upstairs with sofas and big tables - only downside you have to go downstairs to get a beer.
Report this for removal darloexile - 1 Apr 2005 14:02
It's a fantastic pub - a real one-off. I've been drinking there for longer than I care to remember and always take visitors to London there as an antidote to all those samey blonde wood pubs that have sprung up everywhere!
The food's pretty decent too.
Report this for removal Yeldnih - 3 Feb 2005 13:22
I stumbled into this pub during a crawl which started at the heights of Hampstead working my way down to Camden. This place is a gem. Lots of little nooks and crannies to indulge your anonymity whilst surveying the various touches of art (mock Baroque ceiling mural)and enjoying the reasonable choice of real ale. There is a beer garden that extends to the high street. I found the locals and staff amiable: but then, I was well behaved.
Report this for removal zaparoski - 4 Jan 2005 08:03
A local pub for local people. Regulars can get away with spectacularly debauched behaviour, non regulars cannot. Good fun to sit back and take it all in though - if a little scarey at times. Chris Evans rumoured to be buying it. A few C List celebs frequent the place. Bar staff are good. A very cosy, atmospheric pub if the regulars aren't on a bender. I love it and Evans had better not change a thing! Oh, the gents loo is horrible.
Report this for removal Micky A - 10 Nov 2004 15:40
A marvellous pub that's full of character and characters. It's worth going on a Sunday to watch the proper drinkers sway (and occasionally collapse) in time to the excellent folk bands that play here.
Generally very friendly although trouble does occasionally surface between regular acquaintances - nothing to worry about though. Good real ales and a selection of other options at reasonable prices. Eccentric painting and random objects hanging off every vertical surface keep provide constant talking points.
A real drinkers pub with proper regulars, so don't walk around like you own the place....unless you do.
Report this for removal Chris P. - 1 Sep 2004 13:42
Yeah, a nice pub with so much tat on the walls that it makes the nearby Enterprise look like the Wine Bar. Flowers is the ale on offer here, and it tastes like Flowers too, which is nothing to write home about.
They've been doing some sort of Oriental BBQ so far this summer in their standard London-type concreted beer "garden".
Report this for removal travis - 31 Aug 2004 15:55
Fantastic, grimy, characterful pub - one of the best in London and certainly the best in the area. Not for the white-wine spritzer crowd though - which is a Good Thing. They used to turn all the lights off at 'time' and you just have to find your way out...can be fun.
Report this for removal moomina - 29 Aug 2004 17:07
Go here every weekend, and I think it's fantastic.
Laid back atmosphere, with friendly staff and great decorations. Reasonably priced spirits, and regular live music, as well as a warm fire in winters and a good beer garden for the summer means this is a great pub all year round.
Report this for removal Monty - 3 Aug 2004 17:30
I'm in complete agreement with frankie five - the apocalytic pseudo-Blakean painting in the back room alone is worth getting swindled at the bar (not that's ever happened to me). I'd rate it 8, but I'm too lazy to register. As an American, I'm not sure how much my opinion should count anyway.
Report this for removal Jim - 14 Jun 2004 19:57
Good lively pub - fantastic back rooms full of paintings, stained glass window, dark corners. Beer could be better but the larger's fine. Really atmospheric place definately worth a visit.
Report this for removal steve - 7 May 2004 16:26
This pub certainly has 'character' but watch your bag - mine got nicked and the barmaid told me that at least 15 get stolen from here each week!
Report this for removal anonymous - 10 Feb 2004 10:54
It attracts a good crowd and i've seen a fair few celebs in there also. However, this is a pub where you really have to check your change each time you go to the bar.
Report this for removal sean - 14 Nov 2003 10:23
the steeles is wicked, if a little crazy. i danced with gazza here (honestly). good atmosphere, esp in winter - mulled wine etc. live bands sometimes too.
Report this for removal Zoe - 5 Nov 2003 16:22
i am floored by the poor rating ole steelsie gets here. it's the single greatest pub in north london. real life. real people. yeah, it can be rough sometimes. so can life. go there - it'll be your new favourite pub.
Report this for removal frankie five - 23 Oct 2003 16:00
I love it. The chinease garden looks lovely in autumn
Report this for removal bobby gilespie - 10 Sep 2003 14:10
I visited 7/31/03, travelling from the US.
Sir Richard Steele is an ancestor, and I wanted to see the pub.
The place is very interesting and when the manager Gregor, dicovered that I was a decendent he personally gave me the grand tour. He also bought me a few pints
Report this for removal D. Hellman - 24 Aug 2003 22:34
You're right. It is an odd place. Been going there on and off for years now. Finally decided I don't like it much. Always seems to be full of nutters. Used to have a kind of rough feel but not intimidating. Must be getting old.
Report this for removal anonymous - 11 Aug 2003 21:18
I've had odd experiences here. On my first trip I sat in the back room and thought, hey, this is a nice wee place. On my second visit it was packed full of alcoholic gits with loud voices and dribbling problems. I don't think I will be returning.
Report this for removal anonymous - 19 Jul 2003 16:31
great live music all week, and the food is probably the best pub food i've had in london yet and affordable. real ales ok and the ceiling is something else, seemingly all the regulars from past and present up there in a mock micheal-angelo cistine chapel effect. rocks!
Report this for removal Roger G. - 13 Jul 2003 16:24
Cool and busy.
Report this for removal Rob - 26 Jun 2003 14:40
My favourite pub in London. It's quirky, with a great atmosphere. Tons of old objects on walls. Loads of candles, lovely fire place.
Report this for removal anonymous - 18 May 2003 23:45
Boho pub with small patio garden.
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/ ... lsize_Park
You paying for the flights mate? 
