Keston Lodge

Not much of a fan of the food, but the place is big so it’s a good bet to get a table in the area. It’s a bit hit and miss depending on the night. Sometimes it’s über chilled out and relaxed. Other nights it’s a bridge and tunnel meat market.
Never my first choice or second choice of laid back bars (those are the Winchester and New Rose), but there’s litlle to not like about Keston Lodge except the clientele some nights and noise levels.
Good place for groups who often book out the top floor (though if you’re not a group, this can be annoying as that’s where most of the non-​booth seating is).

I really dig this place. Mostly because when i walked in my first time they were playing a movie called Team America: FUCK YEAH! So i knew this place has a sense of humour.
The décor is really kitschy and fun and the bar staff are well versed in booze. Good stuff all around.

This bar goes from 3 star to 4 in my book simply because it made a bad date tolerable. They have a great selection of Whisky, including the Rock and Rye, which tastes like an old fashioned without the wait. Also, they were playing Star Wars subtitled in Dutch, which sadly was more interesting than the date. I need to go back with better people for more of that lovely whisky and it’s a win for sure!

I only bought one drink each here, but played Jenga and lay on the couch for two hours today. No one bothered us. I’m definitely moving in.

Love Keston Lodge, one of my favourite bars in London. Good cocktails (try the mojitos) and always true goodness spinning the DJ who resides under the stairs (mainly old school tunes remixed in a funky electro way).
They don’t let you wear fancy dress, that’s my only complaint, as I once tried to have my R themed birthday party there and they said no when I tried to book an area in advance. However, there is a good area upstairs available to hire, which, so long as you’re not dressed as rambo, richard III or a rollercoaster, you should be fine.

One of my favorite bars in Islington. Great casual and vintage quirky décor — comfy torn sofas and funky fonts on the wall for instance. I’d agree with Laura N that it is effortlessly cool and shabby chic.
Excellent drink specials (get your 2^nd cocktail for a pound). Get a tequila Mule and you won’t be disappointed! On a warm day the front windows are open and the tables affronting Upper Street make for great people watching. There is also a nice (though small) smoking area/​courtyard with a few picnic tables in the back that has the vibe like you’re hanging out in at a friend’s garden party.

I really like the Keston lodge on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for a pint while pouring over the papers. The food isn’t bad here either and is cheaper that a lot of places. I even like the place on a Monday to Thursday night and find their retro-​vintage décor the perfect place for catching up with friends.
Having had so many pleasant afternoons here catching up with friends I decided I would book a table for my birthday one Friday night. The place was packed and the music boomed so loudly it was difficult to think let alone chat. Not really what I was after.
So now, I come here on the aforementioned days only. To calmly read my papers with a pint and some appropriate music at a suitable volume.

I like the décor. Décor always wins me over! They have letters on the wall, and im a typography lover, so yes, this is good! And comfy worn and torn sofas. They just look so very inviting.
Me and my friend were just popping in for some light refreshment, but we were greeted with so much more! There was a Christmas market been held here so there were tables inside and out overflowing with handmade goodness! They are going to be there every Saturday until Christmas i think! Having just been to a Christmas craft fair in the crypt of St Pancras church, this was a craft bonanza of a day!

Cool place with decent cocktails and a buy 1 get the 2^nd for £1 on Thursday when I visited.
Likeed the retro interior, booth seating and funky mismatched antique lamps. The upstairs bar is just gorgeous and we happily stayed up there all night.
Feels like a Medicine bar back when it was Medicine bar and was the best place to hangout in Islington!

This place was the host to a fabulous night.
After having failed to go to the intended venue, due to them not being able to cater for our group size, we found ourselves coming in here. Thankfully we arrived just in time, getting the last table big enough for us (and then stealing more seats from around the place as well as, much to their credit, from what may have been the staff break room, as he walked in with them from the upstairs area behind the bar itself), before the place then *packed out*. I can see what people mean about getting there for 8pm, even on a Wednesday. This place is *P*O*P*U*L*A*R*.
I see why, however. Whilst more pricey than what I’m used to in my local places, the choice of cocktails and the care going into them, made it worth it. In fact, to quote the guy who made most of our cocktails, «If it doesn’t take ages, it’s not worth drinking». That’s one bigass +1 from me, sir!
They have a little garden area, with 2 long tables and a lot of seats, for smokers. It was fairly busy most of the night, with people just wanting to sit outside, but it was never too packed to actually go into for a smoke. They had a DJ hidden under the stairs playing the music of the night, and some of it was really well selected, bringing up some nice memories of venues playing music outside of the current pub soundtrack cliché.
As a final note;
One of the bar staff was having to be told how to make our cocktails as she was going, with what looked like her manager watching over. Whilst I’ve had some horrible experiences with cocktails made like this in the past, they were still fine. After a little discussion with her, because frankly, she was cute enough that I did not want to walk off, it turned out they were sending her on a cocktail making course soon, but simply hadn’t yet because it was her first day there. If this is an example of the calibre of staff they go for, willing and able to make great cocktails straight off the bat, and training they do, always, I’m going to be very happy to head back in future when I want a cocktail I KNOW is made right.

I like the Keston. Yeah the bartenders occasionally had to check their cheat sheets to make the cocktails our group were rattling through. But once they arrived, they were good. The bar itself is big and spacious with a cute outside area and an upstairs mezzanine that can be hired for parties. The lighting is dark and sexy and it is easy to lose a few hours in the comfy chairs.
As the night went on the vibe slowly evolved into that of a nightclub. This was great as the more I drink the more I want to dance. I didn’t eat this time around but the food menu is definitely worth giving a bash.
I will certainly be back to the cool, hip, young trendy Keston.

Phew — I had no idea that one little bar could be so controversial! (For kicks, hit that little «ratings graph button» and you’ll see what I’m talking about.) So what is Keston Lodge? Is it charming or contrived? Is it effortlessly cool or try-​hard?
:Spoiler alert: you’re not going to find out in my review.
Both times I’ve come, the place has been a perfectly laid back spot to grab a drink and a quick bite with an amigo de hoy. Granted, this has never been at 9pm on a Friday evening, so take it with a grain of salt, but from my experience, Keston embodies everything in a chill bar that would make me frequent it, given the choice.
They offer quite an extensive and creative cocktail menu, and when challenged with something like, oh I don’t know: «What can you make with Makers?» they come through with delicious flying colours. My chicken burger was as big as my face, and perfectly cooked and seasoned. Moreover, the staff was exceptionally relaxed, which I adore. I’m an extremely impatient person, so ordering and paying upfront at the bar allows me to get the dirty business out of the way early on.
No reason why I wouldn’t come back again and again… before 8pm, so I read.

This is a great venue if u fancy a later night in Angel/​Islington. Open till about 3am, not too pricey, good music and a great little beer garden.
Can get very busy at the weekend, so dont arrive too late!
During the day, cool place to hang out (they have comfy counches) and enjoy a beer or a coffee.
Try it out!

The place we have the New Year Eve, my first New Year celebration in London !
This place is friendly and you are sure to get entertainment! Music is played by a DJ who is aware of his attendees requests ;-) A mix between commercial/rock/pop/80’s which makes everybody happy.
Even small budget can offer a round drinks to friends thanks to the correct prices! Which is very appreciable.
2 floors: the main one is the first one, second floor is sometimes booked for private/​group party.
Cute smoking area outside is enjoyable as smokers can still enjoy the mood night instead of smoking on the street which is not really convivial.
If you arrive a bit late £3 charge for the entrance.
I went there 2 times, and I think and will come back again.

The Keston Lodge is an awful place. It looks alright, I guess with some pretty standard flashy, contemporary pub decorations, but it is soulless and has a bad clientele.
Ok, so maybe I am being a bit bias because I am angry at this place since I got my bag stolen here. I was sitting down and put it by my seat, next to my feet but when it was time to leave, it had disappeared. Apparently, according to the staff I was sitting the one place that wasn’t covered by CCTV.
Grrrmmbblll. I just hope those who took my bag are enjoying my pricy digital camera and taking good care of it!

Just try and get a table here on a Friday night, I dare you! Keston Lodge is such a popular choice with all the local business types that every seat seems to be booked by eight o’clock and the bar packed out to the brim with men in suits throwing their credit cards around. It is pointless to try and grab a drink here during these busy times because even the standing areas are full to the point of claustrophobic.
Having said this, wander into the ‘Lodge at a quieter hour and it’s a really nice place to relax. The furniture is very stylised but comfortable and the music is great mix of modern soul. Though it is expensive, there are various food and drink offers during the week and, having sampled their enormous beef burger, I can also vouch for the quality of the kitchen. I’d recommend this place for a quiet spot of Sunday drinking but definitely warn you off the uncomfortable Saturday night atmosphere.

Keston Lodge is a rather flash bar on Upper Street. It is what one would expect; modern design, clean lines etc. The bar is set across one large open plan bar. The bar runs along the right of the left midsection of the building.
As one would expect from this sort of place there is a wide range of beers and spirits and they are fairly expensive, though not outrageous. The clientele is typically Islington late twenties professional.
Not an offensive place, just a little soulless.

Ugh ugh ugh I really hate this place. To me it is everything that is bad about Islington in one bar. The décor is pretentious and try-​hard, the people that frequent it have more money than sense and also often a naff line in sleazy and they only serve wine in large glass measures. I don’t always want a goblet containing a third of a bottle of rapidly warming bad white wine at rip-​off prices. Plus my friend had her bag stolen here recently and nobody was very helpful or sympathetic about it. Plus the music is boring and obvious.

Sunday Roasts and Records are good at the Keston Lodge. After a night out there nothing better than good food and chilled out tunes being played live by Dj’ booth under the stairs. During the summer they had BBQ which was very nice with a cold beer, they have a good selection.
The Roast was your typical, I had the pork with trimmings and it was tender and full of flavour. They get their meet from a local butcher in Islington, hence the freshness.
I would say cocktails are a bit too expensive for what they are (£7, some even £8) but there is a deal were you can get one at regular price and the second at £1. It is not for all cocktails, and it is not on all the time. So watch out! From 5pm-​7pm (Mon-​Sat) 5pm-​1am (Thur) and 5pm-11:30pm (Sun).
In addition, they have a disco-​ish area that is open till late weekends, they play good music and its live.

Keston Lodge is a nice pub. It has great seating. I drank my favourite beer here (Leffe) recently.
This pub is homey and chic and in a prime location. You pay for the location. I was disappointed to find that they had no ales.
All tables were reserved and I was lucky to get a seat here. The couches were really comfortable. The music was okay but not really my thing.
This is a hipster place. You want to reserve a table to make sure you get a seat.
The atmosphere is really good here, hence my rating for the chic factor.