The Library

Went to this pub on Friday 4^th December. We walked in to sit down at a table and seconds later a reserved sign was put on there when the place was empty. Eventually found another seating area on seats, which looked like they came from a skip. Went to the bar to order drinks and the bar tender was talking to what appeared to be the owner. We asked the bar tender if he was serving. His reply not just at the moment. Needless to say we walked out. If I could give a place minus stars this would be the place. Unbelievable that this place is still trading. Would never go back to this place and would not recommend it to anyone. Atrocious place.

Great selection of beers, cool music, nice people at the bar, toilets are… Toilets: D

Our Favourite drinking place, I love the atmosphere & the quirkiness of this place! It also sell lovely Thai food too!

It’s just great. Music, atmosphere, people.

I have to admit that this was meant to be just a short pit stop before a fancy gallery opening. Due to the cold weather (and laziness of all parties involved) it turned into a few glasses of wine and a meal.
I like the Library as it has a nice feeling to it, but the use of the floor space is a bit awkward at times. It clearly was an old fashioned pub before its revamp, with loads of space for guys to just stand around with their beer. Now they put in tables, but certain big spaces, like around the door and the bar are still empty and kind of unusable.
Its good to come here for a nice chat over a glass of good red wine. We also tried the food this time, which was decent Thai cuisine … I think the only pub food you get here is crisps and chips.

When you’ve been ringing around all the local well-​received establishments at 2pm on a Sunday, asking if they’ve got any availability for lunch in the next half hour, and the unanimous response is «not until 5pm» or even «Not today, but would you like me to book you in for next Sunday?» (er, no, I’m hungry now, and a week is a long wait for lunch), and then you rock up to the Library and it is 100% empty, this is a bad sign.
It should have been enough to put us off but unfortunately we were starving, running out of time and getting desperate, so we cut our losses and ordered three Sunday roasts.
Considering that we were their only customers, it took a surprisingly long time for the food to arrive. And I rather suspect that the duration of the wait had been spent microwaving the beef. I mean, according to the menu it was beef, but it may have been dog or elephant or a shoe. It had the texture of rubber and tasted only of gravy which in turn tasted of pepper, and not a lot else. The vegetables were arranged prettily but this appeared to be so as to take one’s attention away from their blandness. The Yorkshire puddings were the best bit but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they’d been cooked by Aunt Bessie, and they certainly didn’t make up for the rest of the meal. I ate it all because I am that sort of person (waste not, want not /​hungry /​hungover). But considering we were supposed to be showing our Chinese friend the apex of traditional British cuisine, I was somewhat mortified.
I wavered between two and three stars on this review because I’ve visited before in the evening for a drink and it’s been perfectly pleasant. But actually, this is a bar-​saturated stretch of road and if all they can manage is «perfectly pleasant», it’s not good enough. I do like the layout and the table by the window. There’s a fire, but it’s pretty small and mean, and nowhere near the good tables. And they may well be undergoing a makeover but from the outside it looks derelict, and not in a good way. Plus when we arrived the staff were busy chatting and my friend stood there like a lemon before they deigned to break it off and inform her that yes, they were still serving lunch.
All in all, it’s a fine place to have a drink of an evening, but avoid it like the plague for anything involving food.

The Library is a 2-​minute walk from Highbury station and is a nice quiet little bar. It’s small but never really over packs, so it’s a nice spot to fill out with you and your friends. The bar staff are helpful and on a slow night are your best mates it would seem. Easy going place with a DJ on a Friday/​Saturday with the occasional live act as well. My friend tells me its owned by Razor light’s manager but that’s neither really here nor there. They make really good cocktails in here and there not at all too pricey either. The seating arrangement consists of leather sofas dotted around the place and some chairs outside for the smokers.