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Image posted by David Walton
Submitted on Wednesday, 30th September 2026
With picture contributions to 2388 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (12 more images)
Detail Pages
Packington Arms, Islington, N1
N1
N1 7EA
Served areas
Reviews of Packington Arms (Average Rating: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
David Walton left this review about Packington Arms
Visited 30/09/26
Cask here was the Kernel London Brick Red Rue Ale and Ordinary Bitter from Anspach & Hobday. Keg was the Bohem Nicholas black lager, Sparta amber lager, Amos Czech pilsner and Martina session lager. Then the away play of Crafty Apple cider, the Superdelic IPA from the Kernel, the Sorachi Trail West Coast IPA from Elusive Brewing (new one for me), the Surface Detail pale ale and the Cosmic Dust session IPA both from Gravity Well and the Fruitopolis session IPA from Anspach & Hobday.
Recently re-opened venue and the fourth addition to the Bohem stable. Think I used to come here in another incarnation in the late 90's when it was this place for a pint ahead of dentist nearby and then the Moon Under Water back on Upper St post treatment! Open plan room, glass fronted on street side, bare boarded with the bar counter in the rear left-hand corner. There is some tall stool seating at the near side of the bar counter and then regular tables and chairs dotted around the floor space. No screens and the music soundtrack totally drowned out by the raucous attendance on my late evening visit. A good example of how a simple pub interior can be all that you need to make a great space for drinking.
On 11th October 2026
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2067 recommendations about 2020 pubs]
Tris C left this review about Packington Arms
With its – probably Edwardian – brown faience tiling to the ground floor, this is situated on a backstreet corner site, opposite the City of London Academy Islington’s playground, between Essex Road and the Regent’s Canal, having existed since at least 1866; in its last incarnation as the Packington, it was a Sheps house, until it became As Good As It Gets, then Zenith Bar when it closed in 2014, boarded up until fairly recently, to reopen five days ago, the reordering having resulted in one of the north entrances being converted into a stairwell for the upper floors, meaning that once over the threshold, the N1 denizen is surrounded on all sides by the pub.
This is now part of the small but seemingly expanding Bohem chain – the clue’s in the name – who also run the Nicholas Nickleby in Finsbury Park and Queen’s Arms in Battersea, which shares a similar interior. Completely stripped out, the floor is rough bare boarded with a flagstone bar apron, the bar being black with a modern, white tiled rear with arched mirror and contemporary shelving. The colour scheme is all white – see photo – with dark (grey?) wainscoting then décor in the form of trendy prints, modern metal stools with contemporary tables, atop which are beer menus; lighting comes courtesy of hanging shades with filament bulbs, all to a smooth ambient soundtrack. Customers were few, but it’s early days so numbers should pick up, perhaps tempted in by the Bohemian sausage with pickled vegetables and sourdough, as a token hot bar snack.
Drinks were dispensed from a couple of T-bars, Czech, a keg cider then two pumps, one dispensing an RAC-approved 3.4% bitter, then Kernal IPA, 6.6% and £3.70 a half, dispensed by an engaging (American?) manager; it was a bit malty for me, but at least an authentic IPA.
Though functional rather than cossetting, it’s always good to see a lost pub coming back, especially with the original name reinstated and this is certainly an asset to the N1 drinking scene, a postcode with more pub variety than any other in London and probably the country.
On 1st October 2026
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2351 recommendations about 2289 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about The Zenith Bar
This pub used to be called the Packington Arms and it was a Shepherd Neame tied house so when i got here i was surprised to see it was now called the Zenith Bar.
The name is bad enough but once inside here things were a lot worse,all the walls were painted black and the pub was very dark except for some flashing lights and the music was deafening this was mid saturday afternoon and i was the only customer in here.
There were no real ales on the bar with the only bitter being John Smiths smooth so i had a Guinness.
At the moment this is a pub to be avoided.
On 7th February 2011
- rating: 2
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
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- Official site of Packington Arms - www.bohembrewery.com
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Packington Arms - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Beer Garden : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Car Park : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Function Room : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Hot Food : No - Hot bar snack. - last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Jukebox : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Karaoke : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Live Music : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Micropub : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Pinball : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Pool Table : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Quiz Night : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Real Cider : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- Wheelchair Access : No - No disabled WC. - last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
- WiFi : No last updated 30 September 2026 by Tris C
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