The Starting Gate Reviews Summary

Atmosphere & Location

Pros:

• "Came into the pub for the first time on bonfire night and loved the energy!"
• "Great atmosphere also for a good night out in one of the liveliest parts of north London."
• "Ally Pally's fireworks with my mates was the best. The starting gate was insanely busy and with plenty of funny people, loved the vibes!!"
• "It's got a lovely atmosphere."
• "The atmosphere in the pub is great, it is nicely decorated, clean, not overcrowded."
• "This is a good local, right opposite the station and close to bus stops."
• "Love this place. Always just busy enough to have a nice atmosphere but still able to get a table."

Cons:

• "We went on a night when there was loud music playing so if you're looking for a chill drink or meeting up for a date you're probably better looking elsewhere if you don't want to be out in the garden."
• "It does get incredibly busy when there are events at Alexandra Palace and on Friday evenings and weekends."
• "There were no seats available and wherever you tried to stand you were in someone way."
• "Weekends get a bit loud with children running wild."
• "The music WAS ridiculously loud."

Service & Staff

Pros:

• "Especially amazing customer service received by Kamila, Zara, and Sybil."
• "Lovely service at The Starting Gate. I sat down and a staff member came over to me asking for what drink I wanted, it’s not normal to get table service at pubs like this."
• "I was served by a young man called Declan who was extremely charming and accommodating to me and my family when they came."
• "The staff are very attentive, friendly and helpful, even during busy periods and dealing with the occasional obnoxious customer."
• "The staff are always amazing and attentive."
• "The staff were first class, service amazing and the selection of drinks was great."
• "Really brilliant staff and service - friendly, professional and looked after my and my dog really well."

Cons:

• "Entered the pub and the barman despite being I'm sure and friendly guy was more interested in talking to a friend (who arrived after I did) than serving me a drink."
• "Went to this pub with my friends for a catch up. The staff were surprisingly rude and the service was extremely slow."
• "It's like it's operated by a bunch of sixth formers..always chatting amongst themselves...slow getting attention and service."
• "Uninterested staff. We waited 20 minutes for any service and eventually called it off as a bad job."
• "The service was incredibly poor and the staff were unhelpful."
• "The staff also ignored us for ages before taking our order."
• "Poor food but even poorer service."

Food & Drink

Pros:

• "Lovely pub, lovely staff and a nice selection of beers you can try."
• "The cocktail selection was good and I’m looking forward to going back to try more."
• "The menu is fairly priced and the quality of the food is good."
• "The food was very good too and reasonably priced - it was 'Burger Monday' (the salt beef and sauerkraut burger was divine)."
• "Good calamari... the only pub I've ever had it where I'm sure they were fresh."
• "Food was great. The Sunday roast looked amazing, especially the Yorkshire pudding and the steak was cooked as requested."
• "The food OH MY WORD. I ordered Salmon with Heritage potatoes. It was very nice."

Cons:

• "Every beer my friends and I drank tasted off."
• "Managers and staff have no knowledge of real ales that they attempt to sell."
• "I don’t recommend the roast! There is no flavour."
• "We did a pit stop here and the food was absolutely appalling."
• "The food is very disappointing... today it was a awful greasy mess."
• "Ordered two seafood Linguini meals. Simply disgraceful."
• "Awful experience, ordered calamari and they literally brought 2 rings cut into 4 pieces for £6.50 which tasted horrible, not fresh at all."

Value & Pricing

Pros:

• "I have to give The Starting Gate 5 stars as we (my hubby and me) had a great Easter Sunday lunch at a very good bargain price."
• "The food is extremely high quality and incredibly reasonably priced."
• "Recommend. Good value."

Cons:

• "Genuinely the most I've paid for a pint in London."
• "It should be illegal to charge that much for such a small portion of food."
• "I can’t believe I paid £48."
• "The burgers were £12 and the tiniest pieces of meat I've seen at a pub/restaurant and very skimpy with the chips."
• "They are filling less than pints of beer then charging nearly £8 for it."
• "For the price and the small about of chips did feel expensive."
• "Poor small portion and not worth nearly £16."