The Baring Arms in Islington

First time to this place, its a bit of a walk from Old Street. Decent pub across the road. It has a bar but seems you can't just pop in for a drink. Food was really lovely, high quality & service was really great. Recommended.

Our first visit for lunch. Warm welcome, friendly and informed service from Sam and Adam. Negronis to start with house nuts and olives whilst looking at a fairly short menu which still provided excellent choices. We opted for the white onion/thyme soup and quail shish. both were absolutely delicious. We followed this by sharing the rib of beef cooked perfectly medium rare, thus enjoying all the flavour. Finally, we managed to share a divine chocolate and olive oil mousse. The wine list offers an extensive range, with Adam available for expert guidance. There is a great ambience, roaring fire to keep you warm while you make your tough eating/drinking decisions. You will not be disappointed, this place is a little gem, not far from the Regents Canal walkway which you may choose to exercise off some of the lunch excesses! Highly recommend.

Delightful gastropub. Delicious good. Excellent service and you can hear what your companions are saying - miracle! Good wine list. Dined with five others and we all enjoyed our lunch. Very reasonable price.

An absolute gem of a place! We were guests at a family pre-wedding dinner in their upstairs room, staff were amazing and so helpful, food was beyond 5 star, totally out of this world. If you get the chance to dine here you won't be disappointed x

Dined Saturday night with family including two young ones. They were the only children there, but the staff coped with our request for off-menu sausage and chips with a smile! Very trendy and smart atmosphere. Some people came just for a cocktail which is a shame as the food is to die for. I had a quail starter which was perfect. Others had Latteria burrata, based on an Italian soft cheese which was equally delicious. My main course was Cornish Monkfish in a shrimp sauce, absolutely superb. Two of us shared grilled Normandy rib of beef which was magnificent. Two excellent wines to accompany this. Gorgeous chocolate and olive oil mousse for dessert.

Exceptional experience last week. Tried all vegetarian and the food was delicious, so had to try the pudding, again great. Loved the choice of beer too.

Before I start, I just want to say that I could not fault the food, the service or the ambiance, it is always an absolute treat to eat at the Baring. However even though I already knew that from previous visits, reading the feasting menu gave me pause. I am all for eating local produce and not wasting any part of an animal, but even I baulked at the prospect of 'an aged dairy cow' thinking: it's going to be some tough, clapped out old milker who died of natural causes. Probably went lame too. Then there were the leeks from Normandy with duck egg mayonnaise - absolutely delicious but did they need to send to Normandy to get them? We grow perfectly good leeks here. But the carbon foot print of the leeks' travel itinerary will have been offset by the cow, of course. That the twice cooked chocolate cake was served with prunes soaked in Armagnac also raised an eyebrow. Prunes for afters, who wants prunes? Will we have loosened all our teeth chewing on the dairy cow and only able to suck prunes, I wondered. But it was all absolutely lovely, everyone last one of our party loved every last mouthful, so much so that we asked for doggy bags to take the leftovers home and we will be back!

The baring was a classy pub with very good food, professional service and a clean modern vibe in an old hotel. This had to be up there with the best pubs for lunch.

Innovative menu, wonderfully executed! The duck main course was fabulous. Wonderful cocktails too. Highly recommend.

The Baring is nothing short of exceptional! I had the pleasure of dining there twice this week, and both experiences were truly outstanding. The food was exquisite, prepared with skill and attention to detail. The service was top-notch, with a staff that was attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable. The ambiance added to the overall charm, creating a wonderful atmosphere for a memorable dining experience. I can't recommend The Baring enough, and I'll certainly be returning in the future.

This restaurant was booked by a friend so I had no idea where we were going let alone, what we were eating. The food and service were absolutely superb, I really enjoyed it. Often you find that some of the dishes that you get in bistros like this are a little ill conceived. Here it was quite the opposite, i started with Charred mackerel, cucumber & gazpacho. sounds a bit odd on the surface, but I was totally blown away by it. I will definitely be returning.

I really wish The Baring Arms was my local..!! It's tucked away in a quiet residential area and yet just minutes from The City and Islington and easy to get to. The owners Adam & Rob have managed to keep all the atmosphere of a great pub while offering exceptional food and excellent service. I went with friends for a Saturday lunch and we will all be going back for more, as soon as we can!

Unbelievably fantastic cooking here, a confident chef who knows exactly what they are doing! Quail shush to start and Normande rib of beef were perfect! Well done!

Six close friends from the area. Saturday evening informal gathering. We lived he Baring. Relaxed atmosphere. Saturday menu fixte at £55 was nicely balanced and everyone was able to have something they fancied. Wine list introduced interesting new options and is decent value. And great staff who looked after us brilliantly. We will be back.

Two new pub restaurants have opened near us in Islington in the last 9 months. They are very different but I like them both very much. The Baring is one of them (the other is The Tamil Prince). Our first experience of The Baring was last Saturday evening when we walked into a lovely warm welcome. Charming, efficient and helpful service and a glorious open fire. The food was delicious and the wine exactly what we wanted.

I'm going to start in reverse order. The dessert, no, let's call it pudding, made me laugh out loud. One of the team came over to see if everything was okay. By god, it was. The almond financier, a kind of tea cake, with clotted cream and plums was a thing of delight. Simple but gorgeous, soft in the middle, sticky and crunchy on the outside. It made me happy.  And that was after a shared plate of exquisitely cooked Normandie rib of beef. Melty fat and tasty meat. To begin with the pig cheek and chorizo, and quail shish were both spot on. Plenty to savour and enjoy, and keep us patient as we anticipated the beef. Wonderful food all round. And though the room is light on décor and not too big, it was nicely busy - not bad for a Wednesday lunchtime - with fellow diners who seemed to be enjoying the food as much as we were. The simplicity works. In summary, a delightful lunch from a confident team who clearly know what they're doing.

Just brilliant from start to finish! Stunning starters and mains, lovely setting, great drinks. A perfect dinner. Wow!

We went for lunch on 9th November after reading Giles Coren's amazing review in the Times. To say we were disappointed is a huge understatement. The place itself is cold (temperature & decor) and uninviting. The welcome from the 2 waiters was detached & verging on dismissive. The food was ok but hardly on the scale described by Giles and the price for 1 negroni, bread for 1, 2 quail shish, 2 fish & 1 cheese an astonishing £131.64! This is crazy money for such a mediocre venue with no atmosphere & such an unfriendly vibe. I usually trust Mr Coren's judgement but can only assume his review was based on something other than just the restaurant itself!

Grace Dent rated this highly, and who doesn’t love a Sunday lunch? So we hotfooted it over from Hackney. I would personally class this more as a restaurant than a gastro pub although I see arguments on both sides. The dishes overall were very accomplished. The pheasant was delicious and the roast beef sirloin was solid. The roast potatoes were some of the finest we have eaten in London. Some of the dishes were too salty, including the swede and the greens, although all were delightful. I’m subtracting a star for the saltiness and the lack of warmth in both the decor and the staff. All perfectly professional but we missed a hint of relaxed charm.