The Open Guide to London: the free London guide

• Nearby Tube stops: Angel Station / Highbury and Islington Station

The Tup is located on the corner of Theberton Street and Liverpool Road. It's a Tup - they're a chain, and fairly soulless. It's been through quite a few managers in its time, and it's definitely (defiantly?) getting more Islington.

Drinks

Pretty normal (Strongbow, the usual pub lagers, John Smith's, Bombardier) but a good line in cocktails, shooters and various Nathan drinks.

Food

One of the changes to the Tup has been the introduction of a more upmarket menu. The kitchen is open and located at the corner of the pub, so you can see the chef preparing (and even burning) your food. Their impressive range of cooking methods include a full flame grill, which makes very good made burgers.

To give you an idea of the prices, one of the cheaper options, the Mediterranean Ciabatta and fries, is about �6.50, and the main course prices range up to �10 for Steak and Chips or Chicken Fajitas. (The snack menu is a little cheaper, with things like veggie nachos at �4.95. They also have two-course set lunches for �5.)

There are three vegetarian main courses. Penne Pasta with sundried tomatoes, olives, spinach and pesto is �6.50, and Veggie Fajitas is �7. I had the Mediterranean Vegetable Pancakes with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce (�6.50), and it was really quite disappointing; the bulk of it seemed to be made up of a thick layer of cheese (it looked more like lasagne than pancakes, when it arrived). The roasted vegetables were probably reasonably competent, but I couldn't really find enough of them in the gloop to be able to tell. It might have been less cloying overall if it had come with a side salad, but it didn't.

The quality of the food is somewhat doubtable, and I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't tell you that The Tup has been the source of quite a few cases of the dodgy stomach. I don't recommend the fish. Let's leave it at that.

Food served Mon--Fri noon--3pm and 6pm--10pm, Sat noon--9pm, Sun noon--6pm.

Layout

The Tup is large and is basically rectangular in shape, divided roughly in half by half a foot step. Alongside several smaller tables there are a collection of big tables, each that can take fifteen or so people, meaning that the Tup is quite good for when you're meeting a large number of people. All the tables are big and pine - it might as well be a All Bar One. Recently they've imported a couple of leather sofas that they've placed in one of the far corners.

The male toilets are located on the ground floor, but the women's is located upstairs next to the function room. The roof has a habit of leaking.

The Tup has Sky Sports which they use to show football and rugby, and to show the test cricket during the day. The display medium is two large projection screens at either end of the pub (serving the two areas discussed above.) When the big events are on the blinds are pulled down to enable people to see (projections don't work so well in bright light) - meaning even if the pub does look shut it might not be.