The Camden Eye

Ah Camden. Rich with an eclectic music scene, a veritable cauldron of ‘fashion’ and knick-knack, and of course shop fronts adorned with giant shoes and other over-sized acid-trip paraphernalia. All of this means it’s a kind of love-it or hate-it place depending on your outlook.

But it has so much on offer that surely everyone is catered for, right? For every person that is in the mood to grab a polystyrene plate of street food, get a tattoo of a mythical horse on their back and then listen to the latest dubstep-inspired jazz-synth fusion, others may just want a glass of wine and a pizza in a quiet pub.

If the latter is more to your taste, you’ll find little finer than The Camden Eye – a rather neat-looking pub that couldn’t be closer to Camden station, but with an internal vibe definitely at a polar opposite to the swaddling human alcopops herding into the underground across the road. I’ve now been twice, both on a Wednesday and Friday night, and it really does do the trick if you are in the mood for a more traditional pub feel.

An additional treat can be found upstairs in their newly-launched 50-seater restaurant that specialises in pizzas. Really good pizzas it turns out. For a set price of £10 you can choose from the Say Aloha To My Hawaiian Friend (tomato, mozzarella, ham and pineapple); How To Impress Angelina Jolie (tomato, mozzarella, crushed black olives, goat cheese, walnuts and caramelised onions); O Sole Mio (tomato, mozzarella, anchovies, capers and black olives); Steven Patrick Morrissey (tomato, mozzarella, zucchini and parmigiano); Pizza al Taglio (sharing pizza pieces) and my personal favourite Peter’s Hoisin Duck (tomato, roasted duck, spring onions, mozzarella and hoisin sauce).

To wash down your slice you are encouraged to sample one of their carefully-selected Italian red wines that include Valpolicella, Classico Nicolis 2009, Chianti Rufina Fattoria di Basciano 2009 and Paolo Conterno Dolcetto d’Alba 2010, or a white Legato Inzolia IGT Sicilia 2011 or Ricossa Gavi 2010. Starting at £18 a bottle, they are a good price, and from what I tried they are all tasty drops. You can, of course, stick to a nice cool pint instead. It’s up to thee.

There’s not much left to add really. A solid boozer with a relaxed atmosphere, a good quality selection of pizzas and wine, and in close proximity to the station? It’s a yes from me.

The Camden Eye
2 Kentish Town Road
Camden
NW1 9NX

Tel: 020 7267 2622

As a special treat, dear reader, we have included the video ‘The Alternative Guide to Camden’  below, which has been launched alongside the new Camden Eye Pizza upstairs restaurant to offer a goofy glimpse of just what this neck of the woods has to offer.

The Camden Eye is also encouraging Londoners and tourists alike to take part in its #MyCamden campaign, uploading alongside the hash tag what best encapsulates ‘their Camden’ onto Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram, be it a photograph, description or video. Weekly prizes will be given to the most imaginative uploads.