East London Life

This little gem is a real find! In addition to being a proper drinking den (Milton Brewery goodies and STRONG ale on tap), it has a laid-back student vibe to it that, in the States, I associated with good independent coffee houses.

There is a Bar Billiards table, a total of eight real ales on tap, the house wines are £2.10 for a glass of excellent Cabernet Sauvignon, the food is hearty and plentiful for the money, and the staff are genuinely friendly.

Maybe the decor leaves something to be desired, as  it can look a bit empty and abandoned when it isn’t busy, but really, if that is my only criticism of the place, it can’t be too bad, now can it?

Address: 90 Amhurst Road, London, E8 1JH [map]
Phone: 020 8986 8597

Hackney Central (0.2 miles), Homerton (0.7 miles), Dalston Kingsland (0.8 miles)

The Queens is perhaps the perfect expression of the “East End Dive” pub. From the old gent in the wheelchair waiting to get in at opening time to the inevitable OAP drunk by mid-afternoon ready to have a go at everyone who walks in to the crushing crowds on match day (it is across from the West Ham FC ground, you know), this pub is a classic.

Yes, it’s seedy. Yes, it’s smelly. Yes, away fans are advised to avoid it like the plague unless they enjoy doing the “Green St. Sprint” to the relative safety of the Upton Park Tube station, particularly on match day. But if you want to spend a whole day drinking in East London, I really can’t think of a better place to hole up in and put down some pints.

The beers, while nothing spectacular, are well-kept and there is a truly fascinating mix of people from all over the world in and out of the place all day. Give it a go!
Address: 410 Green St Plaistow, London, E13 9JJ [map] [gmap]

Tel: 020 8472 4983

Upton Park (0.1 miles), East Ham (0.9 miles), Plaistow (0.9 miles)

The Prospect of Whitby may very well be the most famous pub in London, or anywhere, for that matter. Originally built in 1543, and quickly became so famous as a hangout for smugglers and other assorted villains that it was christened the ‘Devil’s Tavern‘. Rebuilt in the eighteenth century after a fire on the premises, it was renamed to the Prospect of Whitby, after a ship that was moored nearby.

The main bar has a 400 year old flagstone floor, a long bar counter built on barrels with a rare pewter top. There’s a wealth of timber beams and the upright pillars appear to be sections of a ship’s mast. Read the rest of this entry »

Not only is this pub a brilliant example of the typical East End strip pub, complete with pole dancers, but it is also supposedly haunted.

In the 1970’s there was major renovations going on, and two bodies were discovered beneath the floorboards. Since that time there have been odd sounds that have some convinced that the dead did not want to be disturbed.

69 Hackney Road, E2

Old Street

Now here is a pub that is a bona fide piece of east London history. On March 8th, 1966, Ronnie Kray murdered rival gangster George Cornell, shooting him through the eye.

Accroding to The London Companion by Jo Swinnerton, this is also where Bulldog Wallis, a pickpocket and ruffian, killed a man by pushing an umbrella tip through his eye, so I can see some dark humor in the name. Read the rest of this entry »

Standing mere yards from Aldgate East station, The Hoop & Grapes is truly one of the old school of London pubs. Built sometime in 1640 as a private house, it barely escaped the Great Fire of 1666, which stopped just yards from its door.
After the fire wooden buildings were forbidden in the City and now this pub is now the only surviving 17th-century timber-framed building in the City of London. Over the years it became a wine shop and then, 150 years ago, a pub. Read the rest of this entry »

Regulars at the Sebright Arms, on Coate Street, Bethnal Green, were facing ‘last orders’ after the pub’s owner submitted plans to replace it with flats.

Instead, it’s ‘cheers’ all round after last Wednesday’s planning committee voted unanimously to follow planners’ recommendations and kicked the scheme out.

Planning officers reported that there were several problems with the application, including a lack of family-sized accommodation required under local planning guidelines, overlooking and privacy issues, and that the design was not in keeping with the area.