HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 23 – EAST LONDON.

Well, if my Central London selections were “bobbins“, I dread to think what this lot from the east of the capital are. Once again, while they’re all Beer Guide pubs I’m more fussed about getting you to visit the best bits of the “county” as much as its “best” pubs. Whatever “best” is.

NB I’d have liked the Pride of Spitalfields just off Brick Lane in, but it’s near on 20 years ago since I went and it needs a return visit.

So let’s start by the river.

Wapping – Prospect of Whitby

Wapping is proper London, the steps down Pelican Stairs (honest) to Wapping Beach as Dickensian as it gets.

I’m not sure the Prospect of Whitby is any better than the nearby Captain Kidd or the Town of Ramsgate, but the ghosts of Judge Jeffrey loom large, the beer was great, and the staff fantastic.

“Any concerns that I’d be a lone drinker hogging a table needed for diners disappeared as they greeted me as a long lost friend (perhaps I am), one of the best welcomes in a London pub since Greenwich last year“

And that was on that momentous day in November 2020 when pubs closed for a second time, and we didn’t know if and when they’d come back.

Next up you get one of those old corner boozers in E2 that used to just serve Watney sludge but suddenly from about 2013 were full of hipsters with flowers from Columbia Road Market and £7 scotch eggs.

Bethnal Green – King’s Arms

So, while the King’s Arms may look a bit stark, it’s a high point in the Bethnal Green experience,

the place for strong stouts and stronger cheeses, and of course moths.

The actual MOTH club, where I go to hear weird Americana, is up the road in Hackney, which does all sorts of pubs very well.

Hackney – Pembury Tavern

But the Pembury really hit form when Five Points took it over from Waterbeach’s own Milton Brewery, which sort of pains me a bit to admit, but it’s true.

Five Points do pump clips exceptionally well,

and the Pembury is full of characters, and noisy billiards.

“So noisy it competes with “Cannonball” by the Breeders, and the inevitable shrieks of Christmas joy from office parties.“

Let’s head away from the young folks, to where the East End gets really cosmopolitan, next to the old ground of the Hammers.

Upton Park – Boleyn Tavern

Well, West Ham United and East London go together like Retired Martin and grumpiness and bobbins.

I thought the Boleyn one of the most gorgeous looking pubs anywhere, decent beer too, though perhaps located away from the drinkers a bit these days.

You have to come here, and walk the length of Green Lane, and eat noodles.

And you have to have a Bow pub as well; that where Cockneys come from don’t they ?

Bow – Lord Tredegar

We discovered this in the snow last Christmas, tucked away in some gorgeous lanes just off Mile End.

One of the great doors,

some wonderful seating by the fire, a gem of a barperson, Citra and Plum Porter, the works.

“London pubs have a particular gorgeousness about them; the Lord Tredegar has something of the Pineapple about it, and you wonder how it’s taken me 57 years to catch up with it.“

Where had it been hiding ? And how much else of London remains undiscovered ?

Over to you…

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

14 thoughts on “HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 23 – EAST LONDON.”

  2. I was unlucky at the Pembury Tavern when I was there almost two years ago, as there was no atmosphere and the Five Points Best wasn’t very good. It had been put on the bar when green; that is it wasn’t ready, with raw edges to the flavours and a harshness to the mouth feel. I’ve since had the same beer at the Euston Tap and a couple of days ago at the Green Goose in Bow, and on both occasions it was tremendous.

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      1. Thanks, but it was hard watching it in the pub as it was clear that VAR would be looking at it, and I thought 90% likely to overturn it. We should be able to go bonkers at a late equaliser. Celebrating a decision by a man watching a replay is just not the same. I’m hoping to see proper football in the Championship instead!

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  3. Excellent selection.
    Still like the Cock Tavern. Seen a few sniffy comments about it changing recently but any pub that has “The Worst Beer ‘Garden’ in the World” – it’s like an oubliette in a medieval castle – is all right with me.

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  5. I agree that you could send people to any of the Prospect of Whitby/Captain Kidd/Town of Ramsgate and they’d be happy. Throw in the Turner’s Old Star and the Grapes at Limehouse and you have one of the best pub crawls in London.

    The King’s Arms is great, but I remember it being very, very dark inside after 6pm. When I lived round there, we used to go The Approach Tavern and the Camel a lot more. And the Misty Moon, but that would never get in the GBG!

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      1. When I was in the Camel in Globe Town on Thursday the beer was hopeless. And no better after changing the barrel. The Florist along the road was very good for beer, but not much as a pub.

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  6. Not far from the Lord Tredegar is the Morgan Arms, also a good one. Interestingly (perhaps) they are actually both named after the same person – Sir Charles Morgan, 2nd Baronet of Tredegar

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