This blog so far has been remarkably undebauched. So to avoid falling foul to the internet accuracy police, I have attempted to correct it this weekend through visits to various pubs in the area.
The first establishment was the Royal Oak – this Columbia Road pub is a stalwart of the East London pub landscape and has been known to be frequented by Alexa Chung (this is according to my girlfriend so probably give that 60% chance of being correct). You get it all here, the barmen obviously all have tatts, you don’t normally get seats, people dwell at tables over the Guardian weekend magazine and criticise the blind date section - but essentially, it is a great pub. I wouldn't eat here, as a non-banker I have a bit of an aversion to main courses which cost over £13. Steak doesn't count, but the staple items on the menu being around 15 quid is too much. Some owners may claim quality but plenty of places now manage to hit the £12 mark and are excellent (Market Cafe - I am looking at you with thumbs up). Leaving the Oak - where a Bloody Mary costs a very friendly £4.50 (chefs, take note of your barman’s pricing policy) I set out to continue my saturday drinking to Costcutter. I shan't review this, all you need to know is that it has a cash machine with the language option of cockney, and shop assistants who probably carry guns, in a friendly ‘protect your neighbourhood’ type of way.
Netil360 or Netil House is a non-pretentious private members’ club. Hhhmmmm. It presents a friendly atmosphere with yurts, hot tubs and amazing rooftop views over London. This place makes a lot of sense in the balmy summer, but coming in November isn't great. It is obviously cold and horribly exposed, and despite gallons of (bring your own) booze, a few hours of the type of exposure normally experienced by Sir Ralph Fiennes, leaves you wanting to cry. I will come back here in the summer, mainly to see more (unpretentious) people in yurts by London Fields and attempt to sneak in more booze to avoid the corkage prices – my crotch is not THAT impressive.
Leaving Netil House we decamped to the Cat and Mutton. It sits adjacent to London Fields, and is definitely a decent and civilised boozer. They have plenty of table and not much standing room but upstairs they have a bit more space for tangoing or whatever, and often have live music courtesy of the chaps at Hoxton Radio. You can’t really go wrong with this pub, although I would recommend booking a table if you are planning on eating to avoid awkwardly standing round the small bar staring at people eating, like one of the homeless chaps in residence opposite. Expect a fuller review once I have managed to get a table here.
No comments:
Post a Comment