The Barley Mow, EC2

Official site of The Barley Mow - thebarleymowshoreditch.co.uk

Official site of The Barley Mow - thebarleymowshoreditch.co.uk

Tucked away in the heart of hipster Shoreditch, this is a fairly traditional feeling London boozer that seems to have avoided the follies of gentrification that have afflicted many pubs in this part of town. The pub is quite a compact affair, with a single bare boarded room, dominated by the servery in the front left portion. The bar has a simple wood panelled counter and impressive traditional bar back, given a modern twist by replacing the old ‘Wines’, ‘Spirits’ etc... inserts with period-style Czech beer brands instead. Pew and low stools seating runs around the perimeter, including under the large front windows with modern Fullers and Czech beer branding – the latter seemingly having some sort of stake in this pub. To the rear, a small area beyond the bar has a single table with low stools and a fairly cramped standing area which offers minimal overspill for this easily packed out room. Decor is fairly basic throughout and there were a couple of TV screens which remained turned off during my stay, with a decent music playlist just about audible under the din of a crowded room. The barmaid who greeted me on arrival initially seemed like a typically gruff, abrupt type, but having handed over my pint, she then came out from behind the bar and shuffled some people around so I’d have somewhere to sit, all unprompted, which was a pleasant surprise. Four hand pumps offered a decent choice between Adnams Ghost Ship, Dark Star Hophead, Fullers London Pride and a real cider. The Hophead was a somewhat hefty £4.70, but was in pretty good shape and I quite enjoyed sitting here reading my paper and watching some of the pub’s characters come and go. This place doesn’t really do a great deal to stand out, but at least does a lot of the basics fairly well. The beer range is pretty good, the quality seemed to be up to scratch and the place is comfortable and has a lively feel on a week day evening. Proper pubs like this are tricky to find in this part of town, so this one is well worth knowing about.

Nice pub with 4 cask beers from Darkstar,Fullers,Butcombe and one other.Good beer.

A wonderfully charming little corner pub, just a small single room with wood flooring and walls a mix of wood panel and exposed brick.Bench seating around the walls with small round tables and suitably sized stools. Snack food was available in the form of sausage rolls ,pork pies and hot pork baps. A good selection of four cask beers on the bar were, Gypsy Hill Hepcat, Adnams Mosaic, London Pride and Marble Pint which was good. The beers were on the pricey side at £4.40 upwards but this is the way it is in London unfortunately. The pub itself is a little gem.

Old school, rough & ready, one room, wood floor pub whose larger than life guv & bar customers may look a little daunting to the faint-hearted but are friendly enough. Three Fullers beers on handpull but they let the side down, Pride was pretty awful, hopefully I was just unlucky on my visit.