The Boleyn Tavern, E6

Prior to a visit to West Ham football club's new stadium, I decided to visit this classic old East End boozer that stood near West Ham's old ground. I waited outside with a group of other people for the doors to open. They were mostly West Ham fans who appeared to be tourists from overseas. Once inside, I had a choice of 4 real ales - Shepherd Neame Master Brew & Bishop's Finger, Thornbridge Lord Marples & Big Hug State of Mind Coffee Breakfast Porter. As it was not long after breakfast, it was an easy choice! The interior is stunning, with a lovely corner bar with etched glass and wooden partitions creating several different drinking areas. On the other side of the bar are a couple of adjoining rooms with a stained glass skylight amongst several other attractive features. This section of the pub appears to be more focused towards dining. It's well worth a visit here. A really enjoyable local pub that I'm glad has survived the local football club's move to Stratford.

I have only been here once before back in the 90’s when I sneaked in as an away supporter for a pint of keg fizz ( no real ales or craft beers back then ) and remember thinking that, despite the wall to wall crush of boozy football supporters, it was quite an ornate pub. So have been meaning to return since June last year when it reopened after an 18 month closure and a £1.5 Million renovation by the Remarkable Pubs Company and I achieved that a couple of weeks ago. In summary Wow ! I read somewhere that a company spokesman on reopening commented “The pub is now of a standard which would have wowed the locals when it first opened in 1899.” Well I’m certainly not going to argue with that. And I’m not going to try and describe the interior as I wouldn’t be able to do it justice, I implore you to come and see it for yourself. I’ll just say that my personal highlights were that the original 9 sectioned floor plan has been put back in and it was a real joy to explore the front several sections of the pub. The former large billiard and games room at the back of the pub with its wonderfully ornate stained glass skylight has now been turned into a smart dining room/kitchen section with private dining booths along its edges. And despite of being of a different supporting persuasion I fully appreciated the homage to their previous neighbours with the plaques to former West Ham legends in the dining booths and the wonderful collection of old black-and-white photos which adorn the corridor where the toilets are. The beer is now much better as well. There are groups of four ale hand pumps in both the front and back bar sections and for our visit there were three ales on in the shape of Adnams Mosaic, Shepherd Neame Late Red and St Austell Cornish Best. Between us we tried all three and they were all in good condition. Then there are several banks of keg taps which had a good selection of craft ales of differing styles including one from the Exhale micro brewery on the Blackhorse Road which I thought was a nice touch. We chose to eat lunch here as well and went for the Cumberland sausage and fish and chips from the mains menu and both were solid pub grub meals in our opinion. The pub wasn’t that busy early lunchtime so we chose to eat in the front bar section, rather than the dining room round the back. Very friendly service levels from the team running the bar and kitchen and all in all I couldn’t find anything to fault with this pub. This area of East London has lost so many drinking establishments, even before the Spammers moved out , but the Boleyn is now a beacon of light in this area. I hope it gets utilised enough to be able to survive the current trials and tribulations for the hospitality industry, because Britain needs pubs like this to survive.

A splendid looking corner pub with an even more splendid interior of woodwork and etched glass. A large central Island bar with several rooms/areas around it. I noted three cask beers, Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay,Five Points Best and Purity Jimbo, there were a couple more handpumps in the far back room , but I didn't venture in there to see if they had different beers on offer, there were numerous keg tops with some standard stuff but a lot of craft offerings, I settled for a Siren Lumina. pPlenty of room inside on a Thursday afternoon and quite relaxing.

An excellent restoration of a splendid Victorian pub, which very much leaves you wondering what is original and what is new. The island bar is surrounded by separate areas, divided by ornate partitions with some superb etched glasswork. The rear billiard room is now the restaurant, but kept nicely removed from the rest of the pub. A real fire with a couple of armchairs proved irresistible. Some good ales also with a highly-drinkable Southwark Bermondsey Best, Purity Pure Gold, TT Landlord and London Pride. There is a fair range of craft stuff also, for those who must. Well worth a visit, especially in an area short of good pubs.