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Beer of the Week (w/e 17th March 2024) with Mobyduck on the Pub Forum

The Pride of Spitalfields, E1

3 Heneage Street
E1
E1 5LJ
Phone: 02072478933

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Quinno _ left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

Much as it ever was, which means a solid bet and a survivor in an area that has seen its demographic shift far away from the traditional cockney working man of old. I went for a Five Points Pale which was fine, if a little lacking in vim (NBSS 3). The Crouch Vale and Fullers seem to be the main shifters in here.

August 2019
A long overdue revisit. Not much has changed! A wonderful traditional pub run with care and attention, comfy and cosy. Five ales on; Pride, ESB, Doom Bar, Truman's Pacific and Crouch Vale Brewers Gold. A pint of the latter was just £3.90 and in fair shape (NBSS 3) but sadly not the beer it was, a distinct diacetyl/sweet corn smell and a bit of an edge I didn't care for, shame. Great to see this place still going and I’ll try not to leave it as long next time. Rated 8

December 2008
Small, traditional, tight boozer just off Brick Lane with a good set of well-kept ales (the Crouch Vale Brewers Gold was a real 10/10 – others include Fullers London Pride, ESB and Sharps Doombar). The good atmosphere is created by a heady mix of punters - from Guardianista East End clichés through to businessmen having a high quality liquid lunch. There's a stall selling cheap sarnies inside, so no need to move too far if you get the munchies between pints (although of course there a number of curry houses nearby). We were also subjected to the pub cat (which can sleep through anything) deciding that we were sitting in his space and could we move along please? And who could begrudge him? Wonderful place, well worth making the trip - one of East London's finest. Rated 8

On 15th August 2023 - rating: 8
[User has posted 5030 recommendations about 5013 pubs]


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Tris C left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

Until around 1985, this pub was known as The Romford Arms, a name which can be seen to the bar back. Situated down a little street just off Brick Lane, it's somewhat anachronistic in that it's like going back in time prior not just to the arrival of the hipsters but Bangladeshis too; I doubt the place has changed in decades, though there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. As mentioned it's a very traditional backstreet boozer which at the very least seems to be friendly and family run.
Well described below, after a gap of 80 months since my first and last visit, it's clear that the choice of ales isn't exactly on frequent rotation with Doom, ESB, Crouch Vale's Brewer's Gold and Five Points Best, on superb form and at just £2.30 a half, a snip compared to other local pubs.
A great boozer.

On 15th February 2023 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1943 recommendations about 1910 pubs]


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hondo . left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

Tucked away on a side street. Proper old school no nonsense pub. 5 real ales and food served.

On 26th September 2017 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]


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Robin Baldwin left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

This is a great pub for the area, with good character. Admittedly, I do like the cosmopolitan vibe to Aldgate e.g. a good curry on Brick Lane. However, this pub does the area justice. An old piano - when was the last time any pub had a good singsong? Good pictures- mainly of boats along a canal I cannot identify. One which I liked - a man in a bowler hat greeting a baby in a pram.Was the man Clement Attlee (former British Prime Minister.) Lunchtime grub quite good as well. Keep up the good work! Thanks...

On 7th May 2017 - rating: 7
[User has posted 7 recommendations about 7 pubs]


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Ian Mapp left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

A lovely throwback to a different era kind of pub. Just off Brick Lane, so worth checking out before a bang average curry is consumed.

Packed on a Monday Night - people air guitaring inside, sat on the kerb outside.

Excellent ESB.

On 6th October 2016 - rating: 9
[User has posted 277 recommendations about 276 pubs]


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Moby Duck left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

Hidden away in Heneage Street this pub offers welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of Brick Lane just around the corner.A traditional pub in every sense of the word,I've never had a poor visit.The Crouch Vale Brewers Gold was as good as ever,also available in the ale stakes were Sharps Doombar,Fullers E.S.B. and London Pride.Can get busy at times being a small pub but well worth the effort.

On 27th June 2012 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1853 recommendations about 1827 pubs]


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John Bonser left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

In a quiet side street off Brick Lane, in London’s East End, is The Pride of Spitalfields.

It’s a small traditional unpretentious single bar freehouse with two adjoining rooms. The main bar is comfortably furnished with red velour seats and bar stools, a carpet and lace curtains. The light coloured wall opposite the small bar counter is decorated with old photographs of the area. A CAMRA mirror sits proudly above an exposed brick fireplace. In one corner is a piano, although I didn’t see anything to indicate it was regularly played. High up above, and to one side of the bar, are a number of Fullers beer jugs and pots.

A separate room on the right of the main entrance is a smaller room and features dark wood panelling and an old Ind Coope Romford Ale mirror. Place mats suggest that this area is principally intended for diners. The food counter – Mary’s Pantry – is next to the bar and serves food of the ham, egg and chips / omelette and chips variety.

On my recent Friday lunchtime visit, the pub was quite busy with Mary’s Pantry churning out chips, chips and more chips with burgers, omelettes etc to a mixture of both students and office workers. It is, however, most definitely first and foremost a pub with an encouraging proportion of the wet trade being for one of the 5 real ales.

5 pumps were serving Crouch Vale Brewers Gold, Fullers London Pride and ESB, plus Sharps Doom Bar and Winter Ale. Although it’s not a Fullers pub and not branded as such, several promotional enamel plaques on the wall outside indicate an emphasis on their beers and they have always been present on my rare visits.

The Crouch Vale Brewers Gold was in excellent form and I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity of a pint of ESB at a cheap £ 3, although I have to report that it wasn’t desperately good. London Pride is offered at £ 2.90p – certainly cheaper than you will find it in most Fullers tied houses. The pub features regularly in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

In an area of London where, not surprisingly, there isn’t a lot of demand for pubs, this is a true oasis and it’s well worth making the effort to track down

On 21st February 2012 - rating: 7
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]


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Roger Button left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

Tucked away down a cobbled side street just off London’s curry capital, Brick Lane, the Pride of Spitalfields has enjoyed a deservedly glowing reputation for many years.

The pub has barely changed since my first vist at least 10 years ago and its unspoilt old fashioned approach is what endures it to so many people. A traditional boozer, the L-shaped interior is divided into 2 by a small arched entrance with a small snug to the right as you go in and the main bar ahead. The main bar centres on an exposed brick fireplace and the mass of pictures, photos, old bills, receipts, invoices and brewery mirrors that adorn the walls. High shelves contain a collection of used beer bottles and a few chamber pots dangle over the arch to the smaller bar. This section has some paneled walls and in the corner a very old and quite small TV that would look outdated anywhere else but somehow seems at home in the Pride. A selection of piped music offered a good slice of 70’s/80’s soft rock. The entrance to the cellar is housed in the snmaller bar so the area is occasionally unusable if there is a delivery due. There are also a couple of benches outside on the pavement.

The rear section of the main bar acts as a food counter labeled “Mary’s Pantry whilst the traditional bar canopy is crowned with ceramic pots and has a selection of old pump clips on display although for some reason I always seem to find the same beers here on each visit, the selection for my latest sojourn being Fullers London Pride & ESB (which was off), Sharps Doom Bar and Crouch Vale Brewers Gold. A fifth pump had a reversed second Pride clip. I stuck mainly to the Brewers Gold which at £2.90 a pint was good value and good quality however I did however digress to a pint of Sharps Orchard cider, simply because I had never come across it before.

The pub attracts a mixed bag of locals, curry hunters and traders and you will more often than not find one stool is occupied by the permanently disinterested pub cat. The service is friendly and efficient and the general ambience very relaxed making it an essential stop when in the area and it seems like a different world from the heart of the City a few minutes walk away.

On 14th October 2011 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]


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Sean Tracey left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

Wonderful old style English pub with great real ale. If you get a seat you may have to share it with the pub cat, he won't be budged.

On 26th July 2011 - rating: 10
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]


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Pub SignMan left this review about The Pride of Spitalfields

The Pride of Spitalfields is a classic, two room East-end boozer, just off Brick Lane. The entrance takes you into the main bar which is carpeted with banquette and low stool seating. At the end of the bar there is a servery called Mary's Pantry which seems to offer sandwiches as well some bits aimed at tourists such as Pride of Spitalfields T-shirts, although it appeared to be shut on my recent visit. The room has a nice brick fireplace and the obligatory upright piano and there are collections of pump clips and old bottles as well as plenty of photos depicting life on the nearby Grand Union Canal. A large projector screen was rolled up at the back of the room and there was a rather incongruous mirror ball on the ceiling, but sports coverage was confined to a small TV in the other room which was showing cricket, whilst thoughts of a disco were put to bed by the 60's music soundtrack on a skipping CD. The second room is quite small and provides some additional seating.
There are five hand pumps on the bar, but only four were on offering Fuller's London Pride and ESB, Sharp's Doom Bar and Crouch Vale Brewer's Gold. My Brewer's Gold was in good shape and poured by a friendly barmaid who was very welcoming to regulars and strangers alike.
It's a little odd to step out of such a traditional British pub like this and find yourself in the middle of Brick Lane, but perhaps that's part of its charm. Either way, this pub is well worth a look if you're in the area for a curry or otherwise.

On 22nd July 2011 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3093 recommendations about 3093 pubs]

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