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Old China Hand, EC1
EC1
EC1R 4RQ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about Old China Hand
Long narrow and busy pub.Ping pong table at rear on my last visit..Good bottle beer selection. On cask were beers from Franklins,Gloucester and Belleville.I tried the infamous Wrexham lager on keg which was surprisingly good.
On 11th March 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about Old China Hand
Quite a plain interior with chunky wooden tables and chairs. 4 real ales,"craft keg" and an extensive bottle selection served. Darts and ping pong available.
On 20th October 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Old China Hand
Once The Three Crowns, this place describes itself as 'No Ordinary Pub', run by the same family for the last ten years and selling 'Only British Beers, Wine, Spirits and Soft Drinks'. I didn't known that Beerlao was British - I thought it was Laotian. The equally British dim sum has also gone as the pub no longer does any food at all; drinkers are invited to bring their own, providing they buy a drink. The interior is extremely gloomy and stark with dark grey walls with sconce lights and a hammock above the bar, illuminated with fairy lights; the floor is bare boarded. Upstairs is a ping-pong table.
Ales: two unused pumps and Frog Island's Amber Daze and Dancing Duck's Nice Weather at a very cheap £2.00 a half, though it was a rather dull ale so perhaps this is explained by the price.
There isn't much here, indeed it is no ordinary pub. Perhaps it would be a better place if it were just a little more ordinary.
On 6th May 2016
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Old China Hand
This used to an O’Hanlon’s pub, but no longer so since that brewery went west. The sign outside makes the claim that this is no ordinary pub. Well that’s certainly true. The look of the pub seems to be unchanged since Maldenman’s visit, but they now have a table tennis (or ping pong as they call it) table at the back for the use of customers. That is a first for me in a pub, and it was quite entertaining watching a party playing apparently after a few drinks. They no longer offer dim sum, (shame, as it used to be good) but it seems they may do so in future if they can engage a suitable chef, but in the meantime food is restricted to assorted nibbles.
There are still four handpumps on the bar counter – two unused, and the other two dispensing Orkney Best and Stonehenge Great Bustard on my visit at lunchtime today. They also have an impressive range of unusual bottled beers. I treated myself to a 333 ml bottle of Beerlao (for £3.30) – the last time I had that beer was in a backstreet bar in Vientiane when a 660 ml bottle cost 50p. Still, it’s a decent rice based beer though. It’s definitely worth a visit to this place if you like unusual and a bit quirky pubs; especially if like ones that do decent ale.
On 8th June 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about Old China Hand
An unusual spot, long and narrow, yet with two clearly defined areas, the front section with the bar and a more secluded strip at the back. The interior is modern and has a mix of what I can only describe as Oriental/African decor and furniture, especially the seating and tables which vary in design and form an unusual eclectic mix. Dim Sum is a speciality it appears. The general theme was reinforced by a low volume, chilled world music soundtrack.
A distance from my idea of a traditional pub, but I still liked it, four pumps but only two in use on my visit, O'Hanlons Port Stout and Sambrook's Wandle. Tried the Wandle and it was in good nick.
I didn't sample the dim sum, but some bloke did call in for a takeaway while I was in, and the menu looked interesting.
On 3rd February 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]