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Picture of The Reliance
Image posted by Will Larter
Submitted on Friday, 24th March 2023
With picture contributions to 11515 other pubs
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The Reliance, EC1

336 Old Street
Shoreditch
EC1
EC1V 9DR
Phone: 02077296888
Correct details

Served areas

Reviews of The Reliance (Average Rating: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Pub SignMan left this review about The Reliance

This is a rather narrow but deep pub that blends contemporary stylings with a more traditional pub set-up to create a venue that should work for a wide range of customers. A small porch leads you into a bare boarded room with bi-fold doors to the front which open out to a few pavement seats outside on warmer days. High tables and chairs fill the front part of the room, with basic tables and chairs down the left-hand wall eventually giving way to a sofa at the rear. The bar is down the right-hand side and has a chunky timber fronted counter that looks quite cool, plus a bare brick bar back with a nice arched window to one side that looks through to the aforementioned entrance porch. A large blackboard across the bar back lists the full draught range whilst another on the opposite wall details the food options. To the rear, there’s a narrow dining area with lot of tables and chairs under bare brick walls with plenty of beer themed décor on display including a huge Guinness flag. Stairs lead up to a first floor function room with a large TV screen and plenty more seating.
Three handpulls were operational upon arrival, dispensing Taylors Landlord, Five Points XPA and a Seacider cider, but the pub seems to major on craft beer, offering eleven keg options that, aside from a couple of mainstream brands, were quite interesting. My pint of XPA was a reasonable £4.80 and drank pretty well – certainly a rare low price for this part of the city. The bar staff seemed pleasant enough and there was a modest sprinkling of customers on an early Saturday evening, marking this out as a decent option for a quieter pint compared to a lot of the surrounding bars and pubs.
I quite liked this place, which seemed to have given a bit of thought to how it might attract a mixed crowd, resulting in a comfortable drinking environment with a couple of good ale options and polite service. It doesn’t really do enough to stand out from the crowd, but I enjoyed my time here and would have no complaints if I found myself back here again some time.

Date of visit - 3rd June 2023

On 7th December 2023 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Reliance

Formerly a shop,now more of a dive bar where no one seems to care.There was a lack of furniture inside and even fewer customers,with the only interesting spot was a few traditional tables in a rear section with a sofa at the end by some exposed brick.Signage externally and inside makes much of the food offering but a blackboard apologised for a much reduced offering of cheesy chips or holumi fries. On ordering the cheesy chips the dippy barmaid said that was also off ,how about crisps instead ? . No attempt to correct the blackboard either.
Just a solitory London Pride pump but I wasnt going to risk it so forked out £5.70 for a keg Five Points Pale which was fobbing.I deposited the excess head on the grubby flooring.
One to avoid,I can't imagine a long existance in this form.

On 11th August 2021 - rating: 3
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about The Reliance

Despite the name and appearance of being a traditional old pub, this is in fact a modern shop conversion. Quite a woody sort of pub with bare boarded floor and a frontage which concertinas open. Furniture is ordinary and there's some bare brick. There's a TV (off, thankfully) but the music's really a bit loud for my elderly ears.
Ales: Fuller's London Pride, Dragonfly Brewery's 2 O'clock Ordinary and Sambrook's Junction at £2.30 which is rather steep, though this is super-trendy Shoreditch and not the once poverty-stricken Shoreditch.
This isn't a bad place and certainly not as bad as some on our crawl of the area. Actually, despite the age of the place, this is about the closest thing you'll get to a traditional pub in the immediate vicinity.

On 26th May 2016 - rating: 5
[User has posted 1956 recommendations about 1923 pubs]


View more reviews of The Reliance (4)
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Pub location see interactive map of local area
Map location corrected by Tris C
Old Street, 0.32 miles, 6 min walk (show)
Shoreditch High Street, 0.46 miles, 8 min walk (show)
Hoxton, 0.51 miles, 9 min walk (show)
Latest updates View all updates for The Reliance, EC1
7th Dec 2023, 18:47
Review submitted by Pub SignMan
 
11th Apr 2023, 22:24
Web Link submitted by Tris C approved

Pub Details

Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.

  • Accommodation : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Bar Billiards : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Beer Garden : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Car Park : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Darts : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Function Room : Yes last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Hot Food : Yes last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Jukebox : Yes last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Karaoke : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Live TV Sports : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Micropub : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Pinball : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Pool Table : No last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
  • Real Ale : Yes last updated 29 July 2013 by Dave McNally
  • Wheelchair Access : No - Gent's WCs downstairs. - last updated 26 May 2016 by Tris C
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