East India Arms, Fenchurch Street, EC3

I visited the East India Arms a couple of days before Christmas and found a small Shepherd Neame pub with traditional décor. The usual SN draught was available with the likes of Oranjeboom. I counted five hand pumps, but three of these were unused leaving Spitfire and Whitstable Bay Pale Ale as the cask options. During my early evening visit a plasma screen was airing a muted 24 hour news channel and there was no background music. I found the service to be polite enough and I would have no problem popping back in if passing.

This is a very small single-room corner-site pub, now operated by the Shepherd Neame brewery. It’s so small that there’s no room for any furnishings other than some tall stools at ledges around the sides of the room. There were a couple of nice mirrors on one of the walls, one featuring a regal coat of arms that neither I nor my chum could identify. Looked quite nice though. The bar gantry was festooned with sheaves of dried hops, I guess to identify with a Kent brewery from the traditional home of the country’s hop growing industry. There were just Shep’s beer available of course – Spitfire; Whitstable Bay Pale Ale; Bishop’s Finger; and the seasonal Lat Red (£4.10 a pint) This struck as a real pub, although during my early evening busy it was absolutely heaving with punters. This is another pub that provides a pit stop for workers on the way home.

Official site of the East India Amrs - www.eastindiaarms.co.uk

Official site of the East India Amrs - www.eastindiaarms.co.uk