The Denmark Arms, East Ham, E6

This is a very large and ornate street corner pub in the heart of East Ham, currently operated by the Antic pub group. Entering through the front door, you find yourself in a big, opened out space with exposed floorboards, extremely high arched windows and a nice lincrusta ceiling. Padded benches down the right-hand side have been formed into booths, with a couple more of them awkwardly plonked in the middle of the room and standard tables and chairs filling in any remaining gaps. The servery has a central position, having been built to serve separate rooms around it which have now been knocked through into one big space. The bar runs in a satisfying curved shape with dark wood panels on the front and a large stone pillar part-way along. The bar back is a great feature with some wonderful carved wooden details such as posts with small globes on the top and a few stained-glass panes with old books on top and a painting of a young Queen Elizabeth II above, although overall, the bar back appears to be incomplete, having presumably lost sections in the refit. The wall to the left has some lovely green glazed tilework with several floral motif inserts, whilst above the tiles there is a decorative carved stone frieze that runs around most of the pub above a polished stone dado. A small section of mosaic tile flooring has been retained in the narrow space alongside the bar and it’s tempting to try and picture how great all of this would have looked when the pub was in its heyday. Beyond the servery, there is another large open space, similar in size to the front part of the pub. More standard tables and chairs fill the space, there is a nice tiled fireplace on the back wall, a different carved stone frieze can be seen running around the room and the ceiling is very impressive too. The music of Prince was playing quietly in the background on my late mid-week evening visit and there were very few customers in, with the lone barmaid spending most of her time helping a drunk old boy book a taxi home. I spotted three handpulls on the bar when I arrived, dispensing ELB Cowcatcher and Foundation Bitter with the final pump left unused. However, upon leaving, I spotted three more pumps on the rear part of the bar, although I didn’t go and check if these were double clipped or different beers. The Cowcatcher was a pleasant pint and arrived in good nick despite the lack of punters. This is a pretty spectacular pub that has lost out from numerous refurbishments over the years, but still retains enough of its former character and grandeur to merit a visit. It’s not as shabbily presented as other Antic pubs and seems to know how to look after its beer, so I would imagine it is one of the best options for a pint or two in the local area.

Official site of Denmark Arms - denmarkarms.com

Official site of Denmark Arms - denmarkarms.com

bought by Antic Pubs

This large boozer isn’t that bad a place for an afternoon beer considering the location. It is split into two sections with some seating and a flat screen TV in the front area and another flat screen, a projector screen and three pool tables around the back. Sky Sports is shown and whilst I was there a World Cup game was showing, although for some reason this was muted and some disco music was playing in the background. The bar is stocked with standard draught products and I was served by a friendly barmaid, it’s just a shame that the Guinness wasn’t the best. There are some signs up in the windows advertising karaoke on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays and there is a DJ on Fridays. There is a no admission policy after midnight, so heaven knows what time this place closes – looking at some of the locals, probably never. This pub has seen better days and I don’t plan on returning to the area anytime soon for a second visit.

There is some very attractive and interesting original Victorian green tiling inside, plus some original cast iron pillars. Unfortunately the tiling was obscured by “no smoking” signage, plus adverts for the “great value food” and the forthcoming poker night. Seating is mainly banquette style, with some high stools and tables as well as some “caff” style tables and chairs in the back room that is essentially now a pool room. There were some old photographs on the walls that seemed to be of local scenes – I recognised the impressive town hall opposite in one of them. The serried ranks of games machines and one armed bandits complete the picture. It seemed a pretty soulless place on a damp and murky Wednesday lunchtime, though maybe it would seem more welcoming at other times. They didn’t have any real ale on, and the Stella was off during my visit. Frankly, I can’t see much to recommend this place, and doubt whether I shall be visiting again.