The Pembury Tavern, E8

I haven't been to the Pembury Tavern since it's brief spell as a Banks and Taylor pub over twenty five years ago. If someone had told me back in the day that in thirty years time over half of the pubs in this area will have closed down, then I would have straight away nominated this as one of the favourites to go. In those days it had a terrible reputation for drug dealing, violence and all sorts of trouble. Now it survives as a GBG entry with decent looking food and interesting beers. On my Saturday afternoon visit it was quite busy with many who appeared to be off to a football match. Maybe they were heading to Tottenham via the nearby Hackney Downs Station. The bar sports four banks of four handpumps, nearly all in use but at least one had a cider. As has been noted most of the beers are from the Milton brewery in Cambridge. I went for their Nero which at £3.20 was cheaper than other competing alehouses in the area. It turned out to be a black beer and was in excellent condition. Happily There seemed to be no evidence at all of the usual global corporate abomination's keg dross. Definitely worth a visit.

Nice but very spartan interior.The sort of pub when busy has a real good feel but when quiet feels like a museum.Doesn,t appear to be owned by Milton but tied to Milton beers which to me are a bit hit and miss.Very busy on quiz night and they have 3 or 4 beer fests every year.

Milton ales predominated during my visit on Saturday lunchtime. They all had an ancient theme – Nike; Dionysus; Tiki; Nero; Pegasus; Sparta; Minotaur; and Abeona all being available, plus a couple of ales from other breweries. The pump clips for the Milton ales offered no clue as to ale style, so I took a lucky dip for the mid range ABV Pegasus, which turned out to be a decent drop of ale. A wall board might be helpful in giving punters a clue as to ale styles when they offer so many rarely seen ales. There’s enough room for one on the walls, and they do have a board for the range of decent bottled beers that they do. There was a food menu on a board above the bar, but pizzas (or “le pizze” according to the menu) seem to be the main food item. The pub itself is something of a monolith standing on a major junction in Hackney. Inside there’s nothing traditional or cosy about it, being essentially a sanitised drinking space. But on the plus side there’s a pool table and bar billiards – oh, and ten ales as well. This is a destination pub for the ale drinker or someone looking for interesting bottled beers – just don’t expect a traditional boozer.

First visit to this pub having heard good reports,I wasn't disappointed,of 16 handpumps 10 were on early afternoon ,good management in quiet times of day,wasn't put off by the large barn like interior, although I could imagine it would be very noisy when busy.As with the pub most if not all the beers were new to me so I asked who I took to be the Landlord for a recommendation ,hoppy,citrus and not to high an ABV ,I was pointed in the direction of Buntingford Galaxy, an excellent choice and proved to be beer of the day.An enjoyable visit and it won't be my last.

I popped into this pub early one Saturday evening to find they were having a beer festival and was therefore faced with the task of trying to pick one beer from a selection of 16 on handpull and a further 8 on stilage near the front door. A massive beer list at the bar which detailed countless more ales that were either due to come on or had already gone was little help in whittling things down, so I plumped for a pint of Milton Minotaur, given that the pub serves as a regular outlet for the brewery. I enjoyed my pint very much and it seemed that most of the other customers were quite rightly getting stuck into the very impressive range of beer that stood before them. The pub itself is a little bland, with bare floorboards and plain white walls in the large open area opposite the bar counter and in the smaller seating areas either side of the bar. There were a few modern art prints on the walls, seemingly for sale, one or two adverts for the Milton Brewery and a collection of pump clips snaking around the beams, but otherwise it all felt a bit bare and sterile. Seating was mostly standard chairs around tables of various sizes, but there were one or two benches and pews here and there. Food was being served and I spotted a decent looking pizza menu that seemed quite popular with the locals. A pool table was in constant use in the left rear corner of the room and a bar billiards table was situated nearer the front. I also spotted a book swap scheme. I quite liked it in here, despite the drab surroundings, although the lively atmosphere may have been helped by the beer festival. The staff were polite and patient and the beer is clearly the star of the show, which is always a plus in my book. I'd certainly return again and would be interested to see the place on a normal night.