Ye Olde Black Bull, Stratford, E15

Visited 28/01/26. Visited previously 07/05/19. Cask here was TT LL and Tribute with two non-dispensing hand pumps. Keg offering of Guinness, Moretti, Fosters, Aspall, Amstel, K1664, Neck Oil, Heineken, Brixton Reliance Pale Ale, original SB, John Smiths. Up front I really like this place even though not that interesting on the beer front. Have had some good memories here. Last time here saw Liverpool beat Barca 4-0 to get to 2019 Champions League final. Fair to say a raucous evening. The pub is old school, glass frontage on main road and side street, bar counter an L shaped affair with seating on tall stools down the longer side down the spine of the pub and the rear side. Bare boarded, tiled skirt along the longer side of the bar counter and then carpeted on the right-hand side, the rear part also stone tiled. Generally regular tables and chairs, wood panelling on the walls at the rear leading to an outside beer garden. Nice lighting, plenty of screens showing recorded footy action and the build-up to evening’s Champions League fixtures with no sound, that provided by a melancholic Dire Straits soundtrack during my time here, but quite low volume and pub conversation being the dominant volume.

A decent looking, pre-Victorian corner pub and though the inside has obviously been knocked through and altered over the years it manages to maintain a good trad pub feel inside. There are Five hand pulls on the bar, a choice of three available, St Austell Tribute, Woodfordes Wherry and T.T Landlord, the latter in reasonable shape at £5.20 a go. A half decent pub with friendly and welcoming service.

I'd spotted that this place had made it into the latest Good Beer Guide and decided to give it a try before a recent game at West Ham's London Stadium. Trying to contact them to find their opening time in the week leading up to the game proved fairly fruitless, as nobody ever answered the phone. So, I had assumed normal midday opening for a Sunday. I eventually arrived just before midday. I'd been killing time by going to the awful Hackney Bridge bar and ended up getting soaked again walking across Stratford to Ye Olde Black Bull. A friend of mine had arrived well before me just after 11am and had found it to already be packed. So, I suspect it may open as early as 10am on a matchday. The owner sits on a stool at the door controlling the crowds and vetting who comes in. Inside, the pub has a nice, traditional feel. A matchday was probably not the best time to appreciate it. Nor was a matchday the best time to come to see why the pub has made the Good Beer Guide. I quite enjoyed my Wherry, but it was the only real ale on. Although, they'd apparently run out of a couple of other beers earlier (I think one was Tribute and the other was a Ringwood beer). The atmosphere was quite boisterous, as you would expect. Live World Cup cricket was being shown on TV screens. I've yet to find a decent pub in Stratford. Despite its nice, traditional interior, I'm struggling to rate this a decent either. If only the Hammers were still at Upton Park and the excellent nearby Boleyn Tavern.