The Clarence Tavern, Stoke Newington, N16

No real ale, some craft keg and premium stuff plus wine on tap. Gastro kindergarten hell.

Official site of The Clarence Tavern - www.clarencetavern.com

Official site of The Clarence Tavern - www.clarencetavern.com

The inside of this pub looks like an uber luxurious hotel lounge. Sofas abound, arty paper lampshades are around the place, as well as small palms in pots in a couple of corners. There are two pewter topped bar counters on the left, with the first one dedicated to cake stands and some contraption that I can only assume is there to produce any of the 100 different teas they advertise. The second has the handpumps, but unfortunately for some reason the counter is about five feet wide meaning that it wasn't posible to read the detail on the pump clips. I recognised Young's London Gold, Courage Director's, and Charles Wells Eagle, but I needed to ask the barman about something called "Try Time", which turned out to be another Wells ale (I might have guessed as this is a Charles Wells pub. The food wasn't too unusual - on the menu I saw haddock and chips for 12.5 (£12.50 presumably), and a burger for 10.95. This isn't really my kind of pub. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with it, it's just that I prefer my pubs to be a bit more like traditional pubs rather than tea rooms.