The Victoria, E8

The Victoria is a typical black painted London pub that is close to a very busy road junction. Once inside there is a large single room with the bar facing,the room is bare boarded and the seating is a mix of uncomfortable types which looked like they came from a skip,some looked like sixties type tables and chairs,there was also long wood benches in the middle of the room which would look better on a cricket pavilion. There were four unclipped pumps on the bar,so it was a choice of the keg beers on tap,i had a drink of London Stout which was a decent drink,but not sure who brews it. I could not be bothered to note the other keg beers. Food was available,but i would not like to have a meal in this pub. I thought this was a pretty sad pub and it was also empty on my Saturday dinner visit. Pub visited 11/6/2016

Black-painted pub and toilet gig venue – the only reason I schlepped out this far was to catch the mighty Prolapse play live. The bar is a pretty squalid affair in all honestly, stripped back and grubby – ‘hipster chic’, no doubt – and not at all welcoming. Two items of note are the old Charrington island bar stature (how did that survive?) and a library section to the left. The gents is the worst I’ve encountered in many a year, a urinal than can (just) fit two people and a cubicle with a door that opens directly into the nearest person standing and aiming - wet shoes galore. Despite saying ‘ales’ on the outside, none were available and looked like they haven’t been for quite some time. There were some keg options and it was hard to work out exactly what was what as they all had a generic black and white label. There was some sort of London Porter and what I deduced to be Camden Hells lager. I had a pint of each and the prices were at least a little less stupid than I feared, the Camden being £4.50 and the Porter £4.20. The live music venue is cunningly concealed via a large concealed door in the ‘library’ section to the left. The room in here is a basic rectangle with the stage at the far end. It’s a complete sweatbox but is decent enough – and for that I am thankful. Perhaps if they made more effort with the pub they might be able to refurbish the bogs? Just a thought… 7 as a music venue, 4 as a pub.