The Bell, Leytonstone, E11

When I first came up to it I thought it was closed, very few people in it for a Saturday night, bearing in mind how many pubs are closed in the local area, one has to think that it may be under threat. The beer is o.k..

This plain and unadventurous East End boozer meets all the usual basic requirements one would generally look for in a pub without taking any steps to make it anything other than mundanely average. The interior is knocked through into a large L-shape with a couple of pool tables to one end. A smaller room to the left of the bar contains a dart board and there are a few TV with the usual screened Sport events. There is a trimuverate of unspectacular ales; London Pride, Greene King IPA and Bombardier, the latter of which was unavailable on my visit. The décor is nothing noteworthy and ambience as was OK although I was here for a function rather than a specific pub outing so probably not they best time to judge the place. It is essentially a safe enough bet although given that many pubs within close proximity are boarded up, its major claim is probably that it has remained open (although it was itself closed for a period before reopening in early 2009). A survivor for the time being perhaps but there isn’t enough here to guarantee for how long.