Chequers, Walthamstow, E17

This pub is well described by previous reviewers. It's much bigger than it appears from the High St, with a couple of rooms in addition to what I would call the main bar area. It was quite busy when we visited at around 6.0 PM on a Wednesday evening, with the only place where we could find a seat accommodating five was the add-on room at the back. It's good to see an excellent pub like this doing the sort of trade that it deserves. I'm afraid I failed to note all the beers on, but there were several real ales available. I do recall that the Sambrook's pairing of Junction and Powerhouse Porter were both available. This is a cracking pub that actually feels like a real pub. This is another Walthamstow pub worth including on any crawl of the area.

The Chequers is situated on Walthamstows market street so is very handy if shopping around here. Once inside there is an L shaped room which is bare boarded,there is a raised area to the front right with bench seating on the left side which is down a few steps,the rest of the seating is normal tables and chairs. There was a very good choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Wild card Jack of Clubs which went down very well,the other beers that i noted were Greene King St Edmunds,Trumans Runner,ELB Springflower and Brecon Time Beacon. The pub was packed on my late Saturday afternoon visit. This is a really nice market pub to have a few in. Pub visited 21/3/2015

Situated on a section of pedestrianised street which seemingly doubles up as a market space, this is a nicely revamped pub offering good food and drink in a part of town seemingly lacking credible alternatives. You enter into a bare boarded main room, past a small, candlelit snug on the left which has nice frosted ‘Chequers’ windows. To the right is a raised seating area with benches and standard chairs, a few pillars which break up the space, antlers on the walls and heavy drapes in the front windows. A row of wooden panels partition this area from the lower, bar level which sees a couple of small tables sat in front of a U shaped servery with a modernised bar back painted in a neutral colour scheme. To the right of the bar, there is a fairly empty area with table football and an old front door hung on the end wall. A set of functioning doors lead out to the side patio area which looked quite pleasant with fairy lights, a large mural and a corrugated iron roof. The left side of the pub has two lower level areas, both rather drab unfortunately. Large windows help illuminate the standard seating options and minimal décor. The rear section had some Chinese lanterns hung from above and a few old pictures on the walls, making it the nicer of the two halves. A counter near the bar had been piled up with board games and I also noted that dog treats were available too. Loud music played throughout my stay, but it was late on a Friday evening and may not always be the norm. I doubt the beer selection was the norm either, as I appear to have visited during some sort of Cornish themed festival as the hand pumps were dispensing a range of beers from the Tintagel brewery (Castle Gold, Harbour Special, Arthur’s Ale and Cornwall’s Pride), plus two Cornish Orchards ciders. Copper Dragon Golden Pippen looked very much out of place on the remaining pump. I gave the Castle Gold a try and thought it was in great shape, slipping down nicely as the last pint of the day. Keg options included Belhaven Black and Symonds Cider, whilst Whitstable Kentish lager was being heavily promoted around the bar. High Street pubs are normally the sort of places you’d happily give a wide berth to, but this place has been given a good amount of care and attention, making it one of the area’s more welcoming and appealing pub options. I enjoyed a brief visit here and would happily return when next in town.

Official site of Chequers - www.chequerse17.com

Official site of Chequers - www.chequerse17.com