Moretown Belle, Wapping, E1

Located on the ground floor of an office of apartment block, the Moretown Belle is an enormous bar and diner. Out the front are picnic tables on fake grass, that were empty during a recent midweek afternoon visit that would have been not long before office kicking out time. Inside is a large U-shaped bar counter that comes out of the rear wall. This supports two pairs of hand pumps, both with Deuchars and one unused. Standard, premium and craft keg was also available and food is served, the burgers range from £12 for a plain burger to £18 for a surf & turf burger. To the left of the counter are three pool tables and along the left-hand wall are three well-kept dartboards. Booths run across the front windows opposite the bar and high tables are found to the right where there is also a double sided beer shelf with stools. More booth seating is found further to the right and beyond is lots of diner type furniture. There are two massive projector screens that accompanying the televisions throughout for watching live sport. These were all muted whilst some background music played. The service was very polite, and I actually enjoyed my visit, although I would hate it in here at a busier time. I’d give a rating of 7/10 based on my visit, but if it was busy I’d probably give a 4 or 5 so I’ll settle on a generous 6/10.

Official site of Moretown Belle - www.moretownbelle.co.uk

Official site of Moretown Belle - www.moretownbelle.co.uk

The Cape is a modern bar that is in a redeveloped area. Once inside there is a large T shaped room with the bar facing,there is a small raised area near the entrance,there are american diner seating to the front right and left and normal tables and chairs,each side had the same sort of seating,but the left side has a recess which has a pool table,this is nice to see in a modern place like this. There were three real ales on the bar all from Trumans,i had a drink of Trumans Swift which was a very nice drink,the other beers were Lazarus and Zephyr. The TV was showing tennis and there was decent background music playing. This is a decent bar to visit if in the area. Pub visited 1/7/2015

This is a modern bar in a new build development adjacent to St Katharine’s Dock, in a very well heeled part of town. The inside is just what you would expect – a massive drinking area dominated by a massive horseshoe bar. The usual mix of seating is present – loads of tall tables/tall stools, some sofas, plus more than enough normal tables and chairs. The place is big enough to accommodate all seating styles. There is also some seating in an enclosed area outside at the front of the building. There are several TVs spread around the place (all muted and showing some tennis when I was in Wednesday afternoon), plus I spotted a cash machine and fruit machine snuggled up together behind the aspidistra. So far, so predictable. But what surprised me were the two banks of four handpumps, each clipped with the same quartet of Sambrook ales – Wandle, Junction, Powerhouse Porter, and Pumphouse Pale Ale (£1.95 a half). This place is run by Parity Bars, and had a typical pubco pub grub menu available, featuring sarnies (£5.50 a pop), wraps and melts (£6), and pub grub classic main courses for £8 a throw. Although this bar is totally devoid of traditional pub character, it was much better than I expected. The food was reasonably priced (although I didn’t test the quality) and four Sambrook’s ales on also provides a fair real ale selection – my Pumphouse Pale Ale was in good condition and went down very well on a warm and sunny day. It’s not really my kind of place, but I can see why it might be very popular with people who like functional bars.