Fox @ Connaught, Royal Docks, E16

Official site of Fox @ Connaught - www.foxconnaught.co.uk

Official site of Fox @ Connaught - www.foxconnaught.co.uk

This is the other 1880s pub that bookends the Royal Docks. Like its partner at the other end, which is now called Galyons Bar & Kichen, this old Grade II Listed building is a lone survivor among all the modern buildings around it. It's a hotel, so it's no surprise the bar area looks like what it is - a hotel lounge, and it looks very corporate with all the staff wearing black. There's an exposed brick archway, which would at one time have provided a more than decorative separation between drinking/dining areas. It has plenty of outside drinking space, but it can get a bit noisy out there as it's surrounded by busy roads, the DLR, and is underneath the London City Airport flightpath. Moving back inside, two of the three handpumps had Oliver's Island and London Pride clips reversed, leaving only Bombardier available. A half of Bombardier and a smallish bottle of sparkling water was £5.10. I rarely buy sparkling water, and hadn't realised it was so expensive. There are glossy pub grub menus around - but unsurprisingly not cheap, with, for example, a burger and chips at £12.50. They've managed to achieve the cheap hotel lounge look. But there's no other pub anywhere nearby, so it's obviously good that this one's a survivor.

Large bar / restaurant, forming part of the Grade II listed Connaught House Hotel. The original building, once the Connaught Tavern (designed by architects George Vipers and TR Wagstaff for the London & St Katherine Dock Co), is now surrounded by single-storey extensions which the place a distinctly curious appearance. It is also in a very odd location, lying isolated from the docks and penned in on all sides by various roads, hotels and the DLR at the east end of the ExCeL exhibition centre. Semi-modern decor. Large patio beer garden. Two of three handpumps in operation, with Pride and Spitfire (£4.00) available.