Farrs, E8

Farr's School of Dancing is pretty close to Dalston Junction station. This pub looks pretty grotty from the outside,once inside there is a large square shaped room with the bar facing to the rear,the floor is bare boarded,the seating is bench type on the right side and to the rear with chairs,there are wood benches in the middle area and tall tables and stools to the front. There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Dark Star Hop Head which went down well,the other beers noted were Five Points Hook Island Red and Arbour 02. I thought this was a decent enough pub just a shame they could not make the front look a bit smarter. Pub visited 11/6/2016

A large square room with the usual mish mash of interior furnishings to be found in most Antic outlets complete with distressed and peeling paint on the walls,however this set up works for me and quite liked this place,it was fairly busy on a Saturday afternoon as you would expect. A good lineup of beer from the likes London Fields, ELB and Siren Craft amongst others, the only downside was that although drinkable my choice of ELB Quadrant Oatmeal Stout was nearing the end of the barrel and one of my group who ended up with the third pint drawn found his to be undrinkable and returned it to the bar and it was replaced for an alternitive although not with complete good grace, getting a lecture on how all there beers are regularly tested and that his returned beer was OK, except it wasn't as I had taste comparing it against mine and it was going.A point docked for that.I did like it here though and will return.

Less than a minute's walk from Dalston Junction station, this Antic pub apparently takes its unusual name from a 1930's dance school that was previously the occupant of this building. The pub is easily spotted on approach thanks to a large logo sprayed onto the shutters of the neighbouring premises, although should you somehow miss this, there is no other signage to indicate you've got the right place. You enter into a sizeable main room with the usual half finished look that Antic seem to go in for. The rough floorboards have large gaps between them that could probably swallow your phone if you dropped it, and the walls are undressed and accordingly very ugly. High tables and rickety looking stools line up under the front windows, each table sporting its own angle poise lamp, which seems a bit daft as they are the best lit tables in the whole pub. A banquette runs down the right hand wall under a selection of black and white photos and there are long canteen style tables and benches filling the centre of the room. Seating options are rounded out by what appear to by old cinema chairs on the left, serving some very low, small tables which are underneath wall mounted suitcases, an ancient looking telephone and rather unexpectedly, a motorcycle which has been hung from the ceiling. An island servery appears mid way into the room and has an unusual red padded counter front and a collection of old radios on the canopy. Behind the bar you can find another seating area, mostly offering curved banquettes and more hideous bare walls to stare at. An uber-indie soundtrack played throughout my visit, but even the hipsters seemed to have forsaken the place, as I was the only one in on my Sunday afternoon visit. As with most Antic pubs, dubious design is often forgiven thanks to good beer and there was a fairly good range available to me, comprising London Fields Love Not War and American Black IPA, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Adnams Lighthouse and Revolutions Go Go American Pale. I tried a pint of the latter which was in very good shape and the barman was careful to pull the line through before pouring. I normally find that the Antic folk achieve a good balance with their interior design, but this place left me pretty cold. I was left to wonder whether I might have felt differently had the pub been a lot busier, as perhaps a bit of ambiance might have offset the drab surrounds. This might be one that needs further investigation and the fact that this would be tempered with another good pint makes that a much more enticing prospect.

This is one of the latest additions to the Antic range, and like all their pubs every expense has been spared in endowing it with an air of elegance. As usual, furnishings are mismatched tables and chairs, some banquettes, what look like re-cycled cinema seats and gash bits of wood as tables. By the window are some tall, backless uncomfortable looking stools with more gash bits of wood serving as tables. Apparently this was a dance school before WWII, so maybe it’s re-cycled dance studio stuff. Solid and well worn planks of wood form the flooring, and in the antic way the generally unfinished decorative state imples work in progress, although there was no evidence of any work in progress. But on the plus side there were the usual half a dozen or so ales on – I had something called Revolution Reward (£3.90 a pint), which was a very tasty best bitter. Beer was served in dimpled jugs, with no choice given. They do food, but nothing resembling pub grub. The menu advertised things called “Parker House Rolls” – “fried chicken & kimchi” (£4.50), “brawn mustard & pickle” (£4.50), “colston basset, pear jam & rye cracker” (£6). I didn’t know what half this stuff was, so didn’t partake. If you like the Antic so-called “shabby chic” then you will like this place. But whatever else, Antic do seem to manage to provide a decent ale selection.

Typically unfinished bodged up pub by Antic.Very busy on a Friday night so the younger crowd seem to like it.One large main room with a central bar.Good selection of beers.Cottage -golden arrow, two from Hackney and my Redemption -big chief was excellent.Interesting artifacts on the walls.

Opens on Thursday 28th November. New Antic project.