Oslo, E8

Well positioned opposite Hackney Central station, this is a large bar and live music venue set in a rather impressive building that seemingly forms part of the adjacent railway line. The ground floor bar has a concrete floor, with the servery running down the length of the left-hand wall, allowing plenty of space for seating opposite. The bar has a rustic wood counter, which I thought looked quite appealing, and at the far end it has the unusual feature of fold-down bar stools, built into the counter front, which I thought was a nice idea, although they were sadly locked into the ‘closed’ position, with plenty of regular bar stools taking their place. The bare brick bar back mirrors the rest of the room and has some metal frame shelving units and a beer board that was seemingly completely out of date. The room has been filled with long tables served by simple chairs through much of the centre of the room, plus a mix of drinking ledges and small round tables to the right. The décor is quirky, stylish and contemporary, including features like ghost-shaped lampshades, seaside sketches on the rear wall and an odd-looking trophy on a high ledge to the right – it all sounds like an unlikely combination, but it somehow works. The 400-capacity live music venue is upstairs and has its own bar and good sightlines to the mid-height stage. The aforementioned beer boards listed a real ale option which I ordered only to be told that they stopped selling cask here some time ago. This left me a choice from around eight or so keg options including a house lager and beers from Lervig, Paulaner and Beavertown. I tried the Crate Stout (£5.00) which felt flat and was super-cold, making it a bit of a slog to get through. I’ve been here a few times for gigs and have generally enjoyed the experience, but this was the first time I decided to check out the bar beforehand and I can’t say it matches up. Despite the swanky interior, I wasn’t really won over and am glad that there are plenty of other worthy pubs in the area which will serve as my pre-gig drinking holes from now on.

Oslo is more restaurant than bar with a pretty waitress asking whether we were eating as soon as we sat down. We were but there isn't any obligation to do so. It's a large, high ceilinged, open plan space which has been done nicely to make what was part of the station feel comfortable. The building's origins are very apparent on the way to the loo. The specialisation here is burgers and they have an imaginative selection including a tempura soft shell crab burger. This was recommended but wasn't quite as spectacular as the description suggests. There were 3 handpumps with only one in operation serving a not particularly good Purity Mad Goose. A trendy spot no doubt and ok for a burger if that's what you fancy but not the place to head for a range of well kept ales.

A relatively upmarket and trendy bar situated in what must once have been the main station building to Hackney Central. The ground floor bar has a bare cracked screeded floor, wooden plank fronted bar along one side with unusual folding stools affixed, some "feature" corrugated iron panels on the walls as well as paper clad chandeliers and globe lights. Lots of exposed stock brickwork with a few arched openings. The high ceiling has exposed ductwork, a back wall has some modern art with a fish related theme. Tables are of various sizes, each has a bottle of water, glasses and a vase of flowers on top. Three handpumps, one was unclipped, Sambrook's Wandle and Five Points Hook Island Red (£4.40 but 6%). Keg choices included Meantime Yakima Red, Crate IPA plus their stout, Thatcher's cider; I do not know the provenance of the Oslo Lager. A food servery on the back wall was dishing up mostly burgers as I could see. There is a music venue upstairs which was roped off this afternoon. Today was rather chilled and pleasant but I'd expect a different vibe on a gig night.

Modern, if fairly basic, bar in an old station building with a music venue above. Mix of furniture and limited decor apart from the architectural lighting embellishments. On a busy evening, because of a sold-out gig just about to start, I found only Redemption Big Chief (£4.40) available from the three handpumps (but at least you could take it upstairs with you).

This is a pub where the new and emerging Hackney Hipster would like with it's way over the top prices. Although the Redemtion Big Chief was in good form it was vastly overpriced at £4.60 a pint. This is not a place for a quiet pint with loud music playing. Most of the tables were laid out for dining but this may have been because it was near Christmas time. The Hackney Hipster must like his Christmas dinner early.

Oslo is housed in an old building that is next to Hackney Overground,so very handy for a last drink. Once inside there is a large oblong shaped room with the bar on the right side,the seating is mainly normal tables and chairs. There were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Sambrooks Wandle which went down well,the other beer was from Five Points brewery. This seemed like a very upmarket type of place,not really to my liking,but it was packed on my early Saturday evening visit,so other people must like it here. Pub visited 4/10/2014

Official site of Oslo - www.oslohackney.com