Mother Kelly's E2, Bethnal Green, E2

Facebook page of Mother Kelly's E2 - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Mother Kelly's E2 - www.facebook.com

'Tap room and bottle shop' located just across the road, but slightly hidden, from the Underground station and tucked away under one of the many railway arches. Similar to, but smaller than, its sibling down in Vauxhall with canteen-style wooden bench seating inside and more rustic folding tables out in the front yard. Excellent selection of 19 craft beers, a couple of ciders and a perry from the row of 23 taps on the bar-back, ranging from a pint of 2.8% Kernel Table beer at £5.50 through to a 1/3rd of the 12.7% Firestone Walker XXII Anniversary Ale at £5.60, but I settled for a pint of the 4% 'hazy' (as in murky, but deliberately so) Suspended in Azacca from Siren at £5.60.

A hip, urban and trendy 'craft' only bar set into a railway arch with plenty of outside seating at the front. The service here was excellent with enquiries made about our preferences and tasters chosen and offered before we'd really had the chance to assess the beer menu. The choices were more hit than miss. Prices aren't as ludicrous here as other craft dens I've visited although still well in excess of cask beer. There were 20 beers listed on tap on our visit including offers from Beavertown, Cloudwater, Kernel and Weird Beard as well as a few overseas representatives from Denmark and Estonia for example. In addition to this, the whole left hand wall is dedicated to bottle storage. You'd be hard pushed not to find something worth drinking and we did but the lack of cask is a drawback for me. A good spot but I'm afraid that cask remains my beer of choice.