Myst, EC1

Visited previously as the Duke of Wellington on 05/02/24 and Pivo on 07/09/21. Quite different other than physical space itself compared to previous incarnations! Now described as a club! Venue is L shaped with bar counter against the back wall on the left hand side of the space and significant standing room in front thereof as only seating is a leather banquette against the wall opposite the counter and the left hand wall and nine small round tables and no chairs or stools in front thereof (so punters at these tables sit facing the bar counter or the right hand wall through the arch to the longer right hand side of the venue). The area to the front of the entrance stretches to the back wall with some tables dotted around the perimeter. There are a number of tables outsideA DJ was setting up in the front right corner on my arrival at around 6pm. The vibe is very different from the venue I visited a mere 7 months ago!! No cask for sure. Keg offering was Moretti, Guinness (my second of the session), Amstel, Cruz, Heineken, Brixton Coldharbour lager, Neck Oil and Gamma Ray and Inch’s and Strongbow cider. Chatted to a really nice older chap that was there as part of an event ongoing during my visit. Turned what would have been an uneventful visit in a now dull venue into something much better. That’s the power of the pub (or now bar) for you!!

Facebook page of Myst - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Myst - www.facebook.com

This would appear to be a late Victorian/early Edwardian building which has only been a bar since mid-2021 when it became a Czech-themed bar called Pivo, the Czech word for Beer. The place decided to czech out earlier this year to be replaced by the Duke of Wellington, a name taken from the company’s sister pub in Spitalfields. You can get a good impression of the interior from my photo, but basically there’s a modern faux Victorian bar structure, then bare brick walls with some exposed structural ironwork, parquet floor, white ceiling, raised fluted avocado banquettes with tall, small tables and matching round stools; normal height and larger tables can be found to the rear. Illumination comes from spun copper hanging shades over the bar, then ceiling downlighters and enough candles to hold a black mass. Customers amounted to just five at 9.30 on a Saturday night, which doesn’t bode well, considering the place has a seven-day 2.00am licence; perhaps they were put off by the stink of mulled wine, served almost a month before Christmas. There was a TV – off – then décor in the form of a couple of large palms, all to a fairly loud AOR soundtrack. There’s no cask here, with three staple shaped copper fount dispensers, each armed with 12 keg taps running the gamut of beverages from pseudo craft numbers such as Camden, Brixton and Beavertown, then Moretti, Peroni, Heineken, Asahi, Aspall’s, Guinness…I could go on. A half of Gamma Ray came in at a shocking £4.00, served by understandably bored staff. Many of the pubs around here are closed at weekends so here there’s somewhere to drink, but I’d prefer the short walk to the Old Fountain and Wenlock, where 15 minutes later I was cuddling a pint of Plum Porter.