Loco Hombre, EC1

Visited 30/07/25. Visited previously as Myst on 04/09/24 and two prior incarnations as noted on my review of Myst! No cask. Keg range of Moretti Sale di Mare, Guinness, Amstel, Cruz, Heineken, Corona, Neck Oil, Fosters, Inch's, Guinness, Moretti and dark fruits SB. This place feels like not much has changed since it's last incarnation other than it is now a Mexican restaurant and bar. The bar is the left-hand side of the venue, which overall is L shaped. Dark hardwood flooring throughout. In the bar side there is a dark high backed leather banquette fitted around the wall opposite the bar counter and the left-hand wall with small round tables and regular chairs the other side thereof. Mexican flags adorn the walls. The right-hand side of the venue also has some of the wall fitted banquettes and some tall tables with some tall, backed stools. The walls are original brick and there is an unused fire-grate in the middle of the right-hand wall. Evidence they, like the previous incarnation, turn the venue over to DJ's and live music from some of the ceiling mounted sound and lighting systems. Wonder if it is fourth time lucky for Loco Hombre in a location that does attract punters!

Official site of Loco Hombre - locohombrecantina.com

Official site of Loco Hombre - locohombrecantina.com

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!!

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.