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Pubs Galore Crawl Autumn/Winter 2024 with Tris39
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Detail Pages
The Leyton Engineer, Leyton, E10
E10
E10 5QN
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about The Leyton Engineer
The former name arises not out of a homage to the vehicles used in Somalia’s Civil War in the early ‘90s, but because as Leyton Town Hall (1895 by John Johnson and grade II-listed), it was home to the Leyton Technical College, later a pub conversion courtesy of Antic.
With a CAMRA citation for having an interior of Outstanding Conversions and Restorations, the current incarnation dates from September 2024, courtesy of the Remarkable Pubs Co (RPC). It’s a warren of rooms and micro snug, featuring an embarrassment of riches. The interior can be seen on their gallery but includes trademark touches such as a Victorian colour scheme featuring gloss black Anaglypta to the dado then ochre walls, ornate bar back with obligatory clock, Grecian statues (see photo), foreign beverage memorabilia, taxidermy and map of the world and grand, spindly brass chandeliers; in addition, there are framed William Morris (born in neighbouring Walthamstow) Arts & Crafts-style motifs. Furniture is new and conventional, along with some black leather booth seating to the windows. The bare floor is either pale boarded with some exotic kilims or fantastic polychromatic terrazzo and mosaic to the bar area; there’s also some very fine ornate plasterwork to the partially coffered ceiling, then a ‘Club Room’ where you’ll find pool and darts with décor in the form of a multitude of spirit miniatures and taxidermy in a glass fronted cabinet, also an ornate pink marble fireplace; there’s the ‘Harry Beck Booth’, with a paean to the local boy’s work, showing the evolution of his iconic tube map. Packed out, customers were the area’s young professional contingency, in high spirits, contributing to deafening ambient noise at the time of my Saturday 9.30pm visit; the absent RPC’s trademark velvet swag curtains would at least go some way to absorbing the sound.
A disappointing cask selection amounted to just Shepherd Neame’s Whitstable Bay and Late Red, then Ghost Ship at £2.80 a half and not bad.
This is a very lovely place and good conversion which should bed in well over time, but the acoustics are terrible and I just wish that the RPC would ditch its obsession with Shepherd Neame beers; the grade is a reflection of the interior and not the overall experience.
On 6th October 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2129 recommendations about 2094 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Leyton Technical
There were only two ales on in here during my Saturday afternoon visit - Adnam's Southwold Bitter, and the house beer Volden Session ale (£3.30 a pint). I didn't think that this was particularly good as there were eight handpumps, with four of them having reversed clips, and another two being unclipped. But my Volden session was in good nick, and £3.30 is a very reasonable price to pay in London these days. The menu had a surprising and welcome range of pub grub, with the beefburger etc at £10, haddock & chips at £11, and the Cumberland sausage, mash, greens and gravy (obviously) the cheapest option at £7.
This is probably the most magnificent Antic pub I've been in with its marvelous red brick and plaster "streaky bacon" exterior, and inside the most striking feature, for me anyway, is the decorative terrazzo floor in the main bar area. There are several smaller rooms leading off from the main area as you enter, including one having all tables laid for diners.
You have the usual mix of Antic furnishings in here - some tall tables/tall stools in front of the bar counter, plus enough sofas and armchairs, and some old normal tables and chairs of course. Decor is a bit of a mixed bag. On one wall is a quartet of ornate clocks, some gilded mirrors are to be seen, but the predominant feature seemed to be stuffed animal heads and antlers. There were also some presentation plaques on one wall, and on another I even saw a bear's hide and a pair of mounted Gurha kukri. Not really what I want to look at in a pub, but I guess it all came as a cheap job lot.
Overall I quite liked it in here, but there again I quite like quirky pubs, in which Antic specialise of course. But only two real ales on out of a total of eight handpumps isn't good by Antic standards; maybe I was just unlucky as previous reviewers have seen more.
On 26th October 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Leyton Technical
An Antic pub in part of the impressive-looking town hall. Multi-roomed and a bit gloomy inside with high ceilings, blue walls with mounted taxidermy, shields and a variety of clocks for décor. More ornate is the very attractive polish concrete floor in a variety of colours and also some nice ceiling plasterwork. Usual Antic hipster furniture stylings. Drop down screen for sports, showing the World Athletics Championships on my visit. Three ciders and five ales on the go (mainly London micros), my Volden Vim was in good shape. Getting served can sometimes be an issue due to the unfortunately placed pillar which splits the bar in half. Food available and my companion was very complimentary about the burger he was served-up. A decent venue pre-matchday, with supporters of both teams mingling happily enough. Worth a stop as a venue in its own right, being less than five minutes stroll from Leyton tube station.
On 13th September 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5391 recommendations about 5374 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Leyton Technical
Originally conceived as a pop-up pub in part of the attractive Leyton Town Hall building, Antic eventually opened this pub on a permanent basis in the Summer of 2013, providing a good ale and food venue within easy walking distance of both the tube station and football ground. The entrance lobby leads you into the main bar which boasts and amazing restored patterned mosaic floor - arguably the pub's most impressive feature. A deep servery runs along the back wall, split in two by a slightly cumbersome pillar and the rest of the room is filled with the usual mismatched jumble of recycled tables and chairs, including a surprisingly high ratio of sofas and armchairs. The high ceiling has a particularly grand chandelier hanging from a decorative central rose and the walls have been painted in warm shades and decorated with various animal heads and hides, clocks, antlers, mirrors and old paintings, with a nice fireplace towards the front. Rather strangely, a staircase to the left of the room, with a nicely worked bannister rail, leads up to a sealed doorway, which all looks a bit strange. Leaving the main bar to the left, you pass an open kitchen with a designated dining room opposite, filled with somewhat more formal seating options in a roughly square shaped room and decorated with old pictures and some smaller chandeliers. There is another room to the right of the entrance lobby, smaller than the others and offering additional seating space, whilst the Orient function room can be hired for private events.
As with most Antic pubs, the prospect of a decent ale selection is pretty much guaranteed, with the options on this visit comprising Adnams Lighthouse, Bath Gem, Sharps Doom Bar, Southwark Gold, Black Sheep Bitter and King Black Symphony. My pint of the Gold was served up by a very polite barman who apologised for the short wait I incurred at the bar, and was in very good condition.
In many ways this is the archetypal Antic pub, taking an interesting venue, partially restoring some of its finer features, filling it with ill-fitting furniture and eclectic items of décor and stocking a decent range of beers. It didn't quite wow me as much as I'd expected it to, but it remains a good venue and worth jumping off the tube for a quick look.
On 18th April 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3248 recommendations about 3248 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
paulof horsham left this review about Leyton Technical
Not been open that long, but already a popular place (where have all the crowds come from?). Plenty of room inside, but the ambient noise from the crowds isn't so great.
On the bar, I noted that most, if not all, the ale was from London breweries - that's good. Quality could have been better, though - that's not so good.
Still worth a visit if you're in the area; the High Road, and beyond into Walthamstow, makes for a good leisurely pub crawl on the 97 bus.
On 1st February 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 508 recommendations about 477 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Leyton Technical
Visit 14th September 2013
On my second visit here it wasn't rammed like before, but was quite busy at around 20:30 on a Saturday night. The punters were mainly young folk but there were a few members of the local Cerebrally Challenged Society, probably from the Orient game earlier. There was some Sixties Soul music blaring from the speakers which seemed rather strange.
The beer selection was still a big disappointment, although the quality appeared to be good. Of the eight pumps only six were in use and of these half had luggage tickets tied to the top of the pump rather than clips. All were from large or well established regional brewers, and to be honest I found it a rather boring selection. They were Black Sheep Golden Sheep, Hyde's Manchester's Finest, Bath Gem, Adnam's Gunhill, Brain's Reverend James and Wooden Hand Cornish Mutiny.
I went for the Black Sheep which was in good condition but an uninspiring beer. I would still recommend a visit to this place as it is so unusual, but until I hear they have a more interesting selection of beers won't be rushing back. The disappointing beer selection means my mark is reduced to 7 from 9.
Visit 10th August 2013
This opened as a full blown Antic Pub (as opposed to a pop-up pub for the boring Olympics) last Thursday the 8th of August.
It's a part of the old Leyton Town Hall, a listed red brick and Portland Stone constructed building that was opened in August 1894, 119 years before the opening of part of it as a pub.
The interior contains some fine original features from its days as a Town Hall, with some highly decorative old tiled floors. There are also some rather nice separate rooms. All in all it's an unusual pub more like one of the outlandish Wetherspoon building conversions but being Antic there are no carpets.
The beer situation was poor, but hopefully as it's only been open a few days is Work In Progress. There are eight pumps with only half in use and not a brilliant selection. I went for the Jaipur IPA (£3.70) which was coming up hazy.
The toilets are down a very narrow set of stairs into what resembles a dungeon with the toilets down the end. The cellar also appears to be here and hopefully is quite spacious.
On its first Saturday night this place was very busy. Despite the poor showing with the beer I think it has lots of potential, and once the dust has settled and the beer is sorted out it will be well worth another visit.
Sadly it doesn't currently open until 16:00 weekdays.
I've been generous with the marking as I anticpate the beer situation will improve and it's worth a visit just to see such an unusual conversion.
On 15th September 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]