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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Will Larter
Submitted on Thursday, 25th January 2024
With picture contributions to 12229 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (21 more images)
Detail Pages
The Royal Oak, E2
E2
E2 7RG
Served areas
The Royal Oak
She is beautiful in the sun
3:12 PM Jun 11th 2023 from Twitter for Android
Reviews of The Royal Oak (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Will Larter left this review about The Royal Oak
A former Trumans pub half a mile north of the brewery, this is on Camra's national inventory of pub interiors, but only one star as the interior walls have clearly been removed. There's plenty of wood panelling to appreciate, and the bar counter is mostly original. There are two hand pumps, with Youngs Original and Five Points Pale on at the time of my visit. The Youngs was as good as it gets (NBSS 3.5). This pub deserves a better photo than mine, taken at twilight in January, and some of the others are cluttered with cars and people. Maybe I'll come back some time.
Date of visit: 10th January 2024)
On 13th August 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Royal Oak
A beautiful Truman exterior and equally good interior is expertly decsribed by Tris so little need adding.There is a good courtyard beer garden at the rear.Just two real ale,the ever dull Youngs Original and St Austell Proper Job(NBSS 3.5).No cooking smells on my trip,the kitchen has a large opening window into the outside route to the beer garden,which may have cured that problem.
Shame there isnt more real ale,in which case the pub would be a true gem and have scored higher.However worth a visit to see the authentic inside and outside.Best visited when the flower market is not operating.
On 31st August 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2936 recommendations about 2936 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Royal Oak
Popular with the area’s new professional and hipster throng, this is another Tower Hamlets’ cracker, making for a good triple with the Birdcage across the road and Marksman just to the north. A replacement for a Victorian predecessor, this was designed along the lines of the inter-war ‘improved’ or ‘reformed’ hostelries being a very impressive pub designed in 1923 and given the design, only one man could possibly be responsible: the name’s Sewell. A. E. Sewell. Local brewer Truman, Hanbury & Buxton’s golden boy. The exterior features his classic Dutch bell gables and muted pastel-hued glazed faience tiling; two Truman’s sign brackets also remain. Inside, there’s a simple central field panelled bar without back, and a parquet floor, but it’s the remainder that really impresses: the nearly full-height wood panelled walls with Truman’s lettering at top, the lovely Art Deco lights and gorgeous white panelled Vitrolite ceiling; according to Historic England, there’s a very attractive upstairs bar/dining room too. To the rear there’s a fine fireplace, sadly unused. Unsurprisingly, the ensemble is Grade II-listed and has featured in films such as The Krays and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Furniture is simple and conventional. Thankfully the customer is spared electronic gimmickry, the only exception being muted music on the gramophone. There’s certainly food and I don’t know whether it qualifies as a true gastropub, but the guinea fowl salad with figs, sorrel and pomegranate is a far cry from the area’s jellied eels of old, though as mentioned earlier, there is a bit of a problem with cooking smells.
Ales: one unused pump, the awful Sharp’s Doom Bar and East London Brewery’s Cowcatcher, price not clocked though a bit strong for a session ale but well-kept nonetheless.
This is a genuinely lovely pub. With a better choice of ales and improved ventilation in the kitchen, this place could be right up there as a local destination for the discerning pub-goer and I’ll certainly be returning when next in the area as this was the highlight of our mini-crawl.
On 8th February 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2207 recommendations about 2164 pubs]
View more reviews of The Royal Oak (7)
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- Official site of the Royal Oak - www.royaloaklondon.com
- Facebook - The Royal Oak
- Twitter - The Royal Oak
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Royal Oak - whatpub.com
- Historic Pub Interiors - pubheritage.camra.org.uk
Cambridge Heath (London), 0.59 miles, 11 min walk (show)
Shoreditch High Street, 0.61 miles, 11 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Car Park : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 19 October 2015 by Quinno _
- Function Room : Yes last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Jukebox : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Karaoke : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Live Music : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Micropub : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Pinball : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Pool Table : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Quiz Night : No last updated 07 February 2018 by Tris C
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 09 May 2014 by Dave McNally
