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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Moby Duck
Submitted on Thursday, 13th March 2025
With picture contributions to 1195 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (7 more images)
Detail Pages
The Star by Hackney Downs, E5
E5
E5 8NN
Served areas
Star By Hackney Downs
£50 cash prize
£25 bar tab prize
£15 bar tab prize
You want more? We’ll come down and find out
2:03 PM Oct 18th 2022 from Twitter for iPhone
Reviews of The Star by Hackney Downs (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Moby Duck left this review about The Star by Hackney Downs
A wedge shaped pub with a central also loosely wedge shaped bar, possibly of inter war vintage but now garishly painted to fit into some kind of fairground theme, indeed the bar even has a carousel horse as part of the bar fixtures. The bench seating around the periphery is vinyl clad, the floor thankfully a more traditional wooden effort.
On the beer front there's just a single hand pump, this provided a pretty good quality Five Points Best, keg in the main was from local North London breweries, a plus point.
All in all not a bad pub but could do with some work on the interior decor.
On 13th March 2025
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2151 recommendations about 2118 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Star by Hackney Downs
Opening around 1870 as The Three Sisters, the current name being applied in 2013. The eponymous mural to the corner splay has recently been painted over with the new name and a mural of a women to the west wall appears to depict Debbie Harry nuzzling a ferret (see photo).
A recent website includes this place on its list of London’s 25 Most Boring Pubs. However, the pub’s website proclaims that this is the best pub in Hackney Downs and it’s hard to disagree given that it’s now the only pub facing Hackney Downs, the Downs Hotel having closed in 2007.
The interior is well described below. It’s not that large and wedge shaped. The floor is bare boarded, the walls plain with little décor apart from some prints to the rear; the ceiling is clad in Anaglypta. There are drape curtains, but the bar is of a little more interest being prow fronted with scrolls, mainly painted red. It sports a carousel’s horse impaled by its candy twist pole. There’s quite a jazzy pot shelf with what look like painted glass inserts, the frontage also sports a periphery of red and white bulbs which look like a film star’s dressing table mirror; these provide most of the light combined with a couple of spherical crystal chandeliers. The overall impression is that this is a bit of a dive bar, just a couple of etched clerestory windows hint at glories past. Furniture is a bit utilitarian and music is a tad loud, in keeping with the dive bar theme, playing hits from the likes of Allen Toussaint, Kela Futi, Electric Peanut Butter Factory and the late great Gil Scott-Heron. There’s food, but it seems to revolve around the burger, examples on the pub’s website look like alien incarnations from the film ‘The Thing’. Unsurprisingly, customers are young Hackney types.
Staff were efficient rather than friendly, presiding over a couple of chrome founts, then a pump with a reversed clip, Ubu’s Purity and Five Points Best at a reasonable £4.60 and very good it was too.
Far from being boring, this is actually something different in the area and I’d have no problem popping in if passing, but the music level is a bit loud to make conversation easy.
On 14th August 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2207 recommendations about 2164 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Komakino . left this review about The Star by Hackney Downs
Now run by the too-cool-for-school Star Group who have a couple of other pubs in and around this area (The Jackdaw & Star is one that springs to mind). Externally, it retains a faded Three Sisters sign - whether original or hipster reclaimed I'm unsure) and remains the 'flatiron' shape from before. Internally you'll either love it or hate it. It retains a central island bar now with red and white bulbs running around the above perimeter. The decor, to me, seems to be something that an interior designer in the early 80s would have run by Siouxsie and the Banshees for input and the result is a dimly-lit, upcycled hodge-podge which was well populated on my weeknight visit. Plenty to draw 'em in with a Happy Hour, Quiz Night, Live Music, Comedy Nights and Life Drawing (missed out on that one!), and food is burger-based with a menu that extends throughout the group provided by Yeah! Burger (I'm told their sauce is something to try out). Just the three ales - Five Points Pale, Truman's Swift and an absolutely superb Purity Bunny Hop. This will massively divide opinion, but I could have imagined walking past this building thinking "that used to be a pub" so well played to those who have resurrected it.
On 4th October 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1077 recommendations about 1077 pubs]
View more reviews of The Star by Hackney Downs (4)
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- Official site of The Star by Hackney Downs - www.starbyhackneydowns.co.uk
- Facebook - The Star by Hackney Downs
- Twitter - Star By Hackney Downs
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Star by Hackney Downs - whatpub.com
Hackney Central, 0.54 miles, 10 min walk (show)
Clapton, 0.71 miles, 13 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 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Beer Garden : Yes - Outside patio seating to front. - last updated 14 August 2021 by Tris C
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Car Park : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Child Friendly : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Darts : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Function Room : Yes - According to Twitter - last updated 21 July 2015 by Dave McNally
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Jukebox : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Karaoke : Yes last updated 14 March 2025 by paulof horsham
- Live Music : No last updated 14 August 2021 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : Yes - Selective. - last updated 14 August 2021 by Tris C
- Micropub : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Pinball : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Pool Table : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Quiz Night : Yes - Tuesdays 8.00 pm. - last updated 14 August 2021 by Tris C
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 09 May 2014 by Dave McNally
- Real Cider : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- Wheelchair Access : No last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
- WiFi : Yes last updated 04 October 2017 by Komakino .
