Simmons Old Street, EC1

Now a garish chain pub called Simmons, this was once the one Craft Beer Co bar that I never got around to visiting. Undeterred, I thought I'd give this place a try. Suffice to say that I'm sure its previous guise was much better! The pink lighting shown in the picture on the exterior is repeated inside. How people could have a session in here with pink strobe lights constantly moving around is beyond me. But I did manage to finally try Camden Pale on our fleeting visit. The other choices were Camden Hells, Beavertown Neck Oil or Estrella Dam. More of a cocktail bar than a beer joint, the interior is stripped back and is quite basic. Outside, this whole area is a bit of a mess. The convenient bus stop outside was closed due to roadworks and the whole area appears to be in gridlock due to mass construction works. Pubs don't seem to last lost in these premises. So I'll wait for the next incarnation here before coming back!

Official site of Simmons Old Street - www.simmonsbar.co.uk

Official site of Simmons Old Street - www.simmonsbar.co.uk

All change from its former incarnation as the uninspiring Nelson's retreat: now painted in a penetrating red and completely stripped out and remodelled inside. Limited amount of seating, and any decor is pretty much academic since the eyes are inevitably drawn to the bar counter with an impressive run of 25 keg taps offering craft beers in a very diverse range of styles. Of course, real ale is available too, with five of eight handpumps in operation during this pre-Christmas visit (so I guess it's usually more), and I opted for the BBF Milk Stout. Outside, there is a small 'L'-shaped paved 'garden' at one end. Overall, much better.

The latest venture from this popular craft beer chain, this is well positioned to capture punters in the trendy Old Street/Shoreditch area. As others have mentioned, the pub is very easy to spot on approach thanks to a horribly misguided bright red exterior which makes it look like a football pub painted in the local team's colours. Inside, it's a remarkably simple layout, with a shallow, but very wide room centred around a long servery on the back wall. The room is bare boarded whilst the servery itself is pretty much entirely nondescript, with the exception perhaps, of the huge keg dispense line that characterises these pubs. High tables and padded stools line the front wall under some fairly large windows, whilst standard tables and chairs can be found at either end of the room, including a few in small recesses at either end which offer a modicum of privacy. The walls have been painted in a quite pleasant dual-colour scheme which goes some way to making up for the atrocity outside and there is a nice patterned ceiling too, but the room is notable for it's total lack of decorative features - no pictures or paintings on the walls, no decorative furniture, no TV screens, nothing. There is a door in the rear left corner which leads out to a small smoking patio which I shall refrain from calling a garden. It has a few seats, but it really is a pretty unpleasant spot and despite having the only free seats in the entire pub, I opted to stand at the bar rather than sit out there. The keg line supports a selection of 25 craft beers and ciders from UK micros and small batch overseas producers. There was also a decent cask range comprising their own Craft Pale and Bitter, Dark Star Revelation, Pig & Porter Strong Pale, Redemption Hopspur, Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout, First Chop Pod and Siren Broken Dream. A surly barman poured me a very average pint of the Revelation which was well below the standard I've come to expect from this chain. I have to say that I feel this chain has lost its way recently and that this is another disappointing opening following on from their underwhelming Limehouse branch. Whilst it's still a good place to find a wide selection of obscure cask and keg beers, it seems that issues with quality are now starting to rear their head. That, combined with the bland, uninspired interior, marks this place out as the chain's worst effort yet and I was surprised to find I enjoyed the nearby Draft House branch much more.