The Dolphin, E8

Official site of The Dolphin - dolphinhackney.business.site

Official site of The Dolphin - dolphinhackney.business.site

One room pub with island type bar. Three hand pumps - none working. Rest keg rubbish. Why bother?

Sometimes it's hard to know where to start. This pub is on CAMRA's National Inventory of pubs with unspoilt interiors, mainly in recognition of the superb Victorian tiling that still survives in here. The W B Simpson tiled panel on the right featuring Action being rescued by a dolphin after having been tossed overboard by his avaricious shipmates is as good a tiled panel as anything I've seen in London. This panel is on the right hand wall and would have been the first thing you would have seen on entering the corridor that would once have been there. In the room on the left is another, much smaller, panel featuring Diana the Huntress, and all of the other walls had tiling on them. I was told by the guv'nor that the tiling had been covered up (and thus preserved) and only revealed when a previous landlord had removed the hardboard, or whatever, that was hiding it. There is also some internal screenwork (featuring dolphins in the glazing of course) that would once have completely separated the various rooms. And the ceiling also deserves a mention, being elaborately wood panelled. It's worth looking up from your beer to have a butcher's at it. But apart from the maginificent tiling, this is a very ordinary pub. There were three clipped handpumps at the front of the counter, but none were on, and when the barman failed to get the keg Meantime Pale Ale to work, I settled for a half of Kozel (£2 a half). This pub is definitely worth a visit if only to view the heritage features.