The Fox, E8

This is a quite historic, independently-owned pub, rebuilt in the late 19th century. There's not a great deal I can add to that below, especially given that the last review was just eight days before my first visit. Unsurprisingly, this is a pub for the trendy Hackney set and was rammed on our mid-Sunday evening visit. There's a raised bar to the rear with a step that could cause problems when the stygian gloom is combined with alcohol. Otherwise, the interior is oh-so predictable: bare brick, grey paint, low wattage filament lamps, some exposed RSJs, conventional furniture and a bare boarded floor; music was muted. However, the amount of furniture in here is unbelievable - very cluttered, there's so much of it that you can barely see the floor which makes crossing the cramped pub to get to the loo something of a challenge. Food revolves around burgers and other more exotic bits, so it's gastro-ish but not a full-on gastropub. Ales: three unused pumps, thereafter just Siren's Soundwave and Dark Star's Pale Ale at £2.20 a half and decent. This pub didn't match expectations and the roaming kids, dogs and limited ale range do not for me constitute a sufficient incentive to rush back.

On a street corner with a few benches outside,the ground floor is open plan and quite large.Most tables are square with traditional wooden seating,although a sofa sits infront of a former fireplace.To one side there is a quieter area with bench seating ,although the tables here had reserved signs .On each table there was a candle ,and a menu which consists of quite expensive bar snacks,mains such as Kernel IPA battered Haddock £12.50,Fox Beer Burger £12 from a short menu .Up some stairs there is a first floor beer terrace with more bench seating and decking,not vast so likely to be popular in warm weather. The raised bar to the right is the star of the show with a vast range of craft keg from 20 taps from a lot of London brewers but not exclusively.There are 6 handpumps but on my trip two were drawing real cider,two were unused leaving Dark Star Partridge and American Pale Ale (very good nick ,£4.40) as the choice.I noticed a tap and handpump takeover by Siren Craft announced with the cask at £3.50 and the keg £5...strange pricing given the superior product priced well below the keg options. It's in the GBG but I feel the emphasis here is now firmly on the keg side.However it's a good watering hole,trendy and worth popping in.

The pub was absolutely rammed on a late Saturday afternoon with a mostly younger crowd who were eagerly anticipating the England 6 Nations rugby game on the large screen. I finally managed to find a bit of bar to lean on, the end section where there is no service so I nestled in amongst the empty plates and glasses. Essentially a large square room with leaded windows, old metal advertisements, exposed painted steel beams and twinkling fairy lights. Seating looked to be traditional and was arranged in rows facing the screen for the match. On handpump were Siren Soundwave IPA, Manchester Marble Bitter plus also "Pint" and two ciders who's clips I could not get close enough to read but were by Sandford Orchard. Various keg choices listed on the board at the usual premium prices including Beavertown, Brewdog, Kernal and Siren. There were also an interesting assortment of bottles on view. I suspect this is a very good pub and I'll certainly visit again when in the area but it just wasn't comfortable being so packed hence no rating left this time.

Large open plan bare boarded interior with the bar on a raised area to the rear( didn't visit the roof terrace). 3 real ales and "craft keg" served during my visit.

The Fox is a large looking corner pub that is fairly close to Haggerston station. Once inside there is a square shaped room which is bare boarded,the bar is up one step,the seating is normal tables and chairs. There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Otley O2-Croeso which went down well,the other beers noted were Redemption Rock the Kazbek and one3 from Left Hand Brewery. The pub was quite busy on my Saturday afternoon visit. The background music was crap. I was quite happy having a drink in this pub. Pub visited 11/6/2016

This pub, close to the Haggerston Overground station, was refurbished back in 2012 and repositioned itself as a craft beer house in the process, allowing it to fit in well with the area’s craft beer and brewing scene and making it popular with the local demographic. The pub has a straightforward single room set up, split over two levels with a lower seating area to the front and a slightly raised bar space to the rear. The servery is a fairly non-descript affair, with a strange angular bar back which has been thoughtfully livened up by an attractively presented collection of beer bottles. The room is filled almost entirely with standard tables and chairs, all ranked into formal rows with the sort of efficient use of space you normally see in somewhere like a Wetherspoons. A couple of button backed sofas and armchairs can be found towards the front of the room and there is a small lounge type area in the front left corner which also offers some comfortable looking seating options. Décor is a mixed bag, with the likes of a large set of bison horns and various enamel US brewery signs on display around the bar area and a pump clip collection, Polaroid photots of staff and customers, a few stuffed animals and random breweriana elsewhere. As others have mentioned, there is also the highly unusual sight of a beer vending machine to the front of the pub, although I couldn’t tell if it was working or not, as no-one used it during my stay. The place was full when I arrived on a late Sunday afternoon and proceeded to get even busier as time wore on. I found the ale range to be really tempting and it was difficult to restrict myself to just the one pint. Options on this visit were Weird Beard Decadence Stout, Kent Brewer’s Reserve, Anarchy Urban Assault, Redemption Trinity and Wiper and True Pink Peppercorn Stout, with two real ciders taking up the remaining handpulls. The keg range included predominantly small batch beers from the likes of Kernel, Beavertown, Weird Beard and Partisan – all London based breweries. I tried a pint of the intriguing Pink Peppercorn Stout and thought it was in great shape. I initially found this place a little bit formulaic and was a bit unsure about it, but I quickly settled down and didn’t really want to leave in the end. The beer is excellent, the place has a good buzz about it and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful, making this another must-do Hackney pub.