The Grapes, Limehouse, E14

First in Weds 17:30 and liked the look of it straight away. Pride, Pedigree, TT Landlord, Brakspear Oxford Gold, drank a few of the latter which was very good. Not a big selection of wines but the friendly barman poured a taster of the couple of reds before choosing. The whole has a nice lived-in woody feel, narrowish bar space widens either end with tables & seating and there is the much mentioned ‘deck' to the rear over the river, although those suits who used it that night must've been frozen, maybe had some top level secret takeover to discuss, haha. Little dog at table next to ours, so it seems they are allowed which I like. Loos are upstairs which gave me a chance to spot the little restaurant, and very nice it looked too – it seems to have a good rep especially for fish, maybe I'll check that out some time. Busy when we left, but nowhere near as rammed as the post-work Canary Wharf hell-holes. 13 January 2008 CLOSED at 15:10 last Thurs, making my trip in the rain somewhat maddening. Odd that they bother to close for a coupla hours round here, but I'll be back to check it out when open.

Well, I may as well start with my first review here with a classic pub - The Grapes, Limehouse. I read about it recently and decided to make a visit. On arrival, I realised I had been in a couple of times before - probably when walking the Thames Path. Thin pub, reaching back to the Thames. If you go, check out the (non smoking) terrace at the back for some exceptional views. I watched three people spend 30 minutes here without even purchasing a drink. I don't remember the Anthony Gormley figure in the Thames last time I came. Lovely roaring fire. I wanted to eat - and there are tables that are on a first come/first served basis downstairs with a restaurant upstairs. Food was good and well priced - but I was served my starter with my main. Perils of dining alone. Beer was also good - three real ales, marked up on a blackboard. I had the Timothy Taylor landlord, which was in fine nick. A true classic of a pub and I enjoyed reading about the owner and the patrons on this site.

The Grapes is one of those famous Thameside pubs that have to be visited. The pub does not open untill 12 or in my case 12.03,they had lost 5 customers while i waited for it to open. Once inside there is a long narrow room with the bar on the left side,there were wood bench seating to the front left,with bar stools where the room narrows,there is a small area up a few steps to the rear which has bench seats,but annoyingly you car'nt see the Thames while sat down,there were some steep steps up to the restaurant,these looked dicey when sober,i would not like to go up and down those after a good session. There were five real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Portobello Star which went down very well,the other beers were Taylor Landlord,Pedigree,Adnams bitter and Doom Bar. I would like to add my name to the distinguished visitors list to this pub having now done nearly 11000 pubs. The pub filled up pretty quickly after opening time. If visiting this pub note that it keeps old type opening hours 12.03 untill 3.30pm then 5.30 till 11.00 during the week,all day at weekends. Pub visited 19/2/2014