Nakoda, Whitechapel, E1

Formerly the Black Bull, now called Nakoda, which meant ten fruitless minutes asking a number of passers-by (all of whom, I strongly suspect, didn't drink alcohol for religious reasons) where the Black Bull was but I got there eventually. The inside certainly wasn't the best – spartan dark wood, shabby and lacking any real charm. I was also subjected to the pointlessly loud TV - the volume level being even more pointless as I was one of only four other customers on a hot Saturday afternoon. The beers (all from Nethergate) were well-kept and well served, hence the GBG entry that took me here. Had a bit of a chat with the barman and one of the regulars, so a mark for that. It isn't a pub worth going out of the way for unless: a) You're well-up for a Nethergate beer b) You happen to find yourself in the area …in which case I'd recommend it as there’s sod-all else nearby. Given the area’s demographic I guess that the call for a decent local boozer is somewhat overshadowed by the call to prayer, hence the low headcount. [Edit: looks like I was right – it’s now closed as of April 2009]