Williams Ale & Cider House, Bishopsgate, E1

This pub I really liked ,inside we find a bare wooden floor and plenty of exposed brickwork,the wooden beams do not appear to be of great age , but this doesn't detract, sympathetically lit it maintains a good pub feel and atmosphere that can't be manufactured easily.The 14 handpumps,as mentioned below not all on as weekends, by nature of location ,are much quieter than during the working week.But those that were on were very impressive, from a selection of seven or eight I tried Jo C's Kiwi which was very good and London Fields Shoreditch Triangle IPA which was outstanding. Hidden away down a small side street this pub is well worth seeking out.

It may still be owned by Greene King,but there is very little evidence of their dead hand on the beer front,apart from a couple of "house brews" with no mention of Bury St Edmunds on their pump clips.However the choice from the 14 handpumps ,split over two parts of the bar,was very impressive on my PuG crawl trip.The condition of my London Fields Shoreditch Triange IPA and Jo C's Old Bustard Bitter were both excellent.Other choices included Jo C's Norfolk Kiwi and Adnams Old Ale and a few I failed to register,but not all 14 pumps were in operation on a quiet Saturday lunchtime. The interior is quite interesting with brick arches dividing up the interior space , raised seating booths to one side while the rear opens out to accomodate a large banquette.The wooden floor gives the pub an ale house feel and three real ciders were being dispensed through wall mounted taps at the back of the bar. The friendly barmaid was offering samples to help make your beer choice,and proper handled glassware was used to serve the various halves being sampled.It may get busier afterwork in the evenings,but this place was a revelation from my point of view and deserves a much longer session given the range and quality of the real ale on offer.The best real ale outlet close to Liverpool Street IMHO.

Still a Greene King pub but under their Capital pub chain.14 handpumps but only 7 beers on my midweek visit.Nice pub but they have overdone it with the exposed brickwork. Specialising in London brewers but they had on the rarely seen WadsworTh 6x.both beers from Signature and Trumans were in good condition.Will be back due to the beer range.

This is a nice sized pub that feels a lot smaller than it is due an exposed brick wall with arches splitting the pub lengthwise. The bar is on the left hand side and there is seating on the right as well as some more seating at the rear of the pub. There are a couple of plasma screens, but I didn’t spot any signs of Sky Sports so I imagine only ‘major sporting events are shown’, or in other words ‘any sport on terrestrial TV’. This is a Greene King establishment with three hand pumps for selling their ales (IPA, Royal London and Old Speckled Hen on this visit). As usual I opted for the Guinness and it was a decent pint served by a professional barmaid. The A-board outside advertises new kitchen opening times so I imagine that they have only just started serving food all day. I though that there was a good atmosphere in here and although the random background music was very tinny I would still pop in again if passing.

Tucked away on Artillery lane, just off Bishopsgate. there has been a pub on this site since 1682. Was formerly known as The Ship during the 1970's and although it now sounds like a wine bar, it still remains a traditional city pub. Internally three connecting rooms and although recently modernised, still retains some character with each area having its own distinct feel and seating areas. The back room houses a pool table and there is a big screen for the sport, although I do not believe they have Sky. It’s another of Green King’s houses in the city and therefore only has the usual GK fair. But its always been a decent pint on my visits and although does tend to get busy early evening is still a comfortable place for a pint if you are in the area.