O'Neill's, Ilford

This place is pretty much what one would expect from an O’Neills as there Irish quotes are on the walls and the dimly lit bar is stocked with normal Guinness, Guinness Extra Cold and Guinness Red. There is also a range of standard lagers, but no hint of any hand pumps – What a surprise! The food is relatively cheap and during my weekday afternoon visit the pub was busy with people tucking into the popular burgers. I actually had to wait some time at the bar to be served as the bar staff were also taking food out to tables and there were no where near enough of them on shift. The back music was a mishmash of old popular chart hits and Irish folk music. At the weekends this music gives way to a DJ on Fridays and a resident band on Saturdays when there is a license until 1am both nights. There is some seating out the back where some smokers had set up camp on the horribly painted blue picnic tables, but this is more of an alleyway than the advertised garden. I encountered a few too many drunks and conversational parasites during my stay so I will give this place a miss in the future.