The Spread Eagle, E2

Dating from at least the start of the 17th century, this is as mentioned a quirky student pub at the trendy Hoxton/Shoreditch end of Kingsland Road, delivered in brewers’ Tudor, being rebuilt in the early 20th century, spending time as the Penny Farthing before regaining its current name in 1995. As mentioned, it’s not that big in here. Intentionally scruffy, there are some knick-knacks such as a stuffed stag’s head and some mirrors. Charcuterie hangs from the ceiling, but I didn’t see any menus so don’t know if food is served. Walls exhibit white paint or much exposed brick and the floor is bare boarded. Furniture is eclectic without being offensive: some chairs are tubular steel, clad in red vinyl. The lavatories are less than satisfactory – the urinals are open mouths and men have no cubicle, therefore having to share with the women, which might not impress them much. The barman was friendly enough but as the only so-called real ale was Doom Bar, I had something fizzy and very expensive at £2.70 a half. This isn’t my thing at all. It may chime with the students, but as mentioned below, I too am no longer one so don’t envisage a return.

The Spread Eagle is a nice looking pub that is at the bottom end of Kingsland road. This pub was not on my list to do but i missed my turn for the Columbo market area so ended up here. Once inside there is a single L shaped room with the bar facing,the room is bare boarded and the seating is normal tables and chairs to the right,there was a TV showing Euro football. There was one real ale on the bar which was Doom Bar,this was a decent enough drink. I thought this was a pleasant enough pub to have a drink in. Pub visited 11/6/2016

This is a quirky student friendly bar on Shoreditch High Street. The pub has a fairly small, single room interior with the bar on the back wall between a couple of pillars. The perimeter of the room has lots of comfortable lounge style seating including plenty of sofas and armchairs as well as cushion covered pews and padded standard chairs. There is loads of unusual décor throughout including a glass stag’s head, a stuffed bird, a giant heart shaped light feature, some old portraits and paintings, elaborately decorated mirrors, enamel adverts, gig posters and loads of potted plants. There are some strange artworks attached to the ceiling and in the rear left corner there is a small, gargoyle lined skylight. In the gents toilets, customers are faced with a couple of urinals in the shape of open mouths – all very Freudian. There is a large TV screen on the left hand wall, but this was switched off throughout my admittedly brief stay, although some background music was playing quietly, to break the silence that otherwise prevailed. I’m not sure if they offer food, but there was a cabinet full of salads on the end of the bar counter, which suggests that being a student isn’t as fun as it used to be. Sadly, there are no hand pumps on the bar, so a fairly standard keg line up has to suffice. I noted Kozel as one non-mainstream option, but I ended up with a Guinness for £4.10, which suggests that students are somewhat richer than they used to be. This isn’t really my sort of place and although there is plenty of visual distraction, I just couldn’t warm to the place. A stroll down Shoreditch High Street will take you past plenty of similar set-ups and this may well be as good an option as any of them, but I can’t see myself wanting to return.