People's Park Tavern, E9

Haven’t been here for many a moon, but looked it up again whilst in the area. A sizeable pub, both inside and out. A large wooden floored single room with the main bar populated by a collection of shabby furniture styles and assorted decorative pieces of varying artistic merit including an old pub sign hanging from the ceiling which may or may not be original from its Queens Hotel days. Then there is a slightly smarter additional room off to the left that used to be the location of the in house Laines brewery, sadly long gone , as is any sign of ale hand pumps and it’s keg taps only nowadays. These included Laines continuing in keg form and there was a pale ale, an IPA and a session IPA amongst other offerings and the couple of halves I tried were perfectly fine in line with modern keg offerings but nothing inspiring for my pallet. But the ksp of this place continues to be the impressive outside space and it’s position on Victoria park. Initially there is a large covered area with stone paving that has bench tables in the middle and seating booths on the left side and then it’s own bar on the right. Then beyond this is a further large uncovered area laid to artificial turf with tons of bench seats and again private booths around the edges. And then a gate in the metal boundary fence leads out to Victoria Park itself. To be fair no pub was a pleasurable experience during the dark order through an app table service only nonsense we had to endure during the pandemic and this is a much better pub than the previous reviewers experience. Best enjoyed on a balmy summers afternoon or evening when you can utilise the outside space.

Dating from 1865, this pub has gone by a variety of names since the original, Queen's Hotel: Falcon and Firkin, Victoria Park and now People's Park Tavern on account of it abutting Victoria Park, or people's park. A first in here a couple of nights ago, which involved registering my details on the pub's website - no compulsory NHS Track and Trace - before receiving a confirmatory email a few minutes prior to arrival, to be shown to staff at the door, which I did on arrival to the bouncer who regarded me with suspicion. Was I too well dressed? Was I a hitman? Or was I a parent, arriving to pick up one of the young drinkers who make up most of the customers here? Only one table was available which I gladly took. Next up, use the dog 'n' bone to scan the menu on the table to order drinks. So far so good, but the website didn't work properly so I couldn't add the drink to 'My Basket'. This in turn signalled that had I successfully completed the task, the website was obviously going to ask me for my bank details; fat chance of that, my ol' china. As orders could neither be made manually nor payment made by card, I had no choice but to leave. As things stand though, this is a semi-industrial pub with exposed air handling vents with ductwork and dark gloomy interior, all of which looks like a Goth pub that would be more at home in Camden Town. There's food, which includes chips served in little metal cans. Ales: Laine's and none on cask. As I don't really like Laine's Willi Wonka beers, I would have plumped for a Guinness which came in at over a fiver a pint, had I been able to place my order. This is one of the worst pubs I've ever visited, so there is absolutely no chance of a return visit. Avoid.

Official site of People's Park Tavern - www.peoplesparktavern.pub

Official site of People's Park Tavern - www.peoplesparktavern.pub

Surprised on a warm London night to see very few people in this pub .Then I went outside to the rear garden and there were a couple of hundred people out there.Not impressed by the interior of the pub.Very dated and the toilets are scuffy. Seem to spend their profits on the garden.Cocktail bar,barbecue shack also putting are all outside.Two very good beers from the in house brewery on cask.nice one.

This pub, blessed with a great location on the fringes of Victoria Park, is part of the Laines brewery's ever expanding London estate complete with on site brewing plant operating under the People's Pint moniker. The main bar has bare floorboards and a dark wood servery on the back wall with an exposed brick bar back surrounded by a modern looking wooden frame. To the left is a dining area with a lot of bench seating set up in front of the brewery, allowing you to watch the brewer in action as you tuck into your food. A large Gibbs Mew sign hangs on the wall here and there is a full suit of armour seemingly guarding the toilets. The rest of the bar area has low stool seating and some drinking ledges on the front wall, whilst décor includes an excellent series of diamond shaped artworks depicting adverts for a seemingly fictional brewery. There is also a rather quirky large wooden loudhailer sculpture suspended from the ceiling. To the right of the bar the room opens out into a lounge style area with comfortable seating options plus a few standard chairs and high stools. Some frosted glass panels screen part of the servery here and have lettering on them for a pawnbrokers and a 'certified embalmer', whilst some interesting mocked up pub signs can be viewed on the other side of the room. Pinball tables, vintage arcade machines and a fine board game collection provide extra entertainment opportunities whilst a warm looking stove stands on the right hand wall next to double doors leading out to the impressive beer garden. The garden was packed on my visit, with the crowds spoilt for choice with two outdoor bars, live music on a small stage, table tennis, table football, a fire pit and more picnic tables than you could possibly imagine. The bar was dominated by the house beers, with the full line up comprising People's Pint Laines Best, Random Pale Ale, IPA, People's Pale Ale, Porter, ESB, Raspberry Wheat and Red Empire, plus three Orchard Pig ciders. I gave the Random Pale Ale (apparently made using a 'random' hop selection) which was an interesting pint in good condition, although sadly the al-fresco fun in the beer garden seemed to mean you got your beer in a plastic glass whether you wanted to go outside or not. This struck me as an excellent pub and, thanks to the fine garden, an ideal place to visit for summer drinks. I felt that the onsite brewery was a much more serious operation than in some of the city's other Laines pubs and had I not been tight for time I would have liked to sample a few more of their ales. A real success story and possibly the best London pub I've discovered this year.

Backing onto Victoria Park,the pub is home to People's Pint brewery with the brew kit visible through large plate glass windows to the left hand side.The interior is open plan,with wooden floorboards,a pleasing mix of wooden furniture and some eclectic artifacts dotted about including a suit of armour.The vibe was very lively on my Sunday lunchtime visit,with many dogs and children accompanied by their creative owners with a wide selection of millinery on display from pork pie hats to caps and berets.The clientele show just how much the area has changed over the last 20 years,its now pretty hip but this has brought with it a decent selection of real ale,good quality pub food and a young and enthusistic serving team who dealt with a busy session with aplomb.The muzak was well chosen and enhanced the experience. There is a fine beer garden to the rear which is a real draw in good weather.Food is popular and several of the tables had reserved notices on them with the Sunday menu concentrating on roast although some light bite bar snacks were excellent around the £5 mark.The long bar features 11 handpumps,not all functional but dispensing on my trip a good range of styles from Peoples Pints with their IPA,Amber,Espresso Stout,Porter ,ESB and Bourgeois Scum (great name !) with a pump devoted to Olde Rosie Cider.The three PP ales I tried were decent. Some will bemoan the loss of a working class boozer,but I liked the upbeat atmosphere and the interesting ale.Worth seeking out,and one I will certainly return to. Not too far from the Regents Canal either.

This was originally a Truman's pub called the Queen's Hotel and became one of the better examples of the Firkin chain back in the 1980s when it was the Falcon and Firkin. It then became the Victoria Park then the Britannia before gaining it's current name which reflects the nickname of Victoria Park. Today it is once again a brewpub as the brewery has been revived by the owners who also run the North Laine brewery in Brighton. The interior consists of one large L shaped room with bare floorboards and an assortment of tables, chairs and sofas. It was far too dark for my liking and there was some blues music playing at a rather loud volume over the sound system. The left hand end of the room appeared to be reserved for a private party. the Gent's toilets were somewhat on the rank side and could do with a good clean or a refurbishment. On the bar there were eleven pumps with a mix of beers from their own Laine's brewery (whether these were brewed on site or shipped up from Brighton was unslear), Hackney Brewery, Truman's plus a cider or two. I went for the Laine's Porter (£3.80) which was served in a jug and was in good nick, albeit slightly on the warm side. Most of the beers on offer seemed to be around this price apart from the Truman's Runner which was on "Special Offer" at £2.75, 60p more than I paid for it at a Spoons in SE London. It's not a bad place this but I found it a bit stereotypical of Hackney pubs. I would come again but in daytime when it wasn't as dark and a bit quieter. It opens at noon weekdays and 11:00 weekends.

This pub was previously called The Victoria Park, presumably because it is next to one of the entrances to the park. There’s a fairly large terrace cum garden at the back, but it can only be accessed by going through the pub, and not directly from the park. They have a purpose built BBQ kitchen area in the garden, manned by three people, and doing a roaring trade during the hot and sunny Saturday afternoon of my visit. The (admittedly delicious looking) burger and chips came in at £10.50. They also had some sort of mini market in operation by the side of the pub, seemingly necessitating women to traipse to and from the ladies to try on garments. Being evidently a very child friendly pub as well, it was a busy afternoon all round in here. The pub itself is clearly a classic Victorian structure, now painted a dark “racing” green. The interior is now completely opened up of course, and in fact looks fairly bare and worn, although furnishings are mainly normal tables and chairs. But there were a couple of ales on – Sambrook Junction, which unfortunately went off just as I ordered a pint, and Darkstar American Pale Ale, which being so hoppy is perhaps a more refreshing drink for a hot day. The place was very busy on the beautiful afternoon I visited, but I doubt whether it’s the sort of pub I would want to visit again when the weather’s not so good.