The Victoria, E8

This is a decent looking traditional pub that’s been given a bit of a modern makeover to help it appeal to a younger audience. The pub has a main bar area to the front, open to all comers, and a ticketed live music venue at the rear. The bar area is all dark wood, from the floorboards to the wall panels and the bar counter, which combines well with the low-level lighting, ensuring quite an atmospheric feel. The bar has a rectangular counter with nice panelling and rounded edge, fronting an island bar back which is nicely backlit and has attractive lettering across the top. To one side is a modern shelving unit stacked full of books, ceramics, bottles, lamps and the like. Seating is confined to the perimeter, mainly under the large front windows, and comes mainly in the form of tables and chairs, including a few blocky tables that could fit some pretty large groups around them. There’s a decent paved space outside the pub for a bit of al-fresco drinking too and there was a nice pre-gig buzz around the place – with live music on most nights, I presume it’s always fairly lively. The venue out the back is a pretty good size and has its own bar with a limited range of products. Neither bar offers cask ale, but there are a few unusual keg options, mainly from the Jaguar Shoes Collective, who operate this venue and a few others around the city. Over the course of the evening, I tried a few pints each of their Gold Top Pale Ale, which had some serious Werther’s Originals vibes, and the Stout, which was just about the blandest stout I’ve ever tried. The staff were all a bit aloof in that annoying, hipster, too cool for school way, but service was efficient enough, even during peak times between bands. I liked this place as a live music venue and enjoyed watching some local bands make an unholy racket in the backroom, but the pub itself is a bit of a non-event, with little to recommend beyond the pleasant fixtures and fittings. I’m sure I’ll be back when something of interest crops up on their listings page, but I’ll be sure to have a few drinks in Dalston or hackney beforehand.

A large stand alone Victorian pub,a single large room with a high ceiling, the walls are mostly of a distressed nature by design I am guessing . The horseshoe shaped bar sported twelve old style keg taps most in use and most with Jaguarshoes beers on ,however I had a Mysterious Spectre by Hackney, no real ale in here and the handpumps were removed a few years ago.I didn't really warm to the pub.

Official site of The Victoria - www.jaguarshoes.com

Official site of The Victoria - www.jaguarshoes.com

The Victoria was supposed to be fully booked. However, we arrived to find tables available on the pavement. It ended up being our final pub in Dalston, with the nearby Prince Albert full. There was some initial confusion as we were unable to place our order using the QR code on the table, which appears to be the norm in this area. The waiter had to check it was ok to take our order by more conventional methods. There's plenty of craft beer options here, with a large blackboard visible to the right-hand side of the bar, when using the toilets. Options included Jaguarshoes Gold Top Milk, Umbrella Cider, Five Points Pale & IPA, Asahi and a beer from Partizan. The interior has a central bar and felt light and airy, but it's still not really my kind of place.