Well & Bucket, Shoreditch, E2

What was clearly a former two roomed Truman’s pub now works very well as a craft beer style bar. I also was a bit non plus on entering the now single space with serving area plonked in the middle, but somehow the décor of original pub features and tiling in slight disrepair, large modern artworks that were slightly off-putting, decent modern seating and some additional shabby chic decorations strangely seem to all hang together and works as a comfortable place to have a beer. And I found the place growing on me like a well-fitting pair of slippers. Also helped by some well kept ales on the four pumps and can vouch that the Alechemy Five Sisters Red Pale Ale was also in good form. So am in agreement that this is a good spot and worth combining with the Kings Arms for a double, or even the Brew Dog for a treble down the Bethnal Green Road. And also agree it could benefit from an additional couple of Ale pumps, so if you could take the current Ale choice from the Kings Arms and put them in this skin, then you really would have a pub !

Another good addition to the Bethnal Green road,a lively place with a good buzz about it,open plan with plenty of seating for the beer drinker and Oyster swallower alike, from the choice of four ales I chose Hopstuff Fusilier and very good it was too.The interior is very well described below and may not be to everyones taste, I didn't mind it at all but its worth a visit for the beer alone.

Official site of Well & Bucket - www.wellandbucket.com

Official site of Well & Bucket - www.wellandbucket.com

This is a former Truman’s pub (the old brewery being just down the road) dating back to the early 1800’s. The pub was last known as the Stick of Rock, before it was converted into the leather goods store shown in the pictures on this site. In early 2013, the pub happily reopened under its original name in the guise of a craft beer style bar. The effect of a modern bar in a historic pub is rather unusual and I found that the initial underwhelming impression I got soon wore off as I started to notice some of the older features. The pub has a single room layout focussed on a central servery with a copper topped bar counter. Dark floorboards and walls combine with low level lighting to create a nice evening time ambiance. There are long canteen benches under the front windows and standard seating throughout the rest of the pub with one button backed banquette in the rear corner. Down the left side of the servery there is a very narrow space which affords just enough room for people to sit on bar stools and eat from the bar counter. For me, the highlight was the attractive coloured Victorian tiling that has been preserved to a certain degree and incorporates some mirrors in places. The left hand wall and front and rear doorways in particular are worth taking a good look at. Unfortunately, it has been badly damaged in places and some sections are entirely missing, covered instead by some rather unattractive and incongruous artworks. A large ‘Well and Bucket’ mirror on the back wall looks like an original feature and from here you can find access to the small paved beer garden. Loud music played on my weekday evening visit and there were quite a few people eating from a menu which seems to be focussed around oysters and sliders (which sound like the same thing to me). Just two beers were on handpull – Charles Wells DNA and Off Beat Odd Ball (£3.80). The keg range was much more interesting, offering brews from the likes of Kernel, Siren, Camden and Moor, plus others from Italy, Spain, US and Norway. I noted one real cider and a decent bottled beer range listed on the menu, fairly sensibly priced by craft beer bar standards, with most around the £4-6 mark. I gave the Odd Ball a try and thought it was in good shape and served by a friendly barmaid. I should have a lot of reservations about this place, but somehow I thought the strange mix of traditional and modern came together nicely to create a pub experience that felt new to me. A couple more handpulls wouldn’t go amiss and it would be great to see the damaged tiling restored but overall this is an interesting place and I’ll be popping back the next time I’m in the area.