The Clapton Hart, Clapton, E5

Got there early and asked the woman who was cleaning the windows what time it opened. She said "I nower speaker de English" so I never did get to visit.

This large roadside pub on a busy roundabout, was formerly known as the White Hart, as evidenced by the sign above the main entrance, but has since been renamed and given a new lease of life by the Antic pub company. The sizable interior consists of four distinct areas, with the main bar in the front right section. This room has bare floorboards and an undressed ceiling and offers a good range of seating around tables of varying size including one made from an old Singer sewing machine, another from a lift-top school desk and at least one more with chess boards inlaid in the surface. Large windows with a detailed pattern in the top section give a good view of the busy road outside and allow a lot of light into the room. There is a large sign for the hotel on one wall, which I took to be an original, whilst a huge Bass mirror is suspended above a smart fireplace. The usual eclectic Antic decor prevails, including a large deer’s head with a most impressive set of antlers, a table football game and a large set of bookshelves. Before reaching the bar, you have to pass through a smaller front room on the left side of the pub, which has all manner of seating options in a room only partially dressed, which I found a bit off-putting. There are a couple of pianos along one wall, with a series of numbers on the wall above, which I couldn’t decipher the meaning of. More sewing machines and deer heads abound, whilst the ceiling boasts a fine chandelier and some empty circular mirror frames which have been arranged to form a decorative pattern. An ornate archway leads through to two rear rooms, both of which seemed to be set up for dining. One has a large display case covering the entire left hand wall, full of bric-a-brac. Bare brick walls and standard table and chair arrangements are the order of the day here and there is another chandelier, this time, enclosed in a birdcage. The right hand area is much darker, thanks to dark shaded walls and a lack of natural light. There was a large screen TV on the wall which remained turned off during my stay and access to the paved beer garden with picnic style benches was from this area. On the bar, the Moor brewery seemed to be getting something of a showcase, with their Nor Hop, Revival, JJJ IPA and Old Freddy Walker all available alongside Wild Card Jack of Clubs, Five Points Red Rye, Summer Wine Rouge and Beavertown Neck Oil. Keg offerings were of the craft beer variety and included Marble Dobber, whilst a good range of bottled beer was also in evidence. I tried the red Rye, which I found in good shape and very drinkable. The place seemed very popular and had drawn a large lunchtime crowd on my recent visit. There is a lot to take in here and I left with the impression that this is one of the better pubs from the Antic chain. Well worth adding to any crawl of the fine pubs springing up in this part of London.

I used to live round the corner from this place when it was the Bass Charrington White Hart and probably the worst BC pub that I never actually bothered to visit. Just walking past it was stressful enough! After that it became a nightclub with a very dodgy reputation. The Antic pub company had the courage to take it on a year or so ago and it speaks volumes for it's former reputation that they reopened it as the Clapton Hart rather than the original name. A similar thing happened in nearby Stoke Newington where the Rochester Castle Spoons started its new incarnation as the Tanner's Hall. Today was actually my second visit to the Clapton Hart, I came here earlier in the year at around 19:15 on a Saturday to find it was completely rammed, I couldn't get near the bar so I walked out. No problems today, Rex's description of the pub remains intact but I can add that the wash basin in the Gents is a Belfast Sink (this is the level that watching hours of daytime TV reduces you to). In typical Antic fashion it looked like it had just been rescued from a skip. There were a number of people with young children and one bloke came in with a highly excitable young puppy that looked as though it had just been swimming in Clapton Ponds across the road. I tried a pint of Dark Star Carafa Jade and was straight away annoyed with myself for forgetting to ask for a straight glass. It was £3.80 which made it the most expensive pint of the day. I thought it had a rather odd taste, but that may well be the Pacific Jade hops rather than there being a problem with it. While I don't have any specific issues with this place, I preferred the Pembury and the Cock, not just because they are cheaper.

Presumably this was originally called The White Hart judging by the name on the stucco facade above the corner entrance. I would have tagged this as an Antic pub the moment I walked through the door even if I hadn’t already known that it was one of the newest additions to the growing Antic pubco. All the trademark features are present – a mismatched mish mash of furnishings; bizarre decor such as a stag’s (or possibly an ibex) head mounted on one of the walls, house clearance type sideboards and pinboard with black and white photographs. They even have an antique table football in the middle of the room, and some re-cycled pianos against one of the walls are now doing duty as shelves for putting drinks on. A nice, and increasingly seen, touch is a sprig of flowers on all the tables. Obviously there’s a range of decent ales available – I counted eight handpumps, one of which I think was dispensing cider. I had a superb pint of Cottage Brewing Battle of Britain. Dimpled jugs seem to be the default beer drinking vessel – I guess you could ask for a straight glass, but I wasn’t given the choice. Clipboard menus are on all the tables, with main courses around the £8 - £9.50 mark. I had the homemade burger and chips for £9.50, which was a decent bit of scran. Of course all the descriptions are adjectively enhanced – “venison sausages, celeriac mash and red wine gravy” – for £9. This pub is really big, with several interconnected drinking areas, all of which are worth exploring. Antic seem to have developed a winning formula, as there was a good number of punters in on Saturday lunchtime, most of whom were eating. But even with so many good ales available most people seemed to be drinking lager. I hope the turnover of real ale turns out to be sufficient to keep it viable. It still looks very much a work in progress – the exterior seems to have been stripped of the detritus accumulated on it over the decades, but now looks a bit bare. Inside the ceiling and some of the wall has been stripped back to the plaster. It looks like how they plan to leave it but you never know. If you like the quirky Antic image then you will like this pub, which is very typical of the brand. I have to say that I quite liked it, and do appreciate their commitment to real ale. I would be happy to pay a return visit.