Forest Road Taproom, London Fields, E8

you do find one that’s doing something a little different, it’s always a pleasant surprise. This place, hidden away down an unprepossessing alleyway, has somehow managed to make their compact little arch feel surprisingly comfortable and intimate, with a real buzzy pub-like ambiance to it. In terms of the places general look, the usual concrete floor and corrugated metal cladding on the vaulted ceiling is all present and correct, but the walls have been wood panelled in places, or else have characterful exposed stone sections that wouldn’t look out of place in a rural pub. As you enter, you pass through a small seating area with canteen tables and benches down the right-hand wall and a couple of back-to-back tables and stools to the left, under a small mezzanine platform, draped with ivy and accessed by a small spiral staircase midway into the room. Further into the room, you reach the bar area, with the servery to the right and a row of split-level button backed banquettes to the left with some benches and high stools in support. The bar has a counter front made from old pallets beneath a sturdy looking gantry, whilst all of the keg taps are mounted on the bar back. More ivy has been strung in a zig-zag pattern across the ceiling through this rear part of the pub and one wall has been completely covered in polaroid photos seemingly depicting punters enjoying themselves in the bar. Muted lighting throughout creates a warm, relaxed feel, offset somewhat by quite loud music and the hubbub of a packed house. For somewhere a bit more peaceful, there is a small rear garden with additional seating options, although it is surrounded by high fences and felt a bit boxed in. There were six craft beers on keg, all from the in-house brewery, plus a cider and one unused tap. I tried a pint of Ride Session IPA, which set me back £5.40 – a whole 40p more than I paid for a similar strength session IPA in the nearby London Fields taproom. This was served up to me by a hip-looking, super laidback barman and turned out to be a decent drop, suggesting their other beers might be worth checking out too. I know these places don’t appeal to pub traditionalists, but I thought this was one of the better attempts at creating something a bit more pub-like than you get from your usual railway arch taproom. It’s obviously appealing to a younger demographic and has no cask ales on, but they do seem to have some interesting beers and I’d definitely check them out again if I found myself back in this part of town.

One room with seating outside to rear right. No real ales but a reasonable selection of craft items, kept too cold of course.