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Beer of the Week (w/e 28th April 2024) with aleandhearty
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Detail Pages
Hoop & Grapes, Aldgate, EC3
EC3
EC3N 1AL
Pub Type
Nicholsons (Mitchells & Butlers)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
Once access is gained through the front entrance the interior of the Hoop and Grapes is deceptively large. A seating area is found at the front of the pub and more seating runs up the right hand wall until it meets the area at the rear which is designated as a dining area. The bar is located upon the left hand wall where standard keg options were available. This is a Nicholson’s pub so it wasn’t surprisingly to also find eight hand pumps lined up on the bar. This chain is renowned for keeping traditional pub interiors and this pub is no different. There are a couple of plasma screens that were both showing muted rolling news and there was some music playing in the background.
Food is available all day and the traditional pub fayre is priced around the £10 mark for a main.
I’m a big fan of Nicholson’s and would gladly return here for another few beers.
On 1st January 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5263 recommendations about 5231 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Damon Kemp left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
Excellent little pub, warm friendly atmosphere
On 27th November 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roy Collins left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
An historic pub with good choice of ales.
On 20th June 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 124 recommendations about 121 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
Situated on Aldgate High Street, close to where the City ends and the East End begins – the large road junction nearby seems to mark the unofficial boundary – is The Hoop and Grapes, a pub with a deceptively small frontage.
As we enter through the slightly crooked door, we realise that it is actually quite a large pub extending back a long way, certainly much larger than I remember from my first visit back in the late 70’s.
It’s a Nicholsons pub with the usual mix of seating – some wooden tables and chairs, some banquettes – which, together with wood panelling, subdued lighting and dark timber beams ( some of which appear to be original ) contribute towards the usual traditional City pub style feel that many Nicholsons pubs have retained. Tall, plain glass and wooden screens divide up the interior into different areas. As if I needed reminding that I had just left the East End and was now in City territory, a suited city type was tapping away furiously on his laptop at one of the tables nearest the door
Amongst the usual collection of old framed photos of the area, the normal Nicholsons potted history of the pub tells us that it’s the oldest licensed house in the City with foundations dating back to the 13th century. We learn that the pub survived The Great Fire of London by a mere 50 yards. It’s now a listed building and, in an area that has seen much redevelopment over the years, is a remarkable survivor. The current building dates back to 1598 and was formerly called The Castle. The current pub name is a derivation of “The Hops and Grapes”.
The downstairs toilets are in a basement area with old brick arches. It is believed that there is a sealed tunnel which leads to The Tower of London.
A former Bass Charrington pub, it’s now in the Nicholsons stable and, on my recent early evening visit, was offering Doom Bar, Tribute, Pride and Hop Back Taiphoon, a selection which, by Nicholsons standards, could be described as somewhat disappointing. Both the Tribute ( £ 3.50p ) and the Doombar ( at a noticeably cheaper £ 2.85p ) were reasonable.
It’s evidently been altered substantially from the much smaller pub that I vaguely remember from the 1970’s, but it’s still an attractive, welcoming pub and I’d happily call in again when the opportunity arises. Finally, and pleasingly, a more modern bar next door – No 49 – was virtually devoid of custom.
On 27th February 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
The pub looks very small from the frontage but once inside it opens out towards the left where the bar is, and also extends back a long way. The pub has considerable history, dating in part from 1598, and is supposed to be the only remaining timber framed building in the City, having survived The Great Fire by 50 yards, although I am aware of another pub that makes the same claim. Some of the old timber beams and posts are still visible but I suspect the building has been extensively remodelled and extended over the years. There are tales of underground tunnels and passages leading to The Tower and the river, and the route downstairs to the toilets allows a view of some old brick arches and warrens.
The pub was originally The Castle, becoming The Hoop and Grapes in 1920 after a spell as The Hop and Grapes, denoting an ale house also licensed to sell wine.
Nowadays the interior, although effectively one space, is sub-divided by dark wood and glass screens which together with the subdued lighting lend an intimate feel to certain areas. There is a mix of seating, plenty being traditional but also a fair number of high tables and also a few sofas. Part wood, part stone flagged floors. Various old photos of the area, I noticed one of Aldgate East Underground station from 1916, with part of the old Trumans Brewery showing to the right.
I was a little disappointed by the rather mainstream ale selection, I usually expect to find something a bit different in a Nicholsons pub. Four pumps were serving Tim Taylor's Landlord, Pride, Doom Bar and Hobgoblin. £3.15 for the Landlord.
Certainly worthy of a visit, but on this showing more for the history and atmosphere than the ale choice.
On 25th September 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
The Hoop & Grapes is a Nickolsons house after a 2007 refurbishment which saw the pool table go and historical adjustment to the furnishings which put the traditional decor back in.
As Roger mentions below, parts of the pub building pre-date the Great Fire of 1666, which missed Aldgate by a whisker, but you would be hard pushed to know which bits.
Nickolson’s have done a great job with the decor. The character of the place has been kept, with lots of dark wood and semi glass dividing screens and liberal use of Chesterfield sofas, stained glass, period prints and subdued lighting give this place a bit of real character.
The pub layout has not essentially changed from Roger’s review, with the bar area down and to the left as you enter, which gives a good place for vertical drinking. And then the whole right hand side and back is seating, arranged in a series of separated cubicle areas separated by the half glass screens.
The beer choice is not as extensive as in other Nickolson houses in the city, but the bar supports four hand pumps and as well as the house TT Landlord and Pride, there was Doombar and Jaipur IPA on during my last visit. The quality is usually high and was again with the Jaipur IPA being very good.
A good pub with a bit of character and one of the better pubs a short walk from Aldgate East tube.
On 6th June 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
A fine old City pub that has improved a lot over the last two or three years. The beer selection is good and the Ringwood Fortyniner was on top form. It’s very popular so can get busy on Thursday and Friday evening and is also popular for food at lunchtimes.
On 6th March 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
train man left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
As suspected from previous ‘thru the window' visit, you pass the door & door-frame which seem to lean in contrary directions, & enter to a welcoming woody interior, comfortable mish-mash of tables/chairs to the right of the wood&glass screen forming a hallway. On to a more open area with ridiculously tall studded-leather free standing banquettes in attendance at even taller rectangular tables, we sat at one of these before realising how impractical & uncomfortable they are. Further to a large central pillar encircled with drinking shelf and barstools, bar to the left. Four handpumps, three in action on this visit tho the guv said they are usually all on. Regulars TT Landlord & London Pride, plus Hopback Crop Circle, £2.90. Yet further, past a coal stove, to dining-looking area beyond which is a small chesterfield-style lounge. The entrance hall has some nice prints of local scenes from days of yore and a claim that the pub is ‘the oldest licensed house in the city' with 13c foundations, and also the oldest timber framed pub, having escaped the Great Fire by 50yds. Built as The Castle in 1598, it became Hoop & Grapes in 1920. It's a Nicholson's house with character, I liked it.
8 March 2009
I should have guessed but was still disappointed to find this pub closed yesterday (Sat). The ground level exterior has a charming look with the old (closed) door leaning at a surprising angle, a peek through the window showed a woody welcoming interior. No rating yet, but I'll try to return if over this way on a weekday.
On 12th June 2009
- rating: 7
[User has posted 412 recommendations about 411 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
I had an excellent pint of Jennings Cumberland Ale in here recently. This is not an ale you see very often in London – or I haven’t anyway. Original timberwork frames testify to the historic pedigree of the pub, but the interior still has an up to date feel to it and was a comfortable place for my chums and I to start our days imbibing as a prelude to following Jack The Ripper’s gory trail around East London. Great pub – highly recommended.
On 7th March 2008
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Hoop & Grapes
In an area that was virtually levelled by the Lufwaffe and has undergone major redevelopment in subsequent years, it is hard to believe that a pub of this age is still standing amid the concrete. Parts of the pub predate the Great Fire in 1666 and the building is not only listed but protected by English Heritage. Despite the wonky wooden frontage, it is obvious that the interior has undergone various refurbishments, extensions and rebuilds over the years with the bar now set into an alcove off to the left and the rear extended to accommodate pool tables. Despite concessions to the current times like fruit machines and multiple TV's, it does retain its old world character with its abundance of wood and bare floors. Beyond the flag stoned pool area towards the back is a small recess with comfortable settees for those who rear ends cannot take the wooden seating for any length of time. The toilets are in the basement and must be visited, if only to see the mass of exposed old brick arches. A detailed history of the pub can be found on the wall near the front windows. Beers are rather mainstream (Adnams / Pride / Bombardier) but reasonable priced. One final note - the lampshades – is it me or do they look like the spaceships from an Ed Wood movie!
On 29th August 2006
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]