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Detail Pages
Hack & Hop, Fleet Street, EC4
EC4
EC4Y 8BH
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about Hack & Hop
Tucked away just off the main Fleet Street drag. 4 real ales and food served.
On 28th October 2019
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about Hack & Hop
With a few minutes to kill before my train I caught sight of this pub down a side street after leaving the Olde Cheshire Cheese. This pub couldn't be more different from that one, being a modern version of an old pub but with the appearance of what I would not have been surprised to have been told was a recent shop conversion. On the beer front it is a little different, with a number of craft keg fonts and four hand pumps. The real ales at the time of my visit were Gloucester Gold, Burning Sky Plateau and Animal Brewing Co Peacock, the latter being defined as a California Pale (Animal is an off-the-wall subsidiary of XT Brewery, apparently). (The barman asked me to pay for my half of Plateau before he began to pour it - this is something that has only happened to me before in Wetherspoons, so it must be spreading. Soon everyone will be doing it: curse you, Tim Martin.) The beer was in excellent condition but not really to my taste. This is quite clearly not my sort of pub at all; the fact that almost everyone there was under 30 is confirmation of this. But equally, the fact that the pub was very busy is a sign that they're clearly doing something right.
Date of visit: 21st November 2017
On 28th January 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3745 recommendations about 3482 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Hack & Hop
On my recent midweek lunchtime visit there were just a couple of ales on - Moor Brewing Union Hop and XT Brewing No4 (£4.20 a pint), with a couple more handpumps unclipped. The XT No4 was in great shape. All of the tables, including the trio of tall tables/tall stools near the bar counter, had napkins and cutlery on them, so they clearly expect diners to arrive. But there was no suggestion that I shouldn't sit at one of them to enjoy my pint. There were beer and food menus on all the tables. The beer menu listed mainly bottled "craft" beers. The cheapest main course on the food menu was the steak sandwich at £11.50, with other main courses, such as the burger and chips, at around £13.50. Not cheap, but par for the area I suppose. A board on the wall on the right helpfully listed the available beers, giving the ABV, plus price of pints and halves.
This is now a fairly simple single-room pub. Apart from the aforementioned tall tables/tall stools, there was a bit of banquette seating and normal tables and chairs. All were black upholstered in a minimalist sort of way. From a heritage viewpoint, both the bar counter and the ornately wood carved bar back appear to be original Victorian survivors. The vestibule on the left has some ancient amber banded leaded glazing (Charrington's?) but this may be as the result of inter-war work. An unused door on the right shows that even a pub as relatively small as this would once had been sub-divided.
There's a large TV on one of the walls, but little in the way of decor apart from a bit of Christmas stuff, and some old typewriters plonked (or possibly artfully arranged!) on top of the bar back. There are also pump clips on display around the place.
On the basis of my first visit I'm not sure if this is a drinkers' or diners' pub. I was in at very early doors, and I guess you would have to visit at a busier time to gauge the feel of a pub. Sticking a few napkins and a bit of cutlery on tables doesn't really suggest that they are reserved for diners - to me it just makes it available to those who choose to dine. Anyway, my XT4 (a bit Gerry Anderson perhaps?) was in excellent condition, so I was happy with my visit.
On 11th December 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Hack & Hop
The current building was rebuilt in 1898 at which time it was known as the Scotch Stores, the name Coach & Horses dating from the 1930s.
As described below, we didn't go upstairs but the ground floor bar has conventional furniture with beer shelves to the columns and high stools. The floor is bare boarded and the colour scheme is resolutely white; brass lanterns provide light which is uncomfortably bright and as mentioned, there's evidence of old Charrington's green leaded banding to some of the windows. There's an ornate bar back but overall the pub didn't seem to be that homely.
A very friendly barman presided over two ales: two unused pumps, thereafter somewhat disappointingly just two from the excellent XT Brewing Company: XT4 and XT3 which was very good and excellent value for the area at just £2.00 a half.
Given the pub's predilection for favouring craft ale over the [lack of] real stuff and the bright lighting, I'm unlikely to come here again.
On 30th September 2016
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Hack & Hop
A single room pub down a side road off of Fleet Street, its taken on the mantle of a craft bar but manages to maintain the feel of a traditional pub very well,I was very comfortable drinking here and the Siren craft Undercurrent was in tip top condition and the best cask beer tasted during my days pub crawl.A certain revisit here.
On 31st December 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Hack & Hop
Sister pub to The Old Red Cow,Smithfield it has a modest interior,square room with simple furnishing and a bar extending most of the length of the rear wall.The bar back is impressive and the pub is popular with diners but fine for drinkers. 4 handpumps but on a quiet day only two operating serving Burning Sky Plateau and Siren Undercurrent (spot on ) while the 12 keg taps were offering some top options with two more from Burning Sky,Siren Craft Liquid Mistress and Titanic Stout.The barman was friendly and informative,and organises whisky tasting nights.The pub feels to be in the craft beer mainstream and I enjoyed my brief crawl visit ,an extended stop next time is quite likely.
On 31st December 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about Hack & Hop
Another of the so-called craft beer bars opening up around the capital, this one is typically minimalist with white walls and ceiling giving a bright and airy feel. This is in contrast to the dark stained distressed carved bar back with a centrepiece clock. Naturally, the floor is bare boarded, seating is at old domestic dining tables, décor includes framed front pages from the Daily Mirror and London Herald in context with the pub's location just off the old heart of newspaper publishing. The leaded windows have been remade but the design hints that there may be a previous life as a Charrington's pub here, no coloured glass but the leadwork profile follows the pattern. Various potted foliage sits on the window cills.
A board lists the beers on offer, dominated by twelve keg fonts, four also on cask, Redemption Hopspur, Red Willow Recklass (£4.20), Waen Brewery Starstruck Kiwi plus one reversed which I deduced from the board would have been Firebrand Table Pale Ale. Orchard Pig Navel Gazer was the cider representative. Food is served, I didn't get to see a main menu but a board offered a cold meats selection with pickles and bread for £9, sausage rolls for £3.25 and home made scotch eggs or welsh rarebit for a fiver. In contrast to the "Beast" menu aimed at groups hiring the upstairs room where a Gascony Black suckling pig rocks in at £600. There is however no charge for weekend private hire, I wonder if you can bring your own grub? Only keg fonts in the upstairs room.
Reasonable music played at a sensible volume for the half dozen or so punters on Thursday afternoon, I spent a pleasant enough 40 mins or so watching England struggle to take the last Indian wicket in the test match. When rammed post work however I suspect the hard basic furnishings will make this a loud spot.
On 12th July 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Hack & Hop
This simple, single room bar, just off Fleet Street, is a fairly basic affair from the same people behind The Old Red Cow and The Dean Swift. You enter through a small porch which has been papered with front page headlines in a nod to Fleet Street’s famous past, emerging into a rectangular, bare boarded room with the servery neatly tucked away to the rear right. The bar back is highly stylised, with a grand top and integral clock making it a stand out feature, although nothing suggested that it was in any way original. Some standard tables and chairs run under the front windows and along the side walls whilst some high ledges circle a couple of central pillars in the heart of the room. Some large light fixtures over the main part of the room provide ample lighting whilst smaller lamp shades illuminate the bar area. The walls have been decorated with framed front pages from old newspapers, as well as a few promotional posters and boards listing various food and drink options. A collection of pump clips lines the banister of a staircase to the rear left, which leads up to the toilets and a small ale-free second bar in a room filled with standard tables and chairs best suited to diners, and decorated with more newspaper headlines. An uber-indie soundtrack played throughout my stay, which was fairly enjoyable.
There were three ales on handpull at the end of a Friday evening – Crate Pale, something from Brass Castle and Pope’s MWA (Mild with Attitude) which had such an amusing pump clip that I had to give it a try. Unfortunately the beer was a bit past its best so I didn’t enjoy it that much. The keg range is more extensive and included brews from Kernel, Ilkley, Titanic and Viccie Park.
This place doesn’t differ greatly from its sister pubs, so if you’ve been to any of them, you should have an idea of what to expect here. I thought it was a fairly decent place to enjoy some unusual beers and a good contrast to some of the historic pubs on Fleet Street itself.
On 8th July 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Hack & Hop
Yet another new ale house popping up in London (formerly the Coach & Horses). Located down a fairly quiet side-street with a jarring black and mint exterior colour scheme. Two levels inside with fairly minimal décor, some framed retro newspaper prints from 1960s taking prominence. The period theme continues with The Beatles being the artist of choice on the stereo. I was quite taken with the impressive dark varnished bar back, replete with clock and wood carvings. The lead panel windows were also nice but otherwise there needs to be a few more homely touches. Four pumps, three on - Crate Pale (not bad, a bit hazy), alongside two unrecognized (and un-noted) others. A good keg selection as well. Friendly guv’nor on duty but apart from a loud and well-lubricated (though ostensibly well-behaved) bunch of Northerners out on the lash, we were the only other customers on a late Saturday afternoon. There’s mention elsewhere of a CAMRA discount but I saw nothing advertised. I’d give this one another go due to the central location.
On 10th June 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5089 recommendations about 5072 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Hack & Hop
New-fangled beer house featuring 12 craft keg offerings (some very expensive, but available in 1/3rds to try) plus four real ales on handpump. The latter included Waen Hellish Good Beer, W&E Windsor Knot and Revolutions Clash London Porter (£3.90). The exterior of the former Coach & Horses has been refreshed but otherwise still looks fairly traditional, but the interior has been thoroughly refurbished in a modern white paint / very dark wood style. Also has an upstairs room (not visited). Not to everybody's taste, I'm sure, but a good addition to the area.
On 15th March 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]