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The Alma, N1
N1
N1 9EX
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Alma
The nice exterior with the name emblazoned on the front reveals this was an old pub, but the interior has been gutted and modernised into more of a cafe style. Now owned by the One Mile End brewery, the focus is on their keg craft range and occasional guests. There is normally an ale on handpump but this was suspended due to Covid and it is unclear if/when it might reappear.
On 16th September 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Alma
The Alma was in complete contrast to the other pubs we visited in central London yesterday. This very much had the feel of a locals' pub with a much more down-to-earth clientele. With customers spilling out onto tables in the street, it was also much busier than any other pub we had visited.
It's another local pub that has dispensed of real ales. But it is now owned by One Mile End and did have a couple of their keg beers - Juicy 4PM and Snake Charmer. Although most customers were drinking bog standard lagers.
The barmaid was either in a very bad mood, or naturally very grumpy, to the point that she was quite amusing to watch. Football was about to be shown on the TV screen.
Certainly a lively pub at the centre of the Market, but not my kind of place.
On 29th June 2021
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Alma
This is a compact market trader’s pub which has been given a clean, contemporary makeover to appeal to a younger, more moneyed demographic. Large windows run down two sides of this pub, allowing plenty of light in, making the interior a bright open space, disjointed only by a single large pillar in the centre of the room. The pub is bare boarded with curved banquettes in the front corner and standard tables and chairs in three rows through the rest of the room. The servery is on the back wall and has a modern panelled counter and uniform bar back. A few quirky bits of art have been used to brighten up the wall space, including a rather odd picture of an upside-down cat. Blackboards listing the various beer and food options take up much of the remaining wall space. A fridge near the bar has been well stocked with various bottled and canned beers and several TV screens around the room were showing some muted ITV tripe for no reason whatsoever whilst a chilled soundtrack played away in the background. There’s a small area beyond the far end of the bar with just about enough space for another banquette serving a couple more tables, with a TV screen above, turned off.
There are four handpulls on the bar but only two of these were in action on this visit, dispensing Purity Mad Goose and Gold. The emphasis here is most definitely on the keg range, with sixteen lines serving up a mix of mainstream brands and small batch stuff. Five of the kegs beers were from the One Mile End brewery and I was under the impression that they might be running this pub, although I was unable to confirm this. My pint of Gold cost £4.00 and was in good shape.
I quite liked this place which I felt had been given a contemporary look without entirely alienating its core customer base (although I did overhear a couple of old boys bemoaning the prices). A slightly more interesting ale range would mark this out as a potential destination pub, but as it is, this is a decent place that wouldn’t look out of place on a crawl of the areas better pubs.
On 12th October 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about The Alma
Very quiet on Sunday evening. No real ale, just craft and lagers, etc. Won't be returning.
On 19th January 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Alma
As described below, this is definitely a pub that attracts odd characters and people who have been on the sauce; or perhaps they are just a bit more odd.
TVs showing sport, a rather glum experience and with better pubs close at hand, I can't see any viable reason to return though my half of something from One Mile End Brewery was very decent.
On 27th September 2016
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Alma
According to the exterior signage, this is the brewery tap (or perhaps one of them) for the One Mile End Brewery. As such one might expect it to showcase their ales, but although there were five handpumps on the bar counter two were unclipped, a further two had reversed clips, leaving the sole ale of One Mile End Snakecatcher IPA. But it was great value at £1.50 for a half of a lovely 5.7% hop bomb. There were also 16 keg fonts with only a couple dispensing lagers from the ranks of the usual suspects. It doesn't look as if they do food (apart from nuts, crisps and the like), but I spotted a small chalkboard saying that you could bring in your own food as long as you bought a drink to go with it. That's more than fair enough.
It has a no nonsense interior. It's bare-boarded with just a bunch of normal tables and chairs in the way of furnishings, plus TVs on the walls of course, and a few prints around the place.
There's little more to say about this pub. It appears to be the straightforward market but it's always been, even if One Mile end Brewery have tarted it up a bit.
On 19th September 2016
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Alma
A decent pub, where you might see the odd character popping in, for a swift one. Five handpulls with four in use on our visit, so we went for the One Mile End Salvation Pale Ale and Temperance Session Ale. Both were in good shape and at £2.90 a pint for their summer special, you can't go wrong with that.
On 12th August 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Alma
A pretty basic corner pub owned by the One Mile End Brewery, well attended on a rainy Saturday afternoon,The two beers on cask I remember were Hospital Porter and Dockers Delight,the latter although hazy tasted good.There were some craft offerings on keg as well as some interesting bottle selections.A sign written on a couple of the windows invites passers by and potential customers to bring their street food in to eat.All in all a decent enough pub worth popping into.
On 15th November 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Alma
Nice clean and tidy but a bit dated.Locals pub with Sky sports. Three beers on cask from the One Mile End brewery-American Brown,Temperance and my choice Dockers delight which was good.
On 19th September 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Alma
Very basic pub for the Chapel Market traders, etc. with the management feeling it necessary to erect notices stating "No buying or selling of stolen goods on premises". Having said that, it had quite a jovial atmosphere and the other customers seemed curious rather than hostile to see a random stranger pop in. Functional furniture and decor. Various sports TV screens. No real ale, so it was a quick pint of John Smiths Smooth (£2.80) and I was off.
On 27th October 2012
- rating: 4
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]