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Detail Pages
The Cock Tavern, E8
E8
E8 1EJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about The Cock Tavern
Twinned with the Southampton Arms and first visited in 2017, this pub has bedded in very well over the years and is a much more accomplished venue. Dating from 1561, this incarnation was rebuilt in 1930 by A. E. Sewell for Truman's, with fine examples of the trademark to the exterior and a lantern, the interior well covered by photos.
The pub attracts quite a mixed crowd and is clearly LGBTQ+ friendly, despite the lack of rainbow branding, also attracting some rather eccentric types too.
There are 16 rare bar-mounted pumps with brass ferules, half dispensing real ciders, half cask then ten keg taps. Ales rotate at speed, are frequently local - or often local for London - and are in great shape too, typically coming in comfortably under the £5.00 mark, which is pretty much what I would have expected to pay before the plague hit.
This is a must-visit if in the borough of Hackney, making for a great triple with the Pembury and Chesham; throw in the Prince George for good measure.
On 22nd April 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Cock Tavern
Still retains it’s Truman’s exterior with quite a dark bare boarded interior. 4 real ales & 5 ciders served on my visit.
On 30th September 2021
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Cock Tavern
I'd read somewhere that my favourite pub in Hackney was open, despite wondering where the outdoor drinking was taking place. With the Five Points Summer Tap being a further 10-15 minute walk along Mare Street, we decided to round off our day at the Cock.
The barman was just leaving when we arrived. As such, we ended up with a Seacider Passion Fruit Cider and a Kernel IPA on the house served in plastic glasses. With the two of us remaining a little inebriated, we never did find the outdoor tables.
In more normal times, I really enjoy visits to this place. It has an excellent range of real ales, real ciders and craft beers, with a fairly funky drinking atmosphere and knowledgeable staff.
Hoping to get back inside when this has all blown over.
On 20th April 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2454 recommendations about 2453 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Cock Tavern
A stripped-back drinkers' pub, with bare boards, panelled walls and not much furniture in the somewhat dark interior. The long bar has an impressive range of pumps and keg taps, mainly serving craft and small brewery products including some 'alternative' offerings. Sadly we couldn't stay long as a major problem with the drains made the place untenable. Definitely one for serious drinking, rather than a quiet evening out.
On 8th December 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Cock Tavern
Very well described below, The Cock Inn remains an excellent real ale pub with GBG status and a valuable inclusion in a Hackney crawl with its 16 working handpumps and 8 pressure pumps for 'craft' beers and ciders. Originally owned by Truman it is now a freehouse. Architecturally interesting with replacement iron columns and beams on display, and an evident sense of humour (the Specials menu board simply said 'eggs'), it is a pleasant place to drink. Very pleasant bar staff, but I did think £3.50 for a packet of pork scratchings a little excessive. There was a stuffed cock on the bar. I sampled some excellent beers from Howling Hops and Maregade, but sadly time (and a bladder the size of a walnut) did not allow more. I shall most definitely come back when passing in future despite the high prices.
On 19th April 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3286 recommendations about 3251 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Cock Tavern
Another visit, this time with the PuG crawl and no need to change my impression of this pub. Still offering a stunning range of Cask and Craft beers and any pub that complements this with four different types of Pork scratching (although I will be giving the vegetarian ones a miss next time in favour of the full fat versions) and three types of pickled bar beverages virtually ticks all of my personal boxes for a pub visit.
On 4th April 2017
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thuck Phat left this review about The Cock Tavern
A large, well reviewed street corner local from the Southampton Arms stable.
I'll stick to the salient: The Maregade brewery now brews here, Howling Hops having shifted to a large and impressive industrial unit on the Hackney Riviera.
Beers on were: Maregade Rye IPA, Pale and Chilli Milk Stout, Hammerton Pentonville, Otley 10 Oxymoron, Howling Hops Pale XX Pale No2 and Roosters Ragged Point with an Oakham Citra pump clip reversed due to a sub-standard barrel having been delivered.
The Pale was opaque but tasted ok, the chilli milk stout was a drinkable all chilli affair and the Howling Hops Pale No2 was very good. Not quite the quality or selection that I'd anticipated given the pubs connections and history.
Service was knowledgable and friendly and there was lots of beer chat and tastings amongst the regulars at the bar.
Not quite as good as I'd hoped but well worth the visit.
On 7th September 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Cock Tavern
ORIGINAL REVIEW January 2013
A street corner pub with a lot of Truman's insignia on the frontage,you enter the stripped out interior via the double doored corner entrance.The walls have been taken back to old pannelling now stained in dark tan,while the furniture is varied and quirky with settles,formica topped tables,and some round wooden tables.A lot of room is left for vertical drinking and like it's sister The Southampton Arms bare light bulbs hand down from long flexes apart from shaded lights around the L shaped bar.There are fewer bar stools than at The Southampton ,so bar blocking is less of an issue.
The side door marked as Saloon hints at a previous layout of seperate rooms,but the open plan with wooden floor places the pub clearly in the ale house category.Heating is via iron radiators around the walls and there is a traditional glass cabinet on the bar which complements the food offering of pork pies and scotch eggs.The muzak is not played too loud and is best described as cool in the modern idiom.
The beer is the star here.One side of the bar has 16 handpumps with 4 devoted to the house brews from Howling Hop featuring Domestic IPA,Chocolate Stout,English Pale Ale and Mild on my visit.There were three guest ales including an excellent Magic Rock High Wire (£3.30) ,while four pumps were dedicated to real ciders and perry.Along the other side of the bar there are 8 craft keg taps ,again featuring two from Magic Rock and some continental lagers with no sign of Carling/Stella/Fosters/Carlsberg mega brands.
Being a brewery tap means you do get whiffs of the production process in between the front doors and in the gents,while barrels awaiting collection and ingredient deliveries are evident in the bar room.
I was in during a quiet lunchtime,so I didn't find out if this pub gets as rammed as The Southampton,but I found it more appealing and with a regular Wednesday quiz there may be an element of a community local developing here.
This should always be a destination for any descerning real ale drinker and is close to Hackney Central Overground station and not far from The Pembury Tavern making this part of Hackney well worth a visit.I will most certainly be back,for a much longer session next time.
UPDATE
There have been a few changes in here ,and the pub was a lot quieter than in has been on previous visits.The Howling Hops brewery has moved to Hackney Wick,and a different brewer has installed a 5 barrel plant (ex Camden Town) in the basement brewing under the Maregade name.Three of these brews were on the bar on my visit,but the Pale was London murky and my Chilli Milk Stout was all chilli and not much else,although I had been warned by the friendly bar staff ! There was a very decent Howling Hops XX Pale No. 2 but this was the only HH option ,while other brews available were all quite dark with high ABV,not great on a sweaty evening, so it was a shame that the Oakham Citra barrel supplied to the pub was tainted .
There is still an interesting and eclectic real ale choice but I've dropped the rating a notch given I wasn't that impressed by the home brew.
On 19th August 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2728 recommendations about 2728 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Cock Tavern
The Truman's signage has been preserved on the flat squint end exterior although inside there is a bit of Wenlock brewery memorabilia, whether this is just decoration or suggestive of an earlier past I don't know. Nowadays we have an excellent free house, sister to the Southampton Arms in Kentish Town/Gospel Oak but with a brewery downstairs serving up Howling Hops beers. Of the mere 16 retro type handpumps, there were eight ales and eight ciders, only the one on this occasion from Howling Hop, Pale XX, plus Liverpool Organic Brewery Imperial Russian Stout and their Shipwreck IPA, Big Smoke Medicine Man (sublime), East something Ancho Cocoa Stout, Maregade Blonde Pale....might be a Howling brew....Siren Caribbean Chocolate Cake, Caveman Clovis Point Brown plus ciders from Newton's, Harry's, Olivers, something Rhubarb, Orchard, Burrow Hill. Lots going on here. Pork pies, sausage rolls and a range of differently flavoured pickled eggs being the snacks available.
The pub itself is rather basic, boarded floor, simple small tables at stools and benches, some wood panelling, ceiling fans, Hackney Empire flyers on the walls. A piano sits against a side wall. Three extant doorways indicate the once multi room layout, the lobbied corner door has a pair of cockerels on top.
A grand place for a decent pint, I found the staff and customers to be friendly genuine people, I'd say this is a must do should you have a need to be in Hackney and worth a journey too.
On 24th January 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Cock Tavern
Fine old ex-Truman's pub, reinvigorated as a no-frills alehouse with only limited seating around the 'L'-shaped bar. Little in the way of decor, but there appear to be some of the original glazing, tiling and fittings intact. Claims to have Hackney's smallest beer garden. Dimly lit, though, as the sun goes down. Fine array of 16 handpumps, of which seven were drawing cider and six real ale (including a fine Siren Undercurrent Oatmeal Pale Ale at £3.60) on this visit. Also has a row of eight craft keg taps. Top notch!
On 13th September 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]