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The Fox, E8
E8
E8 4DA
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Fox
This is a quite historic, independently-owned pub, rebuilt in the late 19th century.
There's not a great deal I can add to that below, especially given that the last review was just eight days before my first visit. Unsurprisingly, this is a pub for the trendy Hackney set and was rammed on our mid-Sunday evening visit. There's a raised bar to the rear with a step that could cause problems when the stygian gloom is combined with alcohol. Otherwise, the interior is oh-so predictable: bare brick, grey paint, low wattage filament lamps, some exposed RSJs, conventional furniture and a bare boarded floor; music was muted.
However, the amount of furniture in here is unbelievable - very cluttered, there's so much of it that you can barely see the floor which makes crossing the cramped pub to get to the loo something of a challenge. Food revolves around burgers and other more exotic bits, so it's gastro-ish but not a full-on gastropub.
Ales: three unused pumps, thereafter just Siren's Soundwave and Dark Star's Pale Ale at £2.20 a half and decent.
This pub didn't match expectations and the roaming kids, dogs and limited ale range do not for me constitute a sufficient incentive to rush back.
On 2nd October 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Fox
On a street corner with a few benches outside,the ground floor is open plan and quite large.Most tables are square with traditional wooden seating,although a sofa sits infront of a former fireplace.To one side there is a quieter area with bench seating ,although the tables here had reserved signs .On each table there was a candle ,and a menu which consists of quite expensive bar snacks,mains such as Kernel IPA battered Haddock £12.50,Fox Beer Burger £12 from a short menu .Up some stairs there is a first floor beer terrace with more bench seating and decking,not vast so likely to be popular in warm weather.
The raised bar to the right is the star of the show with a vast range of craft keg from 20 taps from a lot of London brewers but not exclusively.There are 6 handpumps but on my trip two were drawing real cider,two were unused leaving Dark Star Partridge and American Pale Ale (very good nick ,£4.40) as the choice.I noticed a tap and handpump takeover by Siren Craft announced with the cask at £3.50 and the keg £5...strange pricing given the superior product priced well below the keg options.
It's in the GBG but I feel the emphasis here is now firmly on the keg side.However it's a good watering hole,trendy and worth popping in.
On 22nd September 2017
- 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 The Fox
The pub was absolutely rammed on a late Saturday afternoon with a mostly younger crowd who were eagerly anticipating the England 6 Nations rugby game on the large screen. I finally managed to find a bit of bar to lean on, the end section where there is no service so I nestled in amongst the empty plates and glasses. Essentially a large square room with leaded windows, old metal advertisements, exposed painted steel beams and twinkling fairy lights. Seating looked to be traditional and was arranged in rows facing the screen for the match.
On handpump were Siren Soundwave IPA, Manchester Marble Bitter plus also "Pint" and two ciders who's clips I could not get close enough to read but were by Sandford Orchard. Various keg choices listed on the board at the usual premium prices including Beavertown, Brewdog, Kernal and Siren. There were also an interesting assortment of bottles on view.
I suspect this is a very good pub and I'll certainly visit again when in the area but it just wasn't comfortable being so packed hence no rating left this time.
On 12th February 2017
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Fox
Large open plan bare boarded interior with the bar on a raised area to the rear( didn't visit the roof terrace). 3 real ales and "craft keg" served during my visit.
On 26th November 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about The Fox
The Fox is a large looking corner pub that is fairly close to Haggerston station.
Once inside there is a square shaped room which is bare boarded,the bar is up one step,the seating is normal tables and chairs.
There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Otley O2-Croeso which went down well,the other beers noted were Redemption Rock the Kazbek and one3 from Left Hand Brewery.
The pub was quite busy on my Saturday afternoon visit.
The background music was crap.
I was quite happy having a drink in this pub.
Pub visited 11/6/2016
On 1st August 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Fox
This pub, close to the Haggerston Overground station, was refurbished back in 2012 and repositioned itself as a craft beer house in the process, allowing it to fit in well with the area’s craft beer and brewing scene and making it popular with the local demographic. The pub has a straightforward single room set up, split over two levels with a lower seating area to the front and a slightly raised bar space to the rear. The servery is a fairly non-descript affair, with a strange angular bar back which has been thoughtfully livened up by an attractively presented collection of beer bottles. The room is filled almost entirely with standard tables and chairs, all ranked into formal rows with the sort of efficient use of space you normally see in somewhere like a Wetherspoons. A couple of button backed sofas and armchairs can be found towards the front of the room and there is a small lounge type area in the front left corner which also offers some comfortable looking seating options. Décor is a mixed bag, with the likes of a large set of bison horns and various enamel US brewery signs on display around the bar area and a pump clip collection, Polaroid photots of staff and customers, a few stuffed animals and random breweriana elsewhere. As others have mentioned, there is also the highly unusual sight of a beer vending machine to the front of the pub, although I couldn’t tell if it was working or not, as no-one used it during my stay. The place was full when I arrived on a late Sunday afternoon and proceeded to get even busier as time wore on.
I found the ale range to be really tempting and it was difficult to restrict myself to just the one pint. Options on this visit were Weird Beard Decadence Stout, Kent Brewer’s Reserve, Anarchy Urban Assault, Redemption Trinity and Wiper and True Pink Peppercorn Stout, with two real ciders taking up the remaining handpulls. The keg range included predominantly small batch beers from the likes of Kernel, Beavertown, Weird Beard and Partisan – all London based breweries. I tried a pint of the intriguing Pink Peppercorn Stout and thought it was in great shape.
I initially found this place a little bit formulaic and was a bit unsure about it, but I quickly settled down and didn’t really want to leave in the end. The beer is excellent, the place has a good buzz about it and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful, making this another must-do Hackney pub.
On 22nd January 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Fox
Update,
After being very impressed on my first visit (below), my return visit on Saturday 3rd of May was unfortunately the complete opposite , fairly quiet just before 2 pm when my group of four entered the pub apart from a family gathering at one of the tables,the problems started with the second pint being pulled of Kent- Cascade, the barrel went,I had the last full pint out which to be fair was OK and I kept it. the group moved on to pump two, a mild, one pint out that went, on to pump three one pint pulled and placed on the bar with a good two inch plus head,a top up was requested, the barman attempted this by pouring beer from the half empty glass of the first pint pulled, a totally different beer! A new pint was demanded ,that pump went.At this point about 5 minutes since our service began two of our group of four had drinkable beers, the two without moved on to pump four, success two full pints,we sat down at a table finally to discover the two latter beers were totally sour and undrinkable at which point they were left at the bar and we beat a hasty retreat, the two not having a drink who hadn't been there before vowing understandably never to return.
I and my other mate will try again some time as we remember how good it was on the previous visit,hopefully the disastrous chain of events was a freak one off. In slight defence of the young barman we learnt it was only his second day in the job and it appeared he hadn't had any proper training, the young female also behind the bar ,presumably in charge had hardly any input in to the situation. My rating for this visit is a big fat 0, but I will leave it at 8 for the time being as I cant believe it can be that bad after being so good.
Original review 10/2/14
Probably the best pub of the day for beer choice,a good puby feel despite any previous gastro comments,amongst the brewers represented on the day were Siren Craft Brew, Burning Sky and Marble,I went for two of the Siren Craft Brew's Jack Tarr, a 3.8% dry stout and Soundwave the absolutely gorgeous 5.6% IPA.The Visual Compendium of Notable Haircuts in Popular Music, was quite good as well.
On 11th May 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Fox
A large, imposing corner building with some nice architectural touches. The interior is a large open-plan room with small spur off to the left, painted in shades of dark green with a stripped wood floor. Furniture is fairly uniformly laid out and it all feels rather bland and functional though there are at least a few interesting wall posters, including the aforementioned “A Visual Compendium of Notable Haircuts in Popular Music”. Eight pumps at the bar (which is at least given a bit of character) with six ales, one cider (Welsh in origin) and one unclipped. My Marble Choc Stout was in fairly good nick though perhaps I expected a little more sparkle. Notably expensive in here, especially amongst the extensive keg offerings. A nice touch were the branded half pint goblets which I was severely tempted to smuggle out and take home but good manners got the better of me. It’s a decent ale outlet but I couldn’t really get over-excited by it as a drinking venue.
On 25th February 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Fox
This large corner Victorian pub standing on the Kingsland Road in an area known locally as Haggerston was one that previously didn’t usually warrant a second look as you went past it on a bus up the A10. But now under new management (the same team that run the Howl at the Moon in Hoxton I believe), the Fox has been remodelled to take advantage of two current trends, namely Craft Ale and the yuppification of Hoxton.
Now opened up and stripped back internally to one minimalistic large space mainly set to wooden tables with a couple of sofas dotted around the edge, it has an equal focus on food and beer. The provided food menu falls short of being full blown Gastro, but is still pretentious enough to appeal to its target Hoxtonite demographic. And although usually I would steer clear of any place that has Halloumi burger with olive tapenade on the menu, the addition of ‘craft beer house’ applied to the pub name makes it also an interesting place to visit for those not interested in eating.
An impressive array of Ale pumps and craft beer taps as previously described and also a decent range of bottled continental beers.
The couple of Ales I tried were in good condition and I found myself warming to this place and will definitely pop in again when in the vicinity.
On 25th February 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Fox
In its current incarnation, The Fox is a craft beer house and gastro pub, serving excellent (but not cheap) beer and interesting, non-traditional bistro-style food. So many beers were on sale – craft and cask – I lost count, but I do remember 3 real ales and 3 ciders. Several good Belgian beers complemented the list. Decent looking food but time on a crawl didn't allow us to eat. Despite the modern theme, it had a great traditional pub feel, although the presence of several bicycles in the bar was a bit enigmatic – maybe an attempt to give it a French flavour. Wood floors, no electronics and a warm welcome combined with the presence of a bunch of mature pub crawlers all added value. I had a pint of Marble Brewery Chocolate Marble, which was a good pint, very moorish but became a bit sickly later on. I shall most definitely return here.
On 18th February 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3284 recommendations about 3249 pubs]