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Detail Pages
The Blind Beggar, Whitechapel, E1
E1
E1 1BU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4 of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about The Blind Beggar
The infamous Kray Twins Gaangstahhh boozer (and nearby discovery of a Ripper victim plus the guy who started the Sally Army having a rant outside) so I suppose I felt compelled to have a look, given I was on the Lizzy Line and this one sits a few yards away. In short; a characterless L shaped run-down dump with blood red ceiling, cream walls, furniture from a working man's club and a general air of stripped-out decay. £6.60 for a below-par Madri, so tourist trap prices for the gullible which in this case included moi. Staff friendly but that's the only positive – ‘ripped-off with a smile’ is a wonderful description below. Unless you're desperate to say you've done it, really…don't bother. It has absolutely nothing you are after, not even a bit of history and it isn’t even trading on its past – there isn’t any left. Less Blind Beggar and more Stupid Bugger.
On 21st November 2023
- rating: 2
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Blind Beggar
Last Thursday afternoon I paid a long overdue, and very disappointing, trip to this infamous pub. The interior is L-shaped with floorboards throughout and open plan seating at the front that is flanked by large fireplaces in the left and right walls. Banquette seating runs down the left wall and is also found on the rear wall adjacent to another identical fireplace. The wood paneled L-shaped bar counter is found mid-way along the right wall and behind is a kitchenette that faces rearwards into a pool room where access can be gained to the toilets. There was no real ale available, and I actually scanned the bar twice looking for a hand pump. Nothing, just premium keg and Carling, the latter coming in at a whopping £3.50 for a half! This place needs some serious TLC, it’s like a live music venue that is purposely dark, dingy and distressed, but there is no live music. The service was polite, I was ripped off with a smile. This pub is firmly in the ‘been there, done that’ pile, never to return. Oh, and there’s a pub cat, I hate cats!
On 17th March 2023
- rating: 2
[User has posted 5254 recommendations about 5222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Delboy 20 left this review about The Blind Beggar
My second visit here, the first being around 6 years ago. Sad to say it was a better pub back then! No ale on this time, the place felt very tired and run down. The barman hadn't got a clue what he was doing (which was mildly amusing!). There were a few surly looking locals sitting at the bar and a few tourists taking photos of the Kray's stuff on the walls. I had a quick bottle of Corona at £5 and moved swiftly on. Can't see myself bothering again.
On 13th June 2022
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1656 recommendations about 1556 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Blind Beggar
Passed many times but never ventured in until we arrived a few nights back. The pub's history is generally well covered, established around 1654, the name taken from the legend of Henry de Montfort and rebuilt in 1894, formerly the Mann's brewery tap next door. In the mid-19th century, William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army preached his first sermon outside here and in 1888, Martha Tabram, Jack the Ripper's first victim, was found round the back. In 1966, George Cornell was shot dead at the bar by Ronnie Kray, ensuring the pub's name will forever live in infamy.
This is a large pub with a central bar of field panelled front and gantry which appears to be original, though the glazed white and green tiles which make up the bar back are modern. The floor is worn pale modern boards with furniture confined to the periphery, modern oxblood leatherette studded couches separated by modern dark wood and glass screens; chairs and tables are conventional modern. The colour scheme comprises white walls to the picture rail, the remainder and ceiling clad in dark red Anaglypta; the front can be opened up due to an array of bifold doors. There are at least two substantial brick fireplaces, unused, topped with gilded picture frames. Lighting comes from chandeliers, ornate sconce lights and rectangular red glass tealight holders on tables; it's a bit gloomy though. Decor is spartan, save for a few small prints. A large open garden can be seen which is where most of the young customers - students? - were congregating; the pub was virtually empty. There's a projector screen and speaking of which, lavs are good; music played at a decent level.
Ales: seemingly three pumps, unused. Thereafter, a large staple shaped copper fount dispensing Aspall's, Guinness, Eurofizz and Hop Stuff's IPA at a murderous £5.88 a pint, which beggars’ belief though not bad once it had warmed up.
This isn't a bad pub - it serves a basic purpose and is no better or worse than the Good Samaritan round the corner, though different. The White Hart (opposite) was full, manages with ease to sell quality real ale and at just £4.50 a pint.
On 7th November 2020
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Blind Beggar
I am glad in a way we ventured in here for a tick and for the tourist aspect, but I found this pub to be dark, drab and scruffy looking. A couple of well oiled characters slumped at the bar on our Monday afternoon visit didn't inspire us either. The beer choice hasn't altered in years and the choice still remains with a Pride, Doom Bar and the house beer Beggars Belief.
On 2nd April 2018
- rating: 2
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Blind Beggar
Basic boozer really and not moved with the times on beer selection.Pride,Doom and a rebadge .Quite busy and noisy on my visit.Drunken guy at the bar told me it used to be a hard pub.(found it hard drinking my half of Beggars Belief to be honest)and it was famous for the Craze brothers shooting a blind beggar and running away to Cornwall or something like that.
On 9th December 2017
- rating: 5
[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 Blind Beggar
Notorious East End boozer with an unfortunate place in history, but now almost devoid of old-school character inside (although it retains a decent façade, and there is one display board explaining the infamous events). The 'L'-shaped bar is gloomy and austerely decorated, almost to the point of being oppressive. Also has an equally plain pool room at the back. However, the patio beer garden to one side was quite a pleasant spot on a sunny Spring day (with quite a watchable, if unreliably intermittent, water feature). Although not obvious at first, there are three handpumps on the side part of the counter, offering Doom Bar, Pride and a 'house' Beggars Belief (which seems quite apposite when you get charged £4.70 for it...).
On 15th April 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Blind Beggar
A pub with a notorious past,these days it's almost completely featureless.The open plan room has cheap looking laminated wood flooring,dull corporate furniture and little by way of decoration or historic interest.There is a seperate pool room with a bench seat,and a large pub garden accessed via a scruffy looking door off the bar room but any East End character (or characters) are long gone.
At the L shaped bar there are just 3 handpumps offering London Pride,Doom Bar and a Beggar's Belief of unknown provenance 3.8%.A dull selection to complement a dull pub,it was however quite busy afterwork on my Friday trip.There is a much better pub over the road,I'm not going to darken it's doors again.
On 25th February 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2728 recommendations about 2728 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Blind Beggar
A pub with a well documented history,and well documented below by Pub sign Man. The same three beers were available for me also, Best,Doombar and Beggars Belief,I too decided on the latter which lived up to its name costing me the princely sum of £2.50 for a half pint, a total rip off for a very bland beer. It does obviously get busy at times totally down to its past notoriety,a meeting place for guided tours and the like, the pub itself is of decent size and make up and given its history if someone took this on with a bit of adventure on the beer front this could be a really top boozer, unfortunately this is highly unlikely to happen as long as Enterprise Inns remain the owners, i cant say I will be rushing back any time soon.
On 5th September 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Blind Beggar
As pub histories go, they don't get much more varied and colourful than this place. Built in 1894 on the site of a much older inn, it was outside this pub that William Booth gave his first public sermon before going on to form the East London Christian Mission which later became known as the Salvation Army (a statue of Booth stands nearby as a reminder). A former landlord was responsible for the construction of the nearby Albion Brewery, with the pub acting as its brewery tap. Much later, the pub was briefly owned by England World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore, but it was a few months prior to Moore's heroics that saw the pub's most notorious act take place. On 9th March 1966, East End gangster Ronnie Kray shot and killed George Cornell in the saloon bar of this pub, in front of several witnesses - an act remembered by a few clippings and info boards inside the present day pub. The pub today has no doubt changed a great deal from those days. You enter into a bare boarded front seating area which had a huge Christmas tree dominating the space and some simple standard table and chair formations efficiently arranged. Brick fireplaces can be seen on both the left and right hand sides suggesting that this room was previously divided in two. An L shaped servery stands on the back wall and extends towards the rear as the pub runs further back down the left hand side. There is a good deal of extra seating back here, mostly in the form of pews and standard chairs, under the aforementioned Kray material and a 'Famous Grouse Famous 100' plaque which cites the pub for having one of the largest beer gardens in London. There is a huge mirror on the end wall and a TV screen showing a muted Premier League fixture above a third fireplace. An open kitchen at the end of the servery allows customers to marvel at the chef's burger flipping and hot dog turning skills, whilst an area behind has space for a pool table. Loud dance music played throughout my stay but it was not so loud as to impede conversation completely.
There were three ales on the bar - Sharp's Doom Bar, Courage Best and something called Beggars Belief, which upon enquiry turned out to be a Greene King brew. I opted for a pint of the latter and thought it was a well kept, if rather uninspiring effort. The staff all seemed friendly enough, if perhaps a little unsure of what they were doing at times, and I had a quick bite to eat, which was nothing much to write home about.
This is a pub that is worth visiting if you like trying to imagine all the famous faces and grisly events that preceded you, but nowadays it's just another run of the mill boozer trading on its past. It's worth a look in passing or as a double header with the neighbouring White Hart, but doesn't really merit a visit in its own right.
On 24th January 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]