East India Arms, London EC3
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Aldgate
Traditional pub (Shepherd Neame)
67 Fenchurch Street EC3M 4BR
T 020 7265 5121 w www.eastindiaarms.co.uk
Open 1130-2100 (Closed Sat-Sun).
Cask beer 4 (Shepherd Neame) Cask Marque.
Food None, though customers welcome to bring in from local takeaways, Outdoor Table and sheltered standing room on street, Wifi.
This modest but attractive and very friendly little pub close by Fenchurch Street station is one of London’s better options for sampling Shepherd Neame cask ales, with Bishop’s Finger, Kent’s Best, Master Brew and Spitfire all regularly available in a consistent condition that’s earned it a Good Beer Guide listing. The current corner building dates from 1839 but the pub claims a history back to 1630.
Indoors is a small single space still furnished in traditional woody style with floorboards and engraved windows and mainly dedicated to standing room and high stools which are enthusiastically occupied by what’s largely a city boy clientele. Worth knowing about.
Pub trivia. The pub was renamed relatively recently after the British East India Company which ruled and ruthlessly exploited the Indian subcontinent for over a century from 1757-1858. The Company played a role in the emergence of India Pale Ale, originally developed as an export style to quench the thirsts of its workers and their families. It’s a shame the pub doesn’t stock a modern example.
National Rail Fenchurch Street Underground Aldgate, Tower Hill DLR Tower Gateway River Tower Cycling LCN+ 11 13, links to NCN 13 CS 3 Walking Link to Jubilee Walkway, Thames Path
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