London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
East London: Hackney
The Fox, London E8
Contemporary pub (Independent, small group)
372 Kingsland Road E8 4DA
T 020 07807 217734 w www.thefoxe8.com
Open 1600 (1200 Sat-Sun)-2400. Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 4 (changing often unusual guests), Other beer 10 keg, 30+ bottles, Also 3 real ciders/perries, 12 decent wines, specialist spirits.
Food Imaginative pub grub, Outdoor Sheltered roof terrace, benches on street, Wifi. No disabled toilet but some flat access.
Occasional DJs, parties/functions.
On the margins of one of London’s trendier areas, the Fox, a big and potentially loveable Victorian pub on Kingsland Road, is some way from Shoreditch and not quite in Dalston and has struggled in recent years through several unsuccessful makeovers as would-be gastropub and style bar. In February 2012 it reopened under the same ownership as the rather decent Howl at the Moon (p102) in Hoxton, this time as a fully fledged craft beer pub. The large open interior has been rigorously stripped back to bare brick and exposed girders, with the usual motley collection of furniture and a pretty alcove off to one side that can be curtained off for small private parties.
Bar staff are friendly and informed about the beer range, which starts with a changing range of guest casks supplied by breweries like Bristol, Castle Rock, Dark Star, Oakham, Redwillow, Saltaire, Thornbridge or Williams Brothers. A choice of three unfiltered Bernard lagers from the Czech Republic, including a dark, is a highlight of a keg range that also includes several well known US craft brands, Harviestoun from Scotland and Duvel-Moortgat’s Maredsous abbey blond. Delaware brewer Fordham makes a notable appearance among a mix of British, US and Belgian bottles, alongside Bear Republic, BrewDog, Bristol, Kernel, Maui and Westmalle. There are also home prepared bar snacks – wild mushrooms and gorgonzola on sourdough, cheeseboards, a potted mackerel of good repute – and main courses like lamb stew, grilled whole bream, squash pie and a Sunday roast with a vegan option.
Insider tip. The full sized photo machine – perhaps the only such example in a London pub – has proved a hit with customers, but the real hidden treasure is the upstairs outdoor terrace that makes excellent use of a flat roof at the rear, with sheltered tables among leafy planters.
Overground Haggerston Bus Middleton Road (various Liverpool Street, Dalston) Cycling LCN+ 8 10, Regents Canal towpath Walking Jubilee Greenway
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