There’s a lot of good beer around Bethnal Green Road. So much, in fact, that one of the best pubs in London flies quietly under the radar about half way down. The King’s Arms, from those fine folk behind The Earl of Essex in Islington and Black Heart in Camden, is the brilliant boozer in question in the backstreets. It boasts 19 shiny unmarked taps (13 keg, 6 cask) of fantastic beer, supported by 60+ bottles and cans, including some rather rare stuff from the likes of Cantillon, Mikkeller, Jester King and Jack’s Abby. There’s no kitchen to speak of, but they make do with cheese and meat boards, plus Pig & Hay scotch eggs.
I dropped in recently for a quick drink with a friend after an excellent meal at Smokestak – at least, that was the plan. Of course, we ended up staying well past our bed time, sharing bottles of Monkish Shadowboxing and Tilquin Mure with the welcoming Mauritz and Simon behind the bar, and finishing off various leftover draft lines from a vast Arizona Wilderness tap takeover earlier that week. Aside from a small group in one corner, and a flying visit from a cask ale lover who sunk two pints in 15 minutes, we had The King’s Arms to ourselves. That’s the way I like it, but we don’t all of that lovely, fresh beer to go to waste now do we?
Matt The Tips : Bethnal Green beer crawl
Brewdog – The Well & Bucket – The King’s Arms – The Sun Tavern – Mother Kelly’s – Sebright Arms – The Birdcage
Add in Redchurch Brewery‘s Urban Farmhouse taproom if it’s open!
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The King’s Arms – thekingsarmspub.com
11A Buckfast St, Bethnal Green, London E2 6EY
