Bricklayers Arms

Another Hoxton venue that speaks for itself – if you haven’t heard of Bricklayers you’ve probably spent the last ten years living on a yeti commune in the Himalayas and would be grateful for the hospitality of a soup kitchen never mind a trendy boozer. Bricklayers was one of the first places round these parts way back when EC2 was da hood and no one wanted to live here. A fine place for Thai food, beers and general banter… this place is a proper institution.

A long, long time ago (or so it seems), this pub was a traditional boozer, frequented by a smattering of locals and a few people out for a quiet pint. It served a decent pint, had an interesting range of beers and the interior had been unchanged for years. Then the Hoxton/Spitalfields revival got going and that was to the detriment of this once pretty decent local. Now it's usually crowded with people who think the world is a better place thanks to their presence, which ironically doesn't seem to be the case to us and the meretricious "Bar Restaurant" neon on the exterior is just the icing on the cake. If you do manage to avoid this crowd - a pretty difficult feat all-in-all - you'll find this to be an average pub.

A determinedly down-to-earth stalwart of the Hoxton scene, the Bricklayers Arms attracts an unpretentious but cool-looking, generally mid-to-late-20s crowd. This essentially old-style pub is often seen as a solid place to start the evening, before heading off elsewhere.