The Cock Tavern is the sort of place you walk into and think: This is a bloody good pub. It’s dark, uncomplicated and resonant with merry conversation. Put simply, it’s a room for grown-ups to stand in and drink beer. It’s nice inside. The walls are of buffed wood the colour of Burton mild, decorated with no more than a few old beer signs. The floor and furniture are comfortably scuffed. It’s timelessly classic: aside from the Victorian beards on the bar staff, it could be any era between 1920 and now.
As for size, it’s not too big, not too small – the perfect size, really. A sign advertises ‘Hackney’s tiniest beer garden’. It is tiny – that bit’s accurate – although only an estate agent would recognise it as a garden. Still, it’s better than smoking on Mare Street.
It’s usually rammed here - positively engorged. And it’s mainly down to the fabulous beer and cider. To fill you up there’s gloriously simple food. A bartop cabinet displays Scotch eggs and pork pies, and there’s a jar of pickled eggs.
It really is the perfect package. Have you got all the way through this review of the Cock Tavern without any smutty puns coming to mind? Then give yourself a hand.