The 100 best bars and pubs in London - Satan's Whiskers, Bethnal Green
Kris Piotrowski
Kris Piotrowski

Bethnal Green pubs and bars

Drink the East End way at the very best bars and pubs in Bethnal Green, east London

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Bethnal Green, bang in the middle of the city’s East End, has always had more than its fair share of the best pubs in London. If you’re on the hunt for wood-panelled boozers serving pies and pints to Londoners new and old, this is the place to come. But over the last decade or so, as the surrounding area has smartened its act up, there’s been a boom in the sorts of watering holes that Barbara Windsor would hardly recognise. Nowadays, Bethnal Green is home to some of London’s best cocktail bars and even the capital’s very own urban winery. Here’s our current selection of the area’s very best bars and pubs, a clutch that proves East London drinkers have never had it so good.

Pubs and bars in Bethnal Green

  • Wineries
  • Bethnal Green
  • price 2 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended
A vinous waft drifts to Bethnal Green Road from down the alley. It’s fruitier than the usual street scents, luring you past several old railway arches until it reaches its height by a bar inside Arch 12. Our bartender – wearing a black beret that would seem ironic if we weren’t in east London – pulls back tarpaulin to reveal the source, a vat of purpling grapes. She works in the area’s first urban winery, where those grapes are imported from vines around Europe and turned into wine under the arches, with a bench-filled taproom in among the barrels and fermentation tanks. Renegade has been producing since early 2017, with four wines on the roster – three white, one red – and an English sparkler coming soon. They had sold out of the bacchus I was most interested in trying, made from British grapes. But a chardonnay caught my attention, French oak barrels of the stuff aging at the rear of the room. It had all the right bold and buttery characteristics and slipped down a dream alongside a British cheese platter – including a jet-black charcoal cheddar – served with a generous basket of bread from Bow’s Breid bakery. Their sauvignon blanc was a quaffable number, but it didn’t compare. A few other wines from European producers are available, but it would be a shame not to try the output from these passionate winemakers. Indeed, after I showed a nerdy interest, I was enthusiastically presented with a sample of grape juice from early on in the fermentation process. Curiosity seems...
  • Café bars
  • Bethnal Green
  • price 2 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended
The Hive of Vyner St
The Hive of Vyner St
It’s inexplicable that The Hive isn’t crammed every night. Just a few steps from Regent’s Canal, its combo of organic food, cold-pressed juices and great coffee by day, and a fresh menu of veggie aperitivo and natural wines from 5pm, make it a fine place to kick back with a laptop – or kick off a night out. The space is minimalist but sprawling. Huge windows make it bright and airy in the day, though it could do with being cosied up a bit at night. Food-wise, we plumped for a selection of small plates. Houmous was light as a feather and moreish; as was the farinata, a traditional Italian flatbread made with chickpea flour, olive oil and salt, served warm and perfect for dipping. The wines were the main event, though. Our knowledgeable waiter talked us through the menu, noting which were low in sulphites. (Those rumours that low-sulphite wines give less of a hangover? All true!) Highlights were a glass of La Stoppa Ageno – an aromatic, organic orange wine – and Rocco di Carpeneto Aur-Oura, a light, dangerously drinkable organic red. All the vino is sourced by owners Marco and Ilaria – they’re experts on the Northern Italian natural wine scene and it shows. With an offering this strong, quite frankly, The Hive deserves to be buzzing.

Now discover London’s best bars

The best bars in London
The best bars in London

London is known the world over for its traditional pubs. But its quirky bars and top-drawer joints serving cocktails, wine, beer and beyond are just as worthy of your precious drinking time. So, to prove a point, Time Out has pulled together a list of London’s very best bars. Sit up at the bar at these rocking spots and order in a round you definitely won’t forget in a rush.

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