This short strip of Mile End Road in the heart of the East End features 11 fast food joints. The majority are of the halal fried chicken variety, but there’s a chinese takeaway, a pizza shop, a greasy spoon, a sandwich bar and a pub. With other words, for the ca 10000 humans living in the direct vicinity there is no reason ever to venture into a supermarket to buy an apple. Or to cook.
Three Colts Lane in Bethnal Green is not the most beautiful of streets in London. Dilapidated pubs like the Duke of Wellington above and grey victorian houses scatter one side of the street. The other side is a steam punk’s dream, though. One black cab repair shop next to the other (I counted eight) occupies the railway arches and there are literally hundreds of these steampunk vehicles scattered around.
picture courtesy of Taxi Nerd on Flickr
…and after you make it past the cabs, you can stroll through Weavers Field, a large open space in the middle of Bethnal Green. And in it’s middle, you can marvel at a statue that certainly must be the finest proponent of what I would call ‘Orwellian Art’:
They should call it 'Synergy: Exercise and CCTV'
The (former) Hayfield
On a recent trip through the East End I passed the green tiled entrance of a pub that had caught my eye before: a slightly grubby entrance with big, golden letters over the door announcing to the world that behind the the slighty grubby and not particular welcoming face of the building there lurks a place where people can rest, spelled in French. Inspired by the positive comments in the Michelin Guide for “Eating Out in Pubs “
But it gets better: their catchy slogan ‘real chefs, real food’ is probably a dig at the recent revelations that rhere is a plethora of pre-cooked, off-site produced food out there, but on my second vist after only 3 days the menu had already changed, but the food was just as excellent as before. Even the best girlfriend ever was impressed and probably added the place as another reason to move to Stepney or Bow. But it gets even better: they have a lovely collection of ‘Meantime‘ beers on tab and in bottles (including an amzing wheat AND a framboise) that promise to light up any rainy Saturday afternoon.
Top Marks.
The East End of London has a pretty bad rep. Not quite without reason, but what people often don’t realise that how pretty the area is away from the grimy main streets full of fast food joints and mini cab offices.
An abandoned pub, the Katherine Wheel has been converted into some flats. Shame. Looked like a nice boozer.
St. Dunstan on a bright winter’s morning. Indeed, that too is the East End, just 300 meters from one of the major arterial roads. A quiet and friendly space that invites having a seat and contemplating about the change this amazing urban space has been going through over the last millenium.
Messaged from the Outhouse 