The Britannia has the most convincing German-style beer garden we’ve seen in a British pub.
It’s looks out over east London’s huge and lovely Victoria Park (founded by Her Majesty in the 19th century to keep the cockneys out of trouble) which provides the requisite canopy of trees.
In the summer (and there are a couple of weeks of it left) there is a wooden barbecue kitchen which contributes a characteristically German aroma — grilling meat.
Time Out and others refer to it as a gastropub, and it certainly does much better than average pub food: the homemade chips had been fried multiple times and were very crisp. The bar staff and waiters were extremely friendly, too. However, it’s definitely as much a pub as a restaurant (another reason why it reminded us of Germany?).
There are Meantime beers, two cask ales (Deuchar’s IPA and Sharp’s Doom Bar), Worthington White Shield, Hoegaarden, Innis and Gunn and Staropramen on offer.
Shame there was no 4% helles on draft, though. A litre or two of that would have gone down very nicely.
The Britannia has a website here, which explains where it is. It’s not great for train or tube, although the 388 bus stops outside. It’s very child-friendly, which we like because it means we get to spend time with our friends who have sprogged. If you hate kids, you might want to go somewhere else.
5 replies on “The Britannia, Victoria Park”
[…] Their brand is the perfect match for the Picture House chain — classy, cool and ever so slightly pretentious. The pilsener, which hadn’t impressed us much before, triggered a vivid taste memory of a sunny afternoon in a cafe garden in Nuremberg, and is our beer of the week. The pale ale was nicer than on tap at the Britannia last week. […]
So you rate Meantine Helles, then? If so you might come into town and drink it here, as soon as we have the taps installed…
Chyld-friendly means screaming brats and the evil eye to people who don’t appreciate the obnoxious spawn and breeders. Thanks for the warning. I try to avoid places where nappies are changed on the dinner table.
Wow.
Jeff — only had Meantime Helles a couple of times and thought it was OK (better last time than the first time). We’ll definitely pop in and give it a go.