Mother Kelly's

Railway arches are having all the fun right now, as BBQ joints, coffee roasters and breweries make the most of the space they have to offer. One recently filled arch on Paradise Row hosts new craft beer and takeaway bottle shop Mother Kelly’s. And with a number of fridges lining the walls plus a selection of 23 draught beers, they are certainly making the most of their cave beneath Bethnal Green Station.

Inspired by the New York trend for combining the choice to drink in or takeaway one’s exotic beers, Mother Kelly’s is the future for distributing small brewery produce. You can head along and sample the goods before making your choice and taking away for a lower price. If you’re always left exasperated by the standard lagers available in off-licenses (if you can find them these days) and supermarkets then this is the place to come.

The space is populated with beer garden tables; high stools perched next to barrels and not much else. The interior is pure industrial simplicity and aside from the fridges there is only the slightly incongruous NYC graffiti wall to look at. But by no means is that a bad thing. The beer is the selling point and if you want details to charm then try the iPad till points or the beer tap taps in the bathroom sinks for size.

The beer range includes everything from IPAs to stouts, pale ales to saisons with breweries from all around the world. We try a Japanese wheat beer followed by a mango infused IPA before hitting the Brew By Numbers pale session ale on draught. Most beers are served as 2/3 pints, which gives you all the more reason to try more. For a place where the need to soak up the suds is fairly prescient, the food offering is weak. No kitchen means you’re resigned to cheese boards, charcuterie or pork pies from the bar. But hey, 23 beers on draught and countless more in the fridges means we can get over the lack of hot food. And yes, I’ll say it… it’s a beer paradise on Paradise Row.