The Clapton Hart

There aren’t many reasons to trek all the way out to Clapton but at the end of a road filled with rundown businesses you’ll find one of the most appealing pubs around.

The Clapton Hart is a vast music hall of a pub. There are two huge dining rooms, high ceilings, slouchy seating all over the place and walls that appear to have been left to rot and ruin – in an attractively shabby chic kind of way, naturally. Serving food throughout the week, this is as much a place to come for a meal as it is to come for a drink surrounded by the interior’s charming dilapidation. Simple homemade dishes are knocked up from locally sourced produce. When we visit on a Sunday, we sample the roast dinner – a pile of pork and crackling, potatoes and fresh veg - and find that its reputation for quality and value is well deserved. As for what’s behind the bar, well, they’ve bought into the craft beer scene and stocked up on some excellent beers. A variety of Belgian beers are served from the bottle, micro brewed cask ales are on rotation and there are some powerful IPA’s on tap. The Neither Pale Ale was particularly delicious – although at £4 per half you’d expect that to be the case.

Filled with the young demographic that seems to be rapidly spreading to Clapton for its more affordable housing, the atmosphere is much like that of any affluent London-village pub. Think The Spurstowe in Hackney or The Roebuck in Borough if you want a reference point. Perhaps best of all, The Clapton Hart also has a huge beer garden out the back. So besides the winter warmth of the interior, it has more than enough garden space to inspire the crowds come summer.