When I lived in East End London back in 2005-2007, this pub in fact served as my research room. For, I quite often met the muse for some not-bad ideas that found their way into my doctoral thesis~~ Meetings with my proof-reader also took place here, by the way.

Newly opened in early January 2006 as a sister pub to the Oakdale Arms in North-East London, this pub is located at a very large Victorian building at a busy road junction in Hackney Central. Actually, prior to its present identity, there "had" been a pub inside this building almost as old as the building itself. Built in 1850s, a pub had existed from the beginning and in 1990, under Banks&Taylor, even made it into CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide!! But because of its untimely demise in 1997-8 caused by a huge fire, the historical pub vaporised and the fate of this huge building was almost consigned to history. Only after the managing team of the Oakdale Arms (which also owns Coal-Heavers Arms in Peterborough) approached the landlord, was the building finally restored and now turned into the “Pembury Tavern”, a fantastic real ale haven injecting some stamina into this "real-ale-desert" part of The Smoke~~

Upon the entry, one is greeted with a long bar around 10 metres away from the door...(yes, tis how large the interior space is). The bar has all 16 hand-pumps arrayed on the single side, divided into four sets. Just like at the Oakdale, Milton Brewery's brews across the board are the regulars here, while the ever-changing guest ales are also provided via Milton, serving a wide selection of beers mainly from Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, as ponytail Steve the manager and co-owner himself was based in Cambridge and has a “legitimate weakness” for regional brews. Most ales are often in nearly-perfect condition and all are served professionally in over-sized pint glasses to accommodate a full measure with or without an otherwise-easily-debatable frothy head. Plus, with Original Budvar (Svetly/Pale) on tap and some smartly-selected bottled Belgian and German beers in the fridge, the selection should satisfy all kinds of palates.

As it's a relatively new drinking establishment targeting at real ales and located in such a spacious building, one could expect the atmosphere to be pretty much... non-existent, especially when it's not busy. Actually the whole interior gives an impression of a huge seashell, with a gem-sized but juicy clam (bar) sitting in the middle. Added with hollandaise-sauce coloured walls and ceiling, wooden-framed floor, simplistic wooden tables, old-fashioned cushioned chairs (both tables and chairs are second-hand furniture from a College of Cambridge University!!), mixed paintings and old photos showing the past history of this place all scattered around the pub, the imposed air is really NOT that nostalgic. Sometimes, when there were only less than half a dozen drinkers (especially in the afternoon), a picture even springs to mind of a mini local beer festival taking place in an over-sized downstairs room of a town-hall building! So I often had to create some sort of atmosphere myself by chatting with fellow punters, Steve the owner and Tomma the barman (a Parisian converted to real ales!), both great guys to talk to. Otherwise, I put my head down and looked for my muse in both reading and drinking materials~~

Now the pub has many bar games to offer, free WiFi, a bar billiard, a pool table, even occasional mini beer festival, but still no music in order to keep a relaxing environment that both encourages conversation and maintains a touch of quietness. I, for one, thoroughly enjoy my numerous visits to this fantastic pub which has really good potentials to be a legend in a class of its own. With all real ale lovers' help, this could be yet another fully fledged real ale paradise in the Greater London area!

--Yau (15 June 2009)