Sebright Arms

Great pub. Great food. Great choice of booze. Good atmosphere. One of the best pubs in London.

Despite being a bit of a pain to get to — the lazy side of me likes to jump off the train and straight into the pub, here it’s more of a train and a bus sort of deal — the Sebright Arms is a local favorite for a darn good reason. Lucky Chip has been here for god knows how long, much like the slightly sticky carpet and wood paneling décor. All part of the pubs charm. It can get pretty busy here most nights, so head in early and claim a nice little spot to sample the great variety of local and imported craft beers.

Been coming to this popular Hackney pub for years, mainly for the delicious Lucky Chip offerings. So I was gutted to find out recently that Lucky Chip had packed up and moved on after a three-​year residency.
But never fear, its replacement, Bunsmith, is equally delectable. Apparently this is the pub’s own brand, launched in April 2015 with the aim of opening up a standalone restaurant sometime in the near future. The pub owners apparently shipped in meat smokers from the US. While the brisket and pulled pork burgers and chips were not quite as tasty as some of the best BBQ I’ve ever had in Austin and Memphis, they outshone a lot of what’s on offer in London.
My main gripe with this place is the number of people on any given day (except midday on Sundays, I’ve found), which is unsurprising given that it’s a local favourite and a stone’s throw from Broadway Market. But this means that if you’re looking for a seat you’d be wise to come early, or off-​peak, as people camp out for ages or use whatever slice of table they can get a hold of. I came here before a gig at Oval Space last week, and even the frontman of Hot Chip eventually left when he realised his group would be hard pressed to find a table.

Very nice pub a few minutes walk from Victoria park or Kingsland Road. You can choose among many beers of the local scene. A good smoking food focused menu available (pulled pork, brisket and more). Gluten free beers and buns available. Should give it a try if you’re around!

Very friendly pub with a decent atmosphere. Also a pretty good little venue downstairs for live music which holds about 150 cap. Definitely would not rule-​out going to see a band there.

Great venue for intimate gigs. Really nice cosy bar upstairs with good selection of beers.

the salvation of the lucky chip burger is the true path. Do not stray from the true path.

Tucked away down a small alley off Hackney Road, this pub is a great place to grab some burgers and pints with friends. Good selection of beer, and great burgers (but a bit overpriced). The Underdog hot dog is prob the best value for money.

I must say that the Lucky Chip burgers they serve here has just taken over as my favourite burger place! The burgers are so juicy and pink– which is a hard thing to find in London now a days since everyone is making their burgers practically well done! The chips are brilliant as well, as it seems I just can’t get enough of them! I would say that this would be the closest place that does proper ‘American Burgers’ in London, which is also a hard thing to find.
The pub itself is a good size. I went around 5 in order to pretty much pick whatever seat I wanted in the pub as it starts getting crowded around 530 – 6 because 6 is when they start serving the burgers on Saturdays. There are some outdoor tables for when the weather is lovely. However, the immediate area is nothing special as the pub is literally within an alley’s way and hence so are the outdoor tables.
Overall I can’t say enough good things about the burgers… except for that I definitely won’t be going anywhere else for a burger in London except for here!

Old school boozer with a twist, the twist being decent live music and of course hosting the magnificent Lucky Chip. Even if you take the latter out of the equation it’s still a good pub, with a good selection of craft ales. Really is worth a visit for any of the above.

It takes ages to get a table here, so try to get here before 6pm. Lucky Chip handles the burgers, using a quite unique traffic light system. When lights are red, orders are on hold. When yellow, get ready to head to the bar. When green, food orders are go!
So that fun aside, I found the veggie burger (sorry, no chicken here) to be quite good. Packed with veg and lots of cheese. The beers from the «Sebright Arms» are okay too. I’d have no issue spending a good few hours here. The placed has a nice ambience, good for conversation and friendly enough.
There is a small downstairs area that is used for intimate gigs from time to time. Sadly I missed out on tickets for the Lumineers that apparently happened in their basement before the band released «Hey Ho». Gutted, as they’ll probably never play venues that small again :(

The Cheeseburger at the Sebright Arms pop up Lucky Chip is what a cheeseburger was meant to be. Perfectly charred beef that is hot off a griddle with gooey cheese melted on top. Add in some shredded lettuce, crinkle cut pickles, and a bun that gives a perfect texture to each bite. It’s hard to think such a basic combination would be one of the best burgers I’ve ever had, but this one redefines a cheeseburger. Top quality ingredients and perfect timing by the cooks make each one of these a mastery of burger science. A word of caution that Sebright Arms or the other Lucky Chip locations can be a bit difficult to find, however they are well worth the effort.

Signs you’re in a hipster bar:
1) The majority of the clientele are under 35 and hipsters.
2) The pub only has really terrible, over-​hopped cask ales (as that style is a huge fan of hipsters solely for the purpose that it’s different even though it’s really not very good).
3) There are no matching chairs in the pub.
4) The bathrooms are disgusting.
5) The entrance is down some sketchy looking alley off the main street.
6) At least one member of staff is wearing over-​sized horn-​rimmed glasses.
The Sebright Arms has all of these characteristics. So if you’re looking for a hipster pub in a pretty terrible part of London, come here! The staff were quite friendly though and let me try every single one of their cask ales. (I won’t be back.)

I’ve been hearing about Lucky Chip burgers for a while now, so I finally made the effort to head down to Sebright Arms to try them.
Food:
Had the El Chappo — aged beef patty, smoked bacon, roasted jalapeños, blue cheese and aioli. It was undoubtedly a solid burger. Felt the toppings were perfect. Patty had a good amount of fat in it, was meaty and flavourful. My patty however was a tiny bit dry whereas my friends seemed to have better ones so I think I was a bit unlucky.
Cheese fries were highly enjoyable. Such a simple dish yet some places manage to mess it up. Not the case here fortunately.
Ambiance:
Loved the pub generally. Tucked away in a tiny alley just away from Hackney road, it’s extremely peaceful. Nice outdoor seating area with about 5 – 6 benches (all were full sadly). Bit dim inside but in a cozy, inviting way.
Great beer selection. They had brooklyn lager and one of the dogfish head brews on tap. Reasonable selection of craft beers in bottles as well. Huge plus point.
A random folk band played a song in the evening, then announced they were doing a set downstairs in 10 mins, so I assume they have some sort of music venue downstairs. We didn’t stay sadly but I did love the one song.
Overall:
Not sure if the burger as I had it was enough of a hook for me to make the trek again. Factoring in the whole package though, I know I’ll have to go back.

And old man pub with a camp twist. It’s hard to hate this place.
I wasn’t sure to make of the Sebright Arms when I walked down an alleyway to find this pub, but when I got to the door, I smiled. They have street art of a bar fly, sitting on his stool, with wings, drinking a beer. And above him it read: «Meanwhile, in another gin join in another town in another world.» I loved that,
Inside is the most peculiar decorated pub I’ve seen in London. Not because it’s so over-​the-​top weird, but much more subtle. It seems like a normal bar — wooden counter, fading leather seats, few windows to give that dark feel that so many pubs enjoy. Ok. But then you start to look at the walls and realise that there’s mirrored cutouts of John Travolta or a guy who looks like Jambi the Genie from Pee-Wee’s playhouse. And a lot of dudes with epic moustaches. I mean, some serious moustaches. Say what?
Plus, they had one hell of a delicious apple and pear mixed cider on tap. That was a new one to me and delicious as all get-​out.
Now, we went for a beer and a Lucky Chip burger. I’m not going to review the burger here because it’s a pop-​up and won’t be there forever (plus, Lucky Chip has their own page). However, the fact that they work with local non-​brick and mortar restaurants to serve food and promote other businesses makes me very happy.
We stayed for our burger and one drink and had a very nice evening. If I’m in the area again, I’ll take that alley and pop in for another drink and another bit of weirdness.

Well. this is certainly an old man pub. I’ve been thinking about Lucky Chip for a while, last year I dragged someone down to find this place on a burger hunt, but it was a sunny day and I was turned off by how ‘old-​man’ and dingey it seemed.
Fast-​forward to a pissing rainy night in May and it was time for the Quest for the Holy Burger Grail to begin again. I jumped out of my cab and down this little alley to find said dingey pub looking just the same. Waited for my trusted Grail companions to arrive and surmised the scene, an interesting blend of actual old people and hipsters with delusions of ‘geriatric-​chic’. The east London special.
The boys went for the special ‘Danny Trejo’ and I went the Royale with Cheese and cheese fries. Since the place is so try-​hard americano, I expected nuclear orange melted cheese ala real cheese fries, but they were skin on chips with some cheddar melted on top. Disappointing. The wasabi mayo and sweet chilli fries were equally disappointing, just little pots of sauce. Let’s be a bit more inventive, maybe? Or is it the Not-​so-​Lucky Chip. Cos we didn’t get lucky with these.
The burger. Ah yes. Well it was alright, good even. The bun was immediately soggy from meat juices when I picked it up, which I wasn’t keen on. I remove the offending pickels and onions, as is my style, but still I wasn’t overly impressed. Actually the Lucky Chip burger at Giant Robot is far superior. But I ate it all, so it can’t have been too bad.
Alas, dear friends, the Quest continues.

I was last in this place about 6 years ago when it was obviously a quiet, slightly seedy back street pub that was on its last legs. Well the legs gave out and it closed. I heard it had reopened a while ago and went to check it out. What could have changed? Well just about everything except the fine paneled walls.
Six years ago I was one of the youngest punters now I’m one of the oldest. The clientele has utterly changed to a group of chatty, friendly, slightly hipsterish (and I do mean slightly) 25−30year olds. We were there on a Saturday night and it was packed.
However we got there early enough to get a table and settled in to soak up the atmosphere. A DJ played good music (a fine mix of quality 70’s & 80’s stuff mixed in with indie dance from today) but not so loud that you could not talk. The burgers were good and very welcome after a couple of hours and the beer choice was excellent if you like stouts and ales from around the world and more local cask ales. Its not so good if you like draught lagers though the Meantime lager draft was very good.
Its not often that a place can give you a positive buzz just from the atmosphere alone but this place did us. And we did not venture to the Venue downstairs where bands were playing. In addition a nice looking and slightly quieter room was available around the side of the bar.
All in all a transformation from 6 years ago and a place I will number among my favorite locals.

Wow, a great old-​fashioned music pub which is packed even when the roads are covered in snow!
Came here recently to see a band play in the downstairs bar. Very varied quality with some of the supporting acts just annoying noise.
Most of the drinking goes on upstairs where the service is good. Downstairs’ staff was lacking enthusiasm, but a great night was still had by all.

What a little gem of a pub, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the mains streets in Bethnal Green. Well worth my cycle to and from — I’ll gladly head back to check out one of their music nights downstairs, or perhaps the karoke night Leanne W mentioned! Also, because my mind has wandered to thinking about their tasty burgers since my trip there.
Nice, local pub with wooden panelled walls and plenty of space. The staff are really friendly and helpful. I was very happy with the selection of real ales at reasonable prices.
Enjoy,
c*

This place offers everything you could want in an East End spot. A very ironic music selection, cheap drinks, and lots and lots of hipsters. A very big and roomy pub, although the place is essentially always packed. Come early to grab a table. And definitely visit when this place is serving Lucky Chip burgers. Holy crap, they are amazing! One of the best burgers in London, hands down. A lovely hidden gem.