Well and Bucket

We ordered a seafood platter £28, they weren’t fresh at all, a lobster was very dry, cockles were too sour to eat and bread was very hard. Some of staffs were rude too, After waiting for ages to get the platter I was telling myself that I wouldn’t come back here again .
Only good point is Victorian inspired deco.

Hidden under the Well & Bucket pub on Bethnal Green Road is this lovely little gem of a cocktail bar called 5cc London. Small and perfectly formed, it is a great spot to settle in for the cold evenings and chill with some great cocktail infusions. Prop yourself at the bar and enjoy the stories and recommendations from the bar team, or grab an alcove with friends/​work colleagues.

Would I go here again?
No.
There are three reasons why:
1. I paid £18 for two double and mixer.
2. It’s full of people who thing they’re original.
3. I saw many people stand by me at the bar and not get served. Because it’s a non service area. Then I saw a pretty girl turn up and she got served immediately. This makes me no longer respect the bar staff.
Don’t bother here. You can find a much better drink with less sexually driven staff elsewhere in shoreditch I assure you.
Try the commercial.

A pub that was refurbed over the last year. Certainly seems to be more catered for the hip and trendy vibe of the area now. Has oysters and sliders on the menu. We had catfish, pulled pork and a cheeseburger slider. All quite good. Cheeseburger was best. Also had some oxtail fries, which were nice. I think their hot wings with blue cheese sauce were better though. Good beer too but watch out for the really expensive one on the end (they should say before you order it).

Great selection of drinks, delicious food and a cocktail bar in the basement — this is my go-​to pub.
Though it’s usually a toss up between crab fries and sliders, the oysters are definitely worth a go.
There’s also a heated smoking area at the back, so you know.

Now, before anyone starts to moan, this pub is LOUD. And busy! But it’s a great vibe, speciality booze and awesome décor.
If you are looking for somewhere quiet this isn’t the pub for you, but I love it. And so do the other patrons. Everyone is pretty friendly and the bar staff are pretty easy on the eye too!

A very excellent pub in a very excellent location.
Given this spot is in such a busy and pub-​poluated area, it could be quite hard to find a sturdy location for a nice couple of pints but W&B have hit the nail on the head. Sitting just at the bottom of Brick Lane, this feels like a really traditional boozer. Almost gothic-​type décor with plenty of table and seats to guarantee vast amounts of chill-​out time. The pub also has a nice outside deck for when the city is being treated to a little of this so called «sunshine» that us Londoners have heard so much about.
I’ve been down here on many occasions and i’ve always been greeted by friendly and helpful staff. The drinks selection is also very good. Vast amounts of wine and spirits, and a great selection of beers and ciders on both tap and bottle. On my last visit i strayed to a lovely craft beer that I believe was a «guest» on the menu, it’s nice to know they always change their offering too.
As an added extra, the W&B is hiding a little secret. A perfect cocktail club just down a set of stairs in the corner. So after a few of those «warm-​up» drinks upstairs don’t be afraid to venture downstairs and see what exciting times await down there. P. s — You may need a hand back up the stairs afterwards!!!

Been meaning to come here for a while after hearing good things. Was not disappointed as the staff kindly let us um and ah over picking our beer, allowing us a few samples in the process (luckily it was a languid Friday afternoon and there happened to be no other customers vying for their attentions). Settled on the tasty Baby Faced Assassin from top brewery Rooster.
Sat in the yard at the back and tried not to drool at the food smells!

Very tasty sliders in a cool atmosphere with hip crowd. Do love the old and worn wall tiles and the skeleton pictures.

I was lucky enough to go here the first week it opened and I had high hopes. The food was good, it was quiet and we got to sit down an then of course there is the HUGE menu of beers to choose from. Winner. And then, then! There was the secret cocktail bar downstairs which we were the only ones in.
But that was a good year ago, or so and little treasures like this one don’t go unnoticed. Having been back in recent times I find it quite trying. It’s very loud in here. I know I’m getting older, but I want to be able to talk to the people I’m out with, note ‘talk’ not shout. I just don’t get why places that don’t have any where near anything that resembles a dance floor has to be so damn loud.
The beer selection is, as ever, amazing. There is so much to try and it’s worth it if you can find somewhere to sit to go and just do that even if it’s just a couple.
The staff can be a little offhandish, which I suppose goes with the locale — don’t get me started on the patrons; it is your typical East London lot. Which, y’know, if you’re from East London, that’s fine, but the last time I went I was surrounded by people with a complete lack of any observational skills whatsoever and no concept of personal space.
It’s a shame because the décor of the pub and what they have to offer is outstanding — and they are also dog friendly — but I’m not sure if I’d go back again unless it was a sunday afternoon and I happened to be walking past.

A nice boozer with a good beer selection that regularly changes. Lots of good craft beers all the time is a plus for me. The décor is cool, deliberately shabby with really nice artwork and the staff are friendly.
My main gripe is with their table booking policy. If you intend to sit down then you better book a table because they don’t seem to hold many (if any) back for walk ins. This seems like unusual behaviour for a pub, and results in a very crowded one as most customers are forced to stand in an area that’s not massive.
My advice — definitely visit this place but find a time when it’s not busy or book a table

No one likes paying for apps right? Well I paid £1.99 for this Craft Beer app which is the bible for craft beer pubs situated in London and what a app it is. After supping a few in Brewdog in Shoreditch, I decided for a change of scenery. what’s this? My app was telling me to head 5 minutes up the road to the Well & Bucket and I’m glad it did.
Got through the door and the buzz hit you, lots of people eating sliders and oysters, what a combination, the craft beer list is impressive, beers from all over the world. I really like this place and was a little gutted when we couldn’t get anything to eat due to it being so busy, but the food looked great.
I also noticed the spirits on a little island behind the bar, bourbon heaven, my sort of thing.
The interior was also cool, lots of old portraits that had been defaced, modern art huh.
So the verdict, definitely coming back here to sample the food, but next time I will reserve a table, yes! reserve a table in London, perfect!

A nice pub that blends modern beer with classic boozer ambiance. I came here for the Dogfish Head and Wells DNA launch — it was a great time. They also had a nice range of UK beers on both cask and keg. Worth a visit.

A very spacious Pub on Bethnal Green Road.
Full to the brim with well dressed youngins, the place has a really nice vibe to it. Its both old and new. During the daytime, the large windows leave in a welcome amount of light. Theres a beer garden too.
The menu looks very promising, with loads of picky bits, good for sharing.
Yes, we like

Now first off I must declare that this review is based on one visit on a Sunday evening. It was fairly quiet with tables spare and only a mild hubub of conversation.
But the range of beers are varied and interesting on both cask and keg. Its something when the most mass market draught beer is Camden Helles beer. It also has Mikkeller, Kernel, and Nøgne Ø. Lots others but I forget. — just lets say if you want something a bit different this is a good place to start.
As for food, we did not try anything but if my friends salivations are anything to go by their menu of mini burgers (Sliders?) roast dinners and oysters of various flavours and combinations will be worth it.
However the best thing we found was the physical place. It was dark and atmospheric with filiment lights dimmed down to a minimum. Most of the light seeemed to be streetlights coming through the huge front windows. All this simply added to the slightly surreal images of skeleton poitraits on the wall looking down on the central bar.
But the loveliest thing of all were the original (and listed) wall tiles from the last time this was a pub over 25 years ago (It was the Well and Bucket then too nice to see a pub resurrecting from the apparent dead is that what those skeletons mean?).
So early days yet but this place looks promising well worth checking it out.
Update:
I have been back several times since I wrote the above and this place is getting better and better. Nice buzzy crowd which is a good mix of ages and styles. I have now tried the food and the burger slims are ideal session food choose from about 9 burger versions, you get 3 for £7.95. My favourite beer is the Camden Helles beer which is a very reasonable £3.90 a pint (considering it is a low volume craft beer). There are few nicer bars. Sitting up on those handsome barstools admiring the interior while sipping great beer and charting with friends has this place is knocking on the door of 5 stars.

It’s hard not to like Well & Bucket, unless you came expecting oysters (not an unusual concept given that it’s billing itself as an oyster bar) and then were told at 7pm on a Saturday that they were completely out. Seriously W&B? How could you run out of your signature dish that early?
Luckily, oysters aren’t a deal breaker for me so I proceeded to order almost everything else on the menu. Don’t worry, my concerned readers, I’m not about to die early of a heart attack as Katie B, Rob H, and Laura S had all joined me for a chill night of eating and drinking. And that’s just what W&B was designed for.
There are a number of tables and booths surrounding the central bar and even on a Saturday the majority of them were open for walk ins. Perhaps nobody remembered to make a reservation (ahem…Katie…), but I like to think that they had made a point not to book out all the tables and leave them for us walk in folk. There are also a number of bar stools around the bar — now this is something I have mixed feelings about as it makes it über hard to get to the bar to order a drink, but overall I think it’s probably good for the extra seating options.
W&B also has a large number of microbrewed beers (a good number on tap as well) which makes it the second signature item. And these are the good microbrews which embody the time and care the brewer has put into each recipe, and not the generic microbrew which one would be hard pressed to differentiate from Bud Lite. The Flying Gonzo Dog was dark, smokey, and just a tad bitter which made it perfect for a start to the night. Rob’s dark porter was similarly dry and delicious while Katie’s Milk Stout went a different direction and would personally suit me more as a dessert. That said, it was very tasty and almost like a chocolate milkshake in beer form. I can’t for the life of me remember what Laura S had (or maybe it was so good she didn’t want to share — I had a hard time doing that myself!)
Food wise, you’re looking at a number of fried things, a selection of sliders, and a few other bits and bobs. We tried all the sliders except the veggie one and while they were all okay, the best actually turned out to be the cheeseburger with melt in your mouth meat and a bespoke ketchup that had a hint of spice. It was a great example of simple things done well, and something too often lost in the ongoing push for gourmet street food. The chilled prawns were tasty and probably my second favourite (particularly with the dips that were served — we were inches away from just eating the dips with a spoon). The wings weren’t worth the money with little flavour and spice although I’ll concede that they were cooked perfectly.
The décor is definitely interesting with a slight Death theme without being morbid. The sound level tends to be moderate so you can still hear your mates without shouting yourself hoarse. And prices are reasonable with beers ranging from £3.50−6 depending on the size and type and cocktails being around £8−10. However, if you want cocktails, go downstairs to 5cc, the new cocktail lounge — but that’s another review…

A promising start.
The ambiance is awesome and the space historic. They use neat aspects of the old building whilst modernising it for a über cool space with Victorian gothic touches that remind me of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland (the building dates from early 19^th C, when it was a Truman pub of the same name till the late 20^th C, when it briefly changed names before closing and becoming a leather store).
The gastro (ish) pub upstairs has great décor, exposed brick walls, and a beautiful bar in the centre. There is also a sizeable part-​covered outdoor space in the back, and a small basement cocktail bar downstairs. Our party of four settled down in a booth in the back and ordered some stouts (which they claim pair excellently with oysters) and ordered a ton of food. We tried all the sliders minus the aubergine vegetarian one, the chilli oxtail fries, peel and eat bucket o’ shrimp, chicken pâté, and the voodoo chicken wings.
The good:
–Bottled and draft beer lists.
–Chicken pâté (and I usually don’t like pâté much)… though we could have used way more bread for the amount of pâté.
–Original slider. Juicy, tasty, and just good.
–Bucket of Shrimp with smoked aioli. It is fun to eat with your hands, and the smoked aioili was really tasty. Not more than a small snack, but a tasty one.
The rest? Pretty forgettable. The lamb slider was decent though. The pulled pork one was dry, as was the chicken one. The chilli fries were good but nothing special. Voodoo wings were not quite spicy enough.
I WISH we could have gotten oysters. ¹⁄₃ of their menu is oysters, and they have a giant sign in the entrance that says OYSTERS. Alas, for some reason, at 6:45pm on a Saturday, they had already run out of oysters, so we did not get to try them.
Downstairs mini review: Nice, intimate space reminiscent of Nightjar. Good cocktails, but nothing special compared to other cocktail bars in the area (Nightjar, Happiness Forgets, and the Looking Glass Cocktail Club have many drinks that make me go ‘Oooo, sounds interesting!!’… this place’s menu just didn’t excite me in that way, and they are the same price).
Bottom line: Beautiful space. Great for drinks, socialising, and a pre-​dinner snack, but probably not for an entire meal.
Although, they DO have a really tasty looking Sunday Roast I saw a picture of on facebook. I might come back and try that.