Drinking Culture

  • Review: The Dickens Inn, Tower Hamlets

    A nice little country pub is most people’s favourite spot for a drink, but why not try The Dickens Inn, regulars might say.

    There is truth to that statement.

    The quaint – almost polite – Inn sits in a lovely cloistered part of Wapping adjacent to the River Thames. In fact I took a walk over Tower Bridge to get here, and it’s a lovely view on a clear day.

    An approach to the bar is the first port of call, and the rest of the stay is yours to curate.

    I sat outside to enjoy the fresh air and a pint.

    It’s not a bad place to sit but it can get busy as it’s popular and inside may be quieter, more up your street if a meal is what you wanted.

  • A sign of things to come?

    A new bar is opening near where I live but I have no intention to go there.

    It’s a great little outfit in a unit beneath some new apartments. It sits nicely on a corner looking out up and down a street rammed with night clubs and other shops.

    There’s a McDonald’s, too, and a Black Sheep Coffee outlet on another corner further up the road.

    It makes sense, then, to have a bar here and I’m sure the owners have done their due diligence in their research. It must make business sense to have a bar here that makes a splash on the scene. There’s a BrewDog pub in another part of town, and that does a roaring trade, also.

    I don’t mind going for a drink but I’m not a bar type of guy. I’ll sit in a pub a few times but mostly on my own, as I don’t like company when I’m drinking – and thinking.

    I like a chat as I walk about – and maybe a few words at work.

    I say this because a new bar is a new opportunity for many of those who like a new drinking hole to get in on.

    It makes a home out of a place that may not feel like it, sometimes, without someone talk to (it’s well known that bars are a good place for a chat).

    I looked at it today and it looks great. It appears a photographer was on site to deal with the promotional side of things, and a few members of staff hanging around (no doubt for extra training, as well).