The Barking Dog - Barking

Visited 13th October 2013.

Our last pub of the day before we collected our daughter from her ExCel visit turned out to be a difficult one to find anywhere to park. Eventually we managed to park in a side road but it wasn't easy finding a space, even on a Sunday. It was a dark, narrow and busy pub but I was served my Orange and Passionfruit J2O fairly quickly and Mrs S. had found us a table. As it turned out we didn't need our table for very long as we were now rushing a bit as it was already passed the time we had arranged with our daughter to collect her. Mrs S. had again forgone a drink, knowing that she cannot drink quickly. A total of seven pubs visited today, so not bad, even though the last few had been a bit of a rush. Twenty minutes later we were at ExCel picking up Ms S. and her friend and about two minutes after that we were on our way home, which took way more than it should have done due to several road closures in central London. How can it be so busy on a Sunday?

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The Great Spoon of Ilford - Ilford

Visited 13th October 2013.

As it tuned out the dilemma we had been presented with in the previous pub turned out to be a none issue. The remaining two pubs on my list were in the general direction of ExCel (well, sort of) so Ms S. was going to have to wait a while. Parking turned out to be a bit of a problem but eventually we found somewhere where we parked up and paid for twenty minutes and headed to the pub. We knew it was going to be a rush so I had an Apple and Raspberry J2O with Mrs S. declining all my offers of a drink. It was a long, narrow pub, fairly busy and with the usual booths and books. Another call from Ms S. and the twenty minutes parking ensured that we were not able to stay very long. One more to go!

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The George - Wanstead, Greater London

Visited 13th October 2013.

A short drive later and we are at The George which turned out to be the pub of the day. It had a George and the dragon theme going on which was quite interesting. There was even a large throne centre piece. The ceilings were high which gave a very spacious feeling to the place. I had a large latte with Mrs S. opting for some water. It was pretty busy in there with a lot of customers tucking into a Sunday roast. It was also busy at the bar but we were served quickly and efficiently and with a smile. It was while we were relaxing here that we received a telephone call from Ms S. saying that she had seen all she wanted to see at ExCel and was ready to be picked up. Now we had a real dilemma, get the daughter or visit the last two pubs on my list!

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The Walnut Tree - Leytonstone, Greater London

Visited 13th October 2013.

It had stopped raining by the time we reached the fourth pub, which in contrast to the previous pub cosisted of a large, light, airy, rectangular room with the obligatory bookshelves. Once again Mrs S. went and found some some seats while I headed to the bar where I purchased an Apple and Mango J2O for myself and a cup of tea for Mrs S. plus a couple of bags of Hula hoops as we were getting a little peckish again. We seemed to be making good progress as we still had a few hours left to go before we needed to be back at ExCel to pickup Ms S. and only had three pubs left on my list of pubs to visit today and they were all in the general direction of where we needed to be. Pub five here we come!

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The Drum - Leyton, Greater London

Visited 13th October 2013.

Our third pub of the day was a little further afield and seemed to take an age to get to but wasn't really. We found a useful car park behind the pub but it needed a pound for the hour, even on a Sunday. We paid, walked round to the front of the pub, took the photos and went in. It seemed smaller, darker and a lot busier than the previous two pubs but apart from the bar lady Mrs S. was the only women in there. I ordered a small Pepsi for her and a Buffalo Trace and Pepsi for myself and then went looking for her. She had found a nice pair of comfortable armchairs where I was able to sit and write my notes while she went back to Wally. And out the window it even looked as tough it has stopped raining!

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The Hudson Bay - Forest Gate, Greater London

Visited 13th October 2013.

It didn't take long to get to the second pub of the day but we ended up parking further away than we needed to so had a bit of a walk, it was still raining but we weren't singing! Still, I'm sure the walk in the rain did us good. The pub looked small from the outside but the entrance opened up to a spacious area in front of a curving bar that looked very welcoming. I went and ordered a large Pepsi for myself and a large latte for Mrs S. who had disappeared in search of a table. I eventually found her hidden in one of the many booths hunched over Where's Wally on her phone. Again the pub was "standard London" which although traditional doesn't have those little twists that I always love to find. We finished up and having just dried out went and got soaked again as we walked back to the car. What we suffer for our hobbies...

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The Miller's Well - East Ham, Greater London

Visited 13th October 2013.

It's that time of year again when Ms. S. feels the urge to visit a hair show so it's on a cold, wet (actually it's tipping it down) Sunday that myself,  Mrs S. Ms S. and her friend are heading to ExCel in Docklands. We were all up (too) early which means we need to stop for breakfast first. After a small detour we ended up at The Miller's End, just a short drive away from our goal. The rain was so heavy we skipped the photos and went straight in and found a booth. A quick look at the menu and I'm off to the bar where I order a large full English breakfast and a coffee for myself and a regular full English and coffee for Mrs S. leaving the girls to sort themselves out, which they do, eventually. The staff were friendly and helpful and the bar lady was happy to correct my coffee error and replace them with the two lattes I meant to order. We ate, we drank, we took some photos and then we left and went and dropped the girls off at ExCel. Time to go to pub two!

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