Tap East, London

Posted on 01. Nov, 2011 by Robert Gale in Breweries, Pubs

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Brief History

Tap East opened in September, 2011 at the same time as the new Westfield shopping centre. Interestingly, the owners of the pub, the team behind Borough Market’s Rake and Utobeer had been approached by Westfield about the idea of an on-site pub but had only been given 8 weeks to construct the pub.

Given the short time frame they initially had to open with a temporary bar located by the Pontypridd based Otley Brewery. This helped them during the opening period but they soon needed to replace the bar with something more permanent.

A 4 day closure in October allowed them to fit a permanent bar that now features 10 keg taps and 6 hand pumps.It also allowed them to install a brewery using kit from the Bitter End Brewery in Cockermouth who had recently expanded. With a 2.5bbl brewing capacity, Tap East hopes to be bale to maintain 3 ales in the form of a stout, a 6.5% IPA and sub-4% IPA.

Location and Interior

Tap East is located on the edge of Westfield at the edge of the Great Eastern Market. It is spacious and has a good selection of seating from high tables to comfy sofas. It’s location means that it is both accessible from inside the shopping centre and outside which s perfect for the warmer days and it is able to stay open longer than centre (until 11pm).

The Beer

Tap East features a great selection of beer especially considering the pub is located in a shopping mall. There are 10 beers on keg featuring a mixture of common beers such as Grolsch Blonde and Blue Moon from Coors plus some more unusually beers such as La Chouffe, Liefmans and, at the time I visited, a beer from south California brewery Coronado.

Six hand pumps are available featuring beers from a wide variety of breweries including the increasingly popular Magic Rock Brewing Co. and the always popular Thornbridge.

Also available is a wide selection of bottled beers from both the UK and beyond. They are available to drink in the pub or if you want to take them away you will save 10% from the pub price.

Should You Visit

The pub is a trek outside the centre of London (unless you’re feeling flush and are willing to pay 7.30 to travel the 6 minute journey from St Pancras to Stratford International – it’s worth it!) so if you are only in London for a short amount of time then it may be too far out for you.

However, if you have more time available then Tap East is a great place to visit. Located on the edge of Westfield in the Great Eastern Market, the pub has seating both inside and outside and is within spitting distance of Stratford International.

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Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.