Bethnal Green pubs and bars

A back-passage boozer just off Hackney Road with a dishevelled aesthetic and live music leanings, the Sebright Arms has a faithful army of drinkers, mostly in their mid-twenties. The pub champions local craft beers – look for anything from Hackney Brewery, London Fields or Redchurch on rotation on tap – as well as showcasing fast food pop-ups. Indeed, a long-running residency from Lucky Chip put the tongue-in-cheek burger vendors firmly on the foodie map. Live music is the Sebright’s biggest draw though, with gigs on almost every night in the louche basement. Sound-proofing may be a bit of an issue but it’s only good vibrations that set kitsch lampshades wobbling charmingly in the ground-floor bar. And despite their studiously cool appearance, fresh-faced staff in American Apparel gear seem to be having just as much fun as the gig-goers, which is just fine in our book.

Despite looking like just another old-school footie pub from the outside, the King's Arms in Bethnal Green – located on a quiet residential street – confounds a barrelload of expectations. Dimly lit like a Brooklyn dive bar, boasting a rotating selection of craft beers and with chic wooden trimmings, it should by rights scream 'hipster haven'. Yet this isn't a pretentious hangout. It's the perfect update of a local community boozer: its clientele reflect all shades of local life, regardless of whether they follow the King's Arms on Instagram or not. It’s all about craft beer here - plenty of it on tap, from new-wave IPAs to comforting bitters and jet-black stouts.

Mother Kelly’s is a New York-inspired bar tucked beneath one of the railway arches on Bethnal Green’s Paradise Row. But there’s a twist. The beers here aren’t just for sitting down and sipping in situ: you can also take them away to savour on your sofa too. And the selection of bottles is staggering – and it’s all judiciously chosen. The room itself is a bright, corrugated tunnel with chunky wooden decking, plenty of space to sit and stand, and a loud wall of graffiti splashed across one wall. A row of unmarked taps along the metallic back wall offer a head-spinning range of brews to those who prefer to get stuck in on-site, and they all change pretty much every day. So you've got an excuse to keep going back.