Bethnal Green pubs and bars

To misquote the late Brian Moore, this is a pub of two halves. Upstairs is a cultured, calm and almost sedate dining room, within which nouveau EastEnders tuck into expensive but impressive Modern European cooking. Downstairs in the good-looking pub, built around a handsome central bar, the scene is more boisterous, as easily distracted staff deliver pricey wines and ales to an assortment of vintage-clad creatives who keep the hum of conversation going throughout the night. It’s at its best earlier in the week: Fridays and Saturdays can be uncomfortably frantic, and the flower market on the doorstep means Sundays can be a crush. Keen-eyed sitcom enthusiasts may recognise the Royal Oak from its starring role in Goodnight Sweetheart, although the current owners seem strangely reluctant to advertise the source of the pub’s 15 minutes.

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.

A vinous waft drifts to Bethnal Green Road from down the alley. It’s fruitier than the usual street scents, luring you past several old railway arches until it reaches its height by a bar inside Arch 12. Our bartender – wearing a black beret that would seem ironic if we weren’t in east London – pulls back tarpaulin to reveal the source, a vat of purpling grapes. She works in the area’s first urban winery, where those grapes are imported from vines around Europe and turned into wine under the arches, with a bench-filled taproom in among the barrels and fermentation tanks. Renegade has been producing since early 2017, with four wines on the roster – three white, one red – and an English sparkler coming soon. They had sold out of the bacchus I was most interested in trying, made from British grapes. But a chardonnay caught my attention, French oak barrels of the stuff aging at the rear of the room. It had all the right bold and buttery characteristics and slipped down a dream alongside a British cheese platter – including a jet-black charcoal cheddar – served with a generous basket of bread from Bow’s Breid bakery. Their sauvignon blanc was a quaffable number, but it didn’t compare. A few other wines from European producers are available, but it would be a shame not to try the output from these passionate winemakers. Indeed, after I showed a nerdy interest, I was enthusiastically presented with a sample of grape juice from early on in the fermentation process. Curiosity seems...