Hackney is the new Islington, it seems. Bringing seriously good craft ale and thin-crust pizzas (both lovingly made on the premises) to the neighbourhood, this funky, post-industrial canal-side
set-up sits in the lee of the Olympic Park. Suntrap alfresco tables are at a premium; otherwise drinkers loll on the grimy towpath or chill indoors in a bar-cum-canteen wittily fashioned from
pallets, crates, railway sleepers, bedsprings and sundry scrapyard booty. Among the home brews worth discovering is India Pale Ale (top of the hops at £4 a pint), while guests from other London
microbreweries sit alongside imports from Belgium, USA, Australia and Italy (Brewfist Space Man). Modestly priced, rustic red wines work well with the eclectic pizzas: Middle Eastern lamb with
apricots and pine nuts scores highly, although the red onion, courgette, feta and gremolata version could be juicier.