Those who have frequented pubs in small provincial towns might recognise the Beehive for what it is: a slightly sordid place of undignified drinking.
Nevertheless it is drinking of the most lustrous kind, a place to shoot neat vodka in front of a fish tank wherein the goldfish are much larger than the confines of their watery prison might suggest.
There鈥檚 a pool table; two fruities in the corner. The decor might be best described as Inbetweeners chic: this would鈥檝e been the place for pints after double science. Apparently underage drinking is impossible in 2025, which seems a shame given the Doomsday Clock is at its closest ever to humanity鈥檚 destruction.
Nihilism or not, The Beehive is 鈥渙ne of them鈥 鈥 a place to be silly in. There is no distinguishing vibe per se. It is simply a boozer, a chaotic vestibule of plants placed randomly in corners, hanging crisps and unmoving fans.
When I was in after dinner at Polentina, the charming Italian restaurant in a nearby clothes factory, I admired the Matalan-esque mirror, the pile of towels inexplicably on a chair in the corner and a woman sitting motionless with a card machine for apparently no reason whatsoever. Who was she? What was she selling?
Maybe tickets for the little music venue out back where young rockers play loud music to young people wearing black. I perched happily in the beer garden and waited for Graham Norton and Poldark, who live nearby. And I thought about the area. A friend, Bow born-and-bred, told me its story might be more about regeneration than gentrification, although they mentioned displacement too. This pub might be a relic, somewhere for worlds to quietly collide. It was neither empty nor buzzing. Just a pub in east London with a fish tank, a pool table and that inexplicable towel stack.
104 Empson Street, E3 3LT, @thebeehivelivemusicvenue
191 Portobello Road, W11, speedboatbar.co.uk
Soho House fixture the Electric Bar is to become a Speedboat Bar next month as chef Luke Farrell and JKS Restaurants pick Notting Hill for the second location of their hit Thai restaurant. Expansion was always likely, though this one will be less Bangkok shophouse, more engine room, according to Farrell. Still, expect the same lager towers, playful cocktails and spicy curries and noodles; the same gap yah energy. It鈥檚 a winning formula. Opens July.
43 Lower Clapton Road, E5, elephanthackney.com
An east London pub has been reworked into a modern venue serving cocktails and Italian food. The Elephant鈥檚 Head has been reborn as Elephant Hackney and is the work of Rum Kitchen founder Stevie Thomas and former Manteca sous Francesco Sarvonio. On the menu, dishes from the Italian south, with a focus on Neapolitan pizzas, while drinks include spicy margaritas, espresso martinis, a custom Grolsch 鈥 nice to see it back on draught 鈥 and local beers from Five Points.