Molly Blooms: you don’t go to the Kingsland Road bar to drink Coca-Cola

A CHRISSIE PRESENT for Hackneyites who like a healthy walk before Christmas lunch: pubs that open on the big day. 

Every year Loving Dalston publishes a guide to Christmas Day pub-openings in and around Hackney, a guide so far exclusive to this site.

Whichever pub you choose for an excursion, a pub close to home might best please ageing parents/old friends/young offspring/dogs. Bear in mind that  London, World City No 1 though it still is, runs no public transport on the greatest single holiday of the English year.

Have one for me. Merry Christmas  and Happy Hannukah.

Dogs are welcome at most pubs in this guide, even pooches as bedraggled (bedoggled?) as this

* Alma 159 Newington Green Road, Stoke Newington N1 4QU (020 7226 3531), noon-7pm, dog-friendly. Drinks served only with a meal, £60 booking free now mandatory (they’ve been stung by no-shows).

* Cock, 315 Mare Street, Hackney E8 1EJ 020 8533 6369. Unpromising exterior belies the quality of this favourite of affluent millennials. Noon-3pm, child and dog-friendly. Home to local and many other cask ales. Dogs and children allowed. Kitchen closed.

Molly Blooms: you don’t go to the Kingsland Road bar to drink coffee — instant or otherwise 

* Dove, 24 Broadway Market E8 4QJ (020 7275 7617), noon-3pm, dogs, children allowed. Some NE London ales but speciality is Belgian beers.

* Molly Blooms, 525 Kingsland Road, Dalston E8 4AR, 10am-2pm, has had many names yet keeps its Irish identity, even to the Joycean extent of dropping the apostrophe from its name.

* Old Eagle, 251 Royal College Street, Camden NW1 9LU (020 7482 6021), noon-4pm. For Hackneyites, quite a schlepp via Regent’s Canal towpath, but you are rewarded with a traditional pub — dogs and children allowed — inside a handsome Georgian building. Kitchen closed.

* Palm Tree, 127 Grove Road E3 5BH (020 8980 2918), noon-4pm, dogs and children allowed. Ideally approached on foot (beware cyclists) or bicycles (consider walkers) via Regent’s Canal towpath: an open fire will warm you. Kitchen closed.

* Princess Of Wales, Lea Bridge Road, Clapton  E5 9RB (020 8533 3463), noon-7.30pm. That rare thing, a Young’s  pub to like. Hipsterish, and dog and child-friendly. The interior is fully booked for diners so drinkers will be banished to exterior tables and benches on the terrace by the River Lea… at least, until the diners have drifted home. Pleasant enough but strictly for those willing to tolerate Covid-era drinks sessions.

Palm Tree: Cockney classic where you might meet anyone from cocktail-slurping hipsters to lager-downing Romanies

* Prince George, 40 Parkholme Road, Dalston E8 3AG, noon-3pm (020 7254 6060). Classic pub that would probably satisfy George Orwell’s criteria. Open fire, dog and child-friendly.  Kitchen closed.

* Royal Sovereign, 64 Northwold Road, Clapton E5 8RL (020 8806 2449), noon-2pm, child, dog-friendly. Kitchen closed.

* Town of Ramsgate, 62 Wapping High Street, E1W 2PN (020 7481 8000), noon-2pm, dog and child-friendly. Backing on to the Thames, this venerable, history-rich pub is ideal for customers wanting a longish walk before a pint. From raised tables at the waterside end of the garden, the hardy can savour super views up, down and across the London River, as mariners call this bit of the Thames. If you see any of the several A-listers who occasionally go there, do not request a selfie: slebs deserve a day off.  Kitchen closed.

Hello, sailor: a Thamesside wonder, the Town of Ramsgate is a bit of a London secret

* The Village, 31 Orford Road, Walthamstow E17 9NL (020 8521 4398), noon-3pm. Styles itself a craft-beer pub but when Loving Dalston visited only two multinational-owned ales were on. Comfortable seating, sizeable tables and spacious covered garden. A no children, no dogs rule was strictly enforced.  Kitchen closed.

* Wenlock Arms, 26 Wenlock Road (corner Sturt Street), Hoxton N1 7TA (0871 951 1000), noon-3pm. Alehouse often offering local craft brews, as well as quality ciders. A rickety-looking joanna is ready for someone to lead drinkers into “han hold-style ’Oxton singsong”. Kitchen closed.

* JD Wetherspoon, 282 Mare Street, Hackney E8 1HE (020 8525 9010), 10am-4pm. Craft beers in spacious interior, usually male-dominated. A local loved the chain’s carpets so much he wrote a book about them (true). Foyer smoking area, heated roof terrace. Company policy bans dogs, even those without a drink problem.

Prince George: The Dalston boozer is one of the best in the portfolio of mini pubco Remarkable Pubs

David Altheer 221222

* Publicans, the list has grown since it was first published so if you want your pub added to this list, at no charge, email editor@lovingdalston.co.uk. Include the necessary details (see examples above) and no more, not even a photograph.

* Backstory: How Hackney rates in 2014 Good Pub Guide; Making an East End boozer work; More new pubs than anywhere else

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