Hoxton Pony (ex Pool Bar), Shoreditch

pub details:

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location:

Shoreditch

address:

104-108 Curtain Road, EC2A 3AH

phone:

N/A

nearest stations:

Shoreditch High Street (opens 2010) London Overground station
(350m) - zone 2

Old Street railway station London Underground station
(520m) - zone 1

Liverpool Street railway station London Underground station
(900m) - zone 1

Moorgate railway station London Underground station
(990m) - zone 1

Aldgate East London Underground station
(1.2Km) - zone 1

how to find it:

From Old Street: take the exit for Shoreditch and head along Old Street until the road forks. Take the left fork (past the Foundry pub) and continue on until Curtain Road. Turn right and its on the left. From Liverpool Street: take the Bishopsgate exit from the station and turn left up Bishopsgate. Walk for about five minutes until you reach the junction with Great Eastern Street and turn left. Take the third right into Curtain Road. The bar is up on the right.

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opening times:

Mon-Thur 11:00-01:00
Fri 11:00-02:00
Sat 12:00-02:00
Sun 12:00-00:00*
* opening times can change, please check with the pub before organising important events.

nearby attraction(s):

Bunhill Fields (630m)

Geffrye Museum (710m)

Spitalfields Market (730m)

With a name that sounds like Charlie Brooker came up with it, the generic Pool Bar has now been refurbished and renamed as the latest kid on the block, Hoxton Pony. Despite the location there's not a battered Chesterfield in sight - its all very modern, minimalist and sleek - notwithstanding an odd diorama near the entrance. The wave-like reflective bar and the liberal use of mirrors in the more clubby downstairs area are all a little 80s and probably won't age very well. Drinks wise, there's plenty of cocktails and a decent wine list, along with an impressive but eye-wateringly expensive list of bottled beers. Meanwhile, if your hunger gets the better of you, expect a stone-the-crows, gawd blimey 'East End' food menu featuring pies, fish & chips and burgers; the mains were reasonably priced, but if you think £5 for Apple Crumble is good value for money, just imagine what the profit margin must be (its not hard to make, after all). The decor, food, drink and a hotchpotch choice of music made for an interesting but rather disjointed experience, all of which seemed to compete with each other, rather than contrast. Overall, it felt like an incoherent and slightly contrived pick 'n' mix of ideas, all of which left us strangely unsatisfied.

reviewed:
06/11/2008