please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I love this pub. Been going for years. The best boozer in Leytonstone by far. Anyone who thinks otherwise, is mentally deficient, and should go back to the awful Wetherspoon's ("all our pubs look the same" chain), The Walnut Tree and and order their bottles of WKD or whatever trendy drink the advertisers have told them to buy this week. We don't want you in our pub.
Oh, and the "Red Indian Man" is nothing of the sort. He's a lovely old rocker with long hair, who loves his music. To describe him as, "weird" or, "scary" just shows how little you know about people. He's a top man, gentle, and with a great sense of humour. You, on hte other hand,are obviously idiots.
Long live The North Star!
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best pub in leytonstone. not saying much, I know.
hello, is that caswell euan at the bar?
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excellent old school boozer.
used to be my local 15 years ago and hasn't really changed much in that time.
none the worse for it.
what a true london pub should be like.
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The postings from 14-28 Oct are so wide of the mark that I can only think it must be part of some orchestrated campaign. Why do people feel moved to post wildly inaccurate slurs about the best boozer in town? Get a life, guys!
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Cute Aussie barmaid is still there!
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One Star that doesn't shine.
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The beer is too expensive for this area, especially when you see how grotty
the interior is- they even begrudge switching the lights on in this place!
The service is generally pretty unfriendly as well. I wish someone else
would buy this pub and spend a bit of money on it. Everyone I know
feels the same way!
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good riddance
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has the cute aussie barmaid departed.
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dirty , dump , maybe be the best in leytonstone but then that doesnt say much about leytonstone does it?
avoid at all costs
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I love the North Star! I happened to discover it a couple of years ago by accident and can't leave it.
The decor is old and shabby but I think it somehow adds to the old family appeal. It may be simple but that is why it works. The people are charming and friendly and if you actually spoke to the Red Indian man he is the most gentle and loving person in the entire pub.
As for the toilets, I know the pub cleaner personally and she cleans the loo twice a day and is exposed to quite revolting things! It is not a nice task to have to clean up after someone has missed the bowl (if your bowels are in that much of a state you are clearly not well and shouldn’t be out drinking), so the only options are to lock the cubicle or have an attendant stand outside and wait for someone to make their mess and then clean it up. It is unfortunate that a couple of irresponsible people ruin it for the rest but it is not about saving money on soap, I don’t think that is a fair comment in the slightest but this site is about stating opinions, so everyone is entitled to one.
I am not saying that all the customers are perfect, of course not, but they are better than the clientele in the only other pubs around - Zulu's, Walnut Tree and Sheepwalk. The staff actually smile at you and serve you efficiently and have always made me and all my friends feel welcome.
To me, it is by far the best pub in Leytonstone.
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Very nice back-street pub with separate public and saloon bar. well kept ales incl. broadside, landlord, pride, deuchar's. great back garden as well.
The place was rammed this weekend, combination of some kind of local festival and also an acoustic music event, which overwhelmed the staff and people were waiting for ages to be served. More an issue of popularity and the layout of the serving area, though - staff were serving flat-out and there was not room for any more of them.
I'll definitely come back to visit this pub on a quieter occasion - seems like a great place.
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Well, I was in there on saturday. Had a great time, although they closed at 7.30 for a private party. The khazi was open - I didn't have cause to use it but it looked clean to me, and the garden also looked pleasant. The regulars are friendly, the beer is good and personally I like the knocked-about interior. It may be shabby, but it's not dirty.
Some people like this pub, some don't. I do.
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Are you thick, filthy or both Lizi82? Your grovelling drivel ends with the words 'What more can you need'. How about a clean toilet? Is that too much to ask for in a pub? So what if someone leaving it in a mess? There would certainly be a mess if someone ended up getting caught short you imbecile!
The rest of your comments especially about limited paint colours is a load of rubbish! Where is that written in the Local Authority Conservation Documentation? It is all about spending money which the current owner will not do. Pathetic!
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I think you'll now find that the boile view has now been covered up, the garden is currently being re-designed for smokers and a re-decoration is in the offing. THe pub was painted 4 years ago and now that the smoking ban has come in, it will be re-deocrated! Being in a conservation area, you have limitations as to what you can/can't decorate and in what colour unfortunately. The train pictures are there since it was a managed house and they've stayed in keeping with the pub.
The gents toilet was locked, because someone couldn't aim their rear in the right hole and even the best of cleaners would have a problem with cleaning up someone's diorreah on several occasions!
As to the furniture - the bar stools were also replaced 4 years ago, but some people don't seem to have respect and hence they look older.
Good pub, friendly staff and good beer. What more can you need?
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The only pub I enjoy drinking in in leytonstone, a great place for either a quiet night, one too many while chatting to the friendly locals and a great place to watch sport. So what if the decor is a bit tired!The beers are excellent and well kept and that's what matters.
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This is a great little pub. Friendly locals, good beer and when sunny you can sit outside and watch the world go by.
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What has gone wrong here?
This used to be a buzzing popular venue, co owned by Mary of the Bell, an excellent publican.
It now resembles the Marie Celeste on a bad day.
The furniture is "tired" to put it mildly. I think the bar stools came from the first series of Coronation Street. The decor is a bizarre mix of train pictures and gloomy paint.
The rear patio garden is a disgrace - unkempt with dangerous carpet metal strips. The view of the boiler isn't encouraging either - not sure that is safe.
The closure of the gents loo beggars belief (oh, and it is illegal). I presume the lack of soap is a cost cutting measure whilst they save for new furniture
And yet the beer was excellent, the service efficient and the few punters that were about friendly.
So, not dead, but in serious need of resuscitation. It needs a make over and some investment. Let's hope they lower the price (£70k! I ask you) Please somebody, buy it!
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Don't go to this pub if you get short for a number two! They have shut down the toilets in the gents because someone keeps crapping on the seat or something! Madness or what? Beer was ok though!
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Being of a certain age I've come to enjoy the simple things in life such as a quiet pint in a friendly local pub and I can assure you The North Star is exactly that especially in an area where Burberry clad youths loiter outside McDonalds drinking alcopops and Big Issue sellers out number ordinary retailers .
The bar staff are polite and provide good service as well as friendly banter. The 'Scary Red Indian' gentleman who has been mentioned in previous posts I'm told is not as aggressive as he may seem and providing you don't come at him with a broken beer bottle will leave you well alone.
I haven't had a bad evening there apart from one when I turned up on a Monday evening thinking I would be in for a quiet night instead I was met with a table full of Kronenbourg lager louts monolpolising the jukebox with Status Quo and ACDC records and singing along like a bunch of wild apes but I guess every pub has got to have the odd off night.
All in all a quiet well kept pub with great beer and friendly staff which happens to be my idea of a decent pub.
If however your idea of a decent pub is to be surrounded by aggressive drug dealing delinquents in hoodies or violent steroid induced Saffas in short trousers (even in winter) then The Walnut Tree and Zulu's are just a stones (or preferably large bricks) throw away,
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This is the only pub in the Leytonstone area worth drinking in. It has character, good staff and good beer. Long may it continue to be so.
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Fair point about the Sheepwalk, but if the punters of a pub are spilling out on to the pavement chinning each other, it has to be worth a comment.
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Albert, I said that the beer was fine on my second visit and that with a little attention the pub could be great. At least I went inside unlike you at the Sheepwalk. I always give a pub a few chances. My description is as I found.
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OTW07 - don't be so defensive. This website's about opinions. Yours may differ. Get it?
I have witnessed fights outside the Sheepwalk. So what? I've also seen a between two elderly farmers in a bar in a hamlet in the Ardennes. Nobody is saying Leytonstone is a Cotswold village but it's a better than most places in the East End.
Funny how you dislike this pub enough to go in twice.
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Well Albert, what do you not recognise? You said under your review of the Sheepwalk, which is up the road from the Star, that you have witnessed fights. If you don't think that Leytonstone is a dreadful place to be at night around the High Road, then you must be daft or blind or both! My description was exactly what I found on my first visit to the pub. I went in there again the other day and it was similar. The weird looking 'Red Indian' was sitting there too. Scarey! Beer was fine though!
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I just don't recognise this pub from offthewagon's description - or his description of Leytonstone for that matter. This is one of the best pubs in the area.
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You find this place by leaving the Baghdad High Road bit, escaping the aggressive beggers, down and outs, Lunatics and Scarey people. You think you have found Sanctuary but leave disappointed. It is a lovely Victorian building, with two bars and some original features. However, when I went inside, I waited for ages to be served. I tried to make polite chat with a large group of Middle Class Teacher types, male and female, but was ignored. They were all worse for wear, especially the ladies. It was quite early still mid-week but the girls all of whom were at least 50 were falling all over the place hugging and kissing anything human. The men all looked like rugby playing teacher know alls. All well spoken for the area and very unfriendly. I was put in my place for sure when a large lady served them out of turn. I was anxious about complaining due to her size and theirs. I was served up with a beer which was not London Pride even though I had asked for it. The beer was far to cold for an Ale. I sat in a corner. The music was far too loud and the already noisy ladies raised their voices at each other and really got on my nerves. The place is tired and dirty and stained through years of smoke, when it was allowed. In the other bar were a group of yobbish men puffing out chests and shouting football things. A man looking like a Red Indian Chief came in with another strange looking man. They obviously let in all the Lunatics in here from the High Road. I had my pint and went. Shame, with a little care and attention and control, this could be a nice place.
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Nice pub with good beer, but when myself and my friend visited the music was so loud we had to leave. It was impossible to talk. Not what I expect for a back street boozer
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Excellent pub, cracking location and good landlady. Clientelle that I've met are nice too.
To think this pub is off Leytonstone High Street still surprises me. They had Adnams among other beers on tap.
I recommend this to pub to anyone who is going anywhere in north-east or east London.
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Now completely non-smoking, a month ahead of the national ban. This is a fine pub with a good range of well-kept beer. It's worth noting that it doesn't open till four during the week.
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Well - I can only go by what I'm told, being a relative newcomer to the pub. Maybe the owner's brother told me the family had members working there for 30 years... it was the end of a long night.
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This has only been in the same family for 30 years if you mean the Charrington family. It is now Enterprise (lease sale detals are on their website). In the 80s it became a staging post for a succession of "difficult" managers (one ended up in Brixton prison after a fight with a customer, and another was removed by police). It had ups and downs in the 90s, especially after the Walnut Tree opened, but more recently has become a lot better.
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I was speaking to the owner's brother the other night - the pub's been in the family for 30 years. The owner is still, apparently, 'undecided' about whether to sell or not. Let's hope he decides to keep it.
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A wonderful classic old two bar pub just off the beaten track of the high road and set gently back in time. Must be preserved at all costs. Friendly family run staff and a nice local clientele in a fearfully dying breed of east-end pub.
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Bad news - the pub's lease is up for sale. The building's listed, but what's to stop the new owners changing the beers or removing the real ale altogether, and generally mucking about with the place's unique character? I've alerted the local CAMRA branch but have had no reply, which I'm not impressed with. We need to safeguard this gem of a pub at all costs - there are too few like it left.
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Just the sort of pub i thought i'd never see again when i moved to london. 3 ales always well kept and a great jukebox. Go there now!
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Cute bristley dog, jukebox and no harrassment - thumbs up! Being sick in my bag - thumbs down :( Thats BAG, not CAB!!
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This used to be the best little pub in Leytonstone. I only lived in sunny L'stone briefly but I was very happy to find this place. Being secreted down a back street is surely a key to its success(dedicated locals). Makes me want to drive across town for a pint and I'll do so soon!
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Discovered this one on Saturday by pure chance (due to House Full signs at the Sheepwalk's Sat night gig). What a wonderful gem of a pub! A real traditional 2-bar local in the oldest surviving "village" part of L/stone; lovely atmosphere, friendly service, fascinating pictures & memorabilia around the walls, and three beers on top form - Deuchars IPA, Broadside & Bombardier. Top boozer.
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This is a really good pub. It's on a lovely old street and you could almost imagine you were in a country village. When the sun's shining it's hard to believe there's a McD's full of chavs a hundred yards away.
Beer is well kept and the staff and regulars are friendly. There's also a little beer garden out the back. Decor is pleasantly knocked about, with some lovely old tongue-and-groove. A great place to go while the girlfriend endures the horror that is Tesco.
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This is one of very few pubs today that has an incredibly friendly and a real family feel about it. Fairly small compared to pubs on the high street, which makes it the first choice when there are only two to four of you. Music rocks and accesible dart board.
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Very friendly family run pub with traditional East End atmosphere. Good Guinness.
Amy Slayford - 15 Mar 2005 12:27 |
Excellent little village olde worlde pub. Beer is always excellent, staff are efficicient and polite. Family run business, although it is a chain pub.
Lizi - 15 Sep 2004 11:57 |
